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1963 SMU

4–⁠7 (2–⁠5 Southwest Conference), coached by Hayden Fry.

Schedule and results

SMU in 1963, game by game: lost at Michigan 16–27; won vs. Air Force 10–0; won vs. No. 4 Navy 32–28; lost at Rice 7–13; lost vs. Texas Tech 6–13; lost vs. No. 1 Texas 12–17; won at Texas A&M 9–7; won vs. Arkansas 14–7; lost at TCU 15–22; lost at Baylor 6–20; lost vs. Oregon 14–21+10−14Lost 16–27 at Michigan-11MichiganWon 10–0 vs. Air Force+10Air ForceWon 32–28 vs. No. 4 Navy+4No. 4 NavyLost 7–13 at Rice-6RiceLost 6–13 vs. Texas Tech-7Texas TechLost 12–17 vs. No. 1 Texas-5No. 1 TexasWon 9–7 at Texas A&M+2Texas A&MWon 14–7 vs. Arkansas+7ArkansasLost 15–22 at TCU-7TCULost 6–20 at Baylor-14BaylorLost 14–21 vs. Oregon-7Oregon
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 28atMichiganL 16–⁠2735%
Oct 5vsAir ForceW 10–⁠041%
Oct 11vs4NavyW 32–⁠2829%
Oct 19atRiceL 7–⁠1333%
Oct 26vsTexas TechL 6–⁠1363%
Nov 2vs1TexasL 12–⁠1717%
Nov 9atTexas A&MW 9–⁠740%
Nov 16vsArkansasW 14–⁠730%
Nov 23atTCUL 15–⁠2230%
Dec 7atBaylorL 6–⁠2023%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsOregonSun BowlL 14–⁠2123%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Oregon 21–⁠14 in the Sun Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 82nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

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 1963.

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠5 tied for 6th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
141–⁠175
Coach
Hayden Fry
Elo
1410 +5 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
10.1 No. 32 of 120 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Ronnie Cosper, Martin Cude and Billy Gannon

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • John HughesOGAP-2; UPI-1
  • Martin CudeOGAP-1; UPI-3

Second team

  • Billy GannonBAP-2; UPI-3

From Wikipedia’s 1963 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1963 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas7–⁠011–⁠01
Baylor6–⁠18–⁠3
Rice4–⁠36–⁠4
Arkansas3–⁠45–⁠5
TCU2–⁠4–⁠14–⁠5–⁠1
Texas Tech2–⁠55–⁠5
SMU2–⁠54–⁠7
Texas A&M1–⁠5–⁠12–⁠7–⁠1

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