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1959 SMU

5–⁠4–⁠1 (2–⁠3–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Bill Meek.

Schedule and results

SMU in 1959, game by game: lost at No. 16 Georgia Tech 12–16; won vs. No. 15 Navy 20–7; won vs. Missouri 23–2; tied at Rice 13–13; won vs. Texas Tech 21–13; lost vs. No. 4 Texas 0–21; won at Texas A&M 14–11; lost vs. No. 20 Arkansas 14–17; won at Baylor 30–14; lost at No. 8 TCU 0–19+21−21Lost 12–16 at No. 16 Georgia Tech-4No. 16 Georgia TechWon 20–7 vs. No. 15 Navy+13No. 15 NavyWon 23–2 vs. Missouri+21MissouriTied 13–13 at Rice0RiceWon 21–13 vs. Texas Tech+8Texas TechLost 0–21 vs. No. 4 Texas-21No. 4 TexasWon 14–11 at Texas A&M+3Texas A&MLost 14–17 vs. No. 20 Arkansas-3No. 20 ArkansasWon 30–14 at Baylor+16BaylorLost 0–19 at No. 8 TCU-19No. 8 TCU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26at16Georgia TechL 12–⁠1646%
Oct 3vs15NavyW 20–⁠746%
Oct 9vsMissouriW 23–⁠261%
Oct 17atRiceT 13–⁠1357%
Oct 24vsTexas TechW 21–⁠1379%
Oct 31vs4TexasL 0–⁠2151%
Nov 7atTexas A&MW 14–⁠1156%
Nov 14vs20ArkansasL 14–⁠1756%
Nov 21atBaylorW 30–⁠1455%
Nov 28at8TCUL 0–⁠1929%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to TCU 19–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 31st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 4
  2. Wk 2: 6
  3. Wk 4: 15
  4. Wk 5: 15

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 1959.

Heisman voteDon Meredith, third

Record
5–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
2–⁠3–⁠1 4th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 4
Points
147–⁠133
Coach
Bill Meek
Elo
1580 +18 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
10.7 No. 25 of 112 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Don Meredith

Drafted in 1960

The 1960 draft
Rd 3Don Meredith QBChicago Bears
Rd 3Jim Welch DBBaltimore Colts

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Glynn GregoryBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1959 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1959 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arkansas5–⁠19–⁠29
Texas5–⁠19–⁠24
TCU5–⁠18–⁠37
SMU2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠4–⁠1
Baylor2–⁠44–⁠6
Rice1–⁠4–⁠11–⁠7–⁠2
Texas A&M0–⁠63–⁠7

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