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1973 SMU

6–⁠4–⁠1 (3–⁠3–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Dave Smith.

Schedule and results

SMU in 1973, game by game: won vs. Santa Clara 49–7; won at Oregon State 35–16; won vs. Virginia Tech 37–6; lost vs. No. 15 Missouri 7–17; won at Rice 27–16; lost at No. 18 Texas Tech 14–31; lost vs. No. 19 Texas 14–42; lost at Texas A&M 10–45; tied vs. Arkansas 7–7; won at Baylor 38–22; won vs. TCU 21–19+42−35Won 49–7 vs. Santa Clara+42Santa ClaraWon 35–16 at Oregon State+19Oregon StateWon 37–6 vs. Virginia Tech+31Virginia TechLost 7–17 vs. No. 15 Missouri-10No. 15 MissouriWon 27–16 at Rice+11RiceLost 14–31 at No. 18 Texas Tech-17No. 18 Texas TechLost 14–42 vs. No. 19 Texas-28No. 19 TexasLost 10–45 at Texas A&M-35Texas A&MTied 7–7 vs. Arkansas0ArkansasWon 38–22 at Baylor+16BaylorWon 21–19 vs. TCU+2TCU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vsSanta ClaraW 49–⁠791%
Sep 22atOregon StateW 35–⁠1660%
Sep 29vsVirginia TechW 37–⁠670%
Oct 6vs15MissouriL 7–⁠1761%
Oct 20atRiceW 27–⁠1659%
Oct 27at18Texas TechL 14–⁠3135%
Nov 3vs19TexasL 14–⁠4240%
Nov 10atTexas A&ML 10–⁠4546%
Nov 17vsArkansasT 7–⁠756%
Nov 24atBaylorW 38–⁠2256%
Dec 1vsTCUW 21–⁠1972%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat TCU 21–⁠19; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 48th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 19

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 1973.

Record
6–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠3–⁠1 tied for 4th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 19
Points
259–⁠228
Coach
Dave Smith
Elo
1519 −11 this season
SP+ rating
1.0 No. 72 of 123; offense No. 61, defense No. 69
SRS
6.2 No. 49 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

All-Southwest Conference

1 first team, 4 second team

First team

  • Alvin MaxsonRBAP-1; UPI-2

Second team

  • Oscar RoanTEAP-2; UPI-2
  • Kelly ArnoldOTAP-2; UPI-2
  • Charlie AdamsDEAP-2
  • Andy DuvallDBAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1973 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1973 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas7–⁠08–⁠314
Texas Tech6–⁠111–⁠111
Rice4–⁠35–⁠6
SMU3–⁠3–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
Arkansas3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Texas A&M3–⁠45–⁠6
TCU1–⁠63–⁠8
Baylor0–⁠72–⁠9

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