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1966 SMU

8–⁠3 (6–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Hayden Fry, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

SMU in 1966, game by game: won vs. Illinois 26–7; won vs. Navy 21–3; lost at Purdue 23–35; won vs. Rice 28–24; won at Texas Tech 24–7; won at Texas 13–12; won vs. Texas A&M 21–14; lost at No. 6 Arkansas 0–22; won vs. Baylor 24–22; won at TCU 21–0; lost vs. No. 4 Georgia 9–24+21−22Won 26–7 vs. Illinois+19IllinoisWon 21–3 vs. Navy+18NavyLost 23–35 at Purdue-12PurdueWon 28–24 vs. Rice+4RiceWon 24–7 at Texas Tech+17Texas TechWon 13–12 at Texas+1TexasWon 21–14 vs. Texas A&M+7Texas A&MLost 0–22 at No. 6 Arkansas-22No. 6 ArkansasWon 24–22 vs. Baylor+2BaylorWon 21–0 at TCU+21TCULost 9–24 vs. No. 4 Georgia-15No. 4 Georgia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 17vsIllinoisW 26–⁠741%
Sep 24vsNavyW 21–⁠351%
Oct 1atPurdueL 23–⁠3535%
Oct 15vsRiceW 28–⁠2468%
Oct 22atTexas TechW 24–⁠749%
Oct 29atTexasW 13–⁠1238%
Nov 5vsTexas A&MW 21–⁠1469%
Nov 12at6ArkansasL 0–⁠2224%
Nov 19vsBaylorW 24–⁠2260%
Nov 26atTCUW 21–⁠060%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs4GeorgiaCotton BowlL 9–⁠2432%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Georgia 24–⁠9 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 35th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 12: 10
  2. Final: 10

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 1966.

Southwest Conference champions6–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanJohn LaGrone, MG

Record
8–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠1 first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 10
Points
210–⁠170
Coach
Hayden Fry
Elo
1569 +111 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
13.6 No. 18 of 119 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1967

The 1967 draft
Rd 6Ron Medlen DEBoston Patriots
Rd 7George Gaiser OTBuffalo Bills

All-Southwest Conference

9 first team

First team

  • Mac WhiteQBAP
  • Jerry LeViasEAP; UPI
  • George GaiserOTAP; UPI
  • Lynn ThornhillOGAP; UPI
  • Charles StandiferCUPI
  • Ronnye MedlenDTUPI
  • John LaGroneDefensive guardsAP; UPI
  • Billy Bob StewartLBAP; UPI
  • Jerry GriffinLBAP; UPI

From Wikipedia’s 1966 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1966 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
SMU6–⁠18–⁠310
Arkansas5–⁠28–⁠2
Texas5–⁠27–⁠4
Texas A&M4–⁠34–⁠5–⁠1
Baylor3–⁠45–⁠5
Texas Tech2–⁠54–⁠6
TCU2–⁠52–⁠8
Rice1–⁠62–⁠8

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