CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1939 SMU

6–⁠3–⁠1 (4–⁠2 Southwest Conference), coached by Madison Bell.

Schedule and results

SMU in 1939, game by game: tied at Oklahoma 7–7; won vs. North Texas 16–0; lost at Notre Dame 19–20; won vs. Marquette 16–0; won vs. Texas 10–0; lost at No. 2 Texas A&M 2–6; lost at Arkansas 0–14; won vs. Baylor 21–0; won at TCU 14–7; won vs. Rice 13–6+21−14Tied 7–7 at Oklahoma0OklahomaWon 16–0 vs. North Texas+16North TexasLost 19–20 at Notre Dame-1Notre DameWon 16–0 vs. Marquette+16MarquetteWon 10–0 vs. Texas+10TexasLost 2–6 at No. 2 Texas A&M-4No. 2 Texas A&MLost 0–14 at Arkansas-14ArkansasWon 21–0 vs. Baylor+21BaylorWon 14–7 at TCU+7TCUWon 13–6 vs. Rice+7Rice
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30atOklahomaT 7–⁠731%
Oct 7vsNorth TexasW 16–⁠092%
Oct 14atNotre DameL 19–⁠2028%
Oct 21vsMarquetteW 16–⁠072%
Nov 4vsTexasW 10–⁠066%
Nov 11at2Texas A&ML 2–⁠625%
Nov 17atArkansasL 0–⁠1459%
Nov 25vsBaylorW 21–⁠044%
Dec 2atTCUW 14–⁠738%
Dec 9vsRiceW 13–⁠678%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Rice 13–⁠6; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 25th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 18
  2. Wk 2: 17
  3. Wk 3: 16
  4. Wk 4: 13
  5. Wk 5: 17

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1939.

Record
6–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 13
Points
118–⁠60
Coach
Madison Bell
Elo
1598 +65 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
12.6 No. 17 of 124 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Chelsea Crouch

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • William MullenwegBAP-2
  • Wilburn EcholsCAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1939 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1939 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas A&M6–⁠011–⁠01
Baylor4–⁠27–⁠3
SMU4–⁠26–⁠3–⁠1
Texas3–⁠35–⁠4
Arkansas2–⁠3–⁠14–⁠5–⁠1
TCU1–⁠53–⁠7
Rice0–⁠5–⁠11–⁠9–⁠1

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.