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1980 SMU

8–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Southwest Conference), coached by Ron Meyer, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

SMU in 1980, game by game: won vs. North Texas 28–9; won vs. TCU 17–14; won vs. Texas–Arlington 52–16; won at Tulane 31–21; lost at No. 18 Baylor 28–32; lost vs. Houston 11–13; won at No. 2 Texas 20–6; won vs. Texas A&M 27–0; won at Rice 34–14; lost at Texas Tech 0–14; won vs. Arkansas 31–7; lost vs. No. 14 BYU 45–46+36−14Won 28–9 vs. North Texas+19North TexasWon 17–14 vs. TCU+3TCUWon 52–16 vs. Texas–Arlington+36Texas–ArlingtonWon 31–21 at Tulane+10TulaneLost 28–32 at No. 18 Baylor-4No. 18 BaylorLost 11–13 vs. Houston-2HoustonWon 20–6 at No. 2 Texas+14No. 2 TexasWon 27–0 vs. Texas A&M+27Texas A&MWon 34–14 at Rice+20RiceLost 0–14 at Texas Tech-14Texas TechWon 31–7 vs. Arkansas+24ArkansasLost 45–46 vs. No. 14 BYU-1No. 14 BYU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13vsNorth TexasW 28–⁠955%
Sep 20vsTCUW 17–⁠1476%
Sep 27vsTexas–ArlingtonW 52–⁠1664%
Oct 4atTulaneW 31–⁠2145%
Oct 11at18BaylorL 28–⁠3233%
Oct 18vsHoustonL 11–⁠1355%
Oct 25at2TexasW 20–⁠624%
Nov 1vsTexas A&MW 27–⁠074%
Nov 8atRiceW 34–⁠1473%
Nov 15atTexas TechL 0–⁠1465%
Nov 23vsArkansasW 31–⁠756%
Dec 19Bowls & playoffvs14BYUHoliday BowlL 45–⁠4629%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to BYU 46–⁠45 in the Holiday Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 20
  2. Wk 9: 19
  3. Wk 10: 18
  4. Wk 11: 18
  5. Wk 13: 20
  6. Wk 14: 19
  7. Wk 15: 19
  8. Final: 20

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 1980.

Consensus All-AmericanJohn Simmons, DB

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 2nd in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 18
Points
324–⁠192
Coach
Ron Meyer
Elo
1630 +125 this season
SP+ rating
19.9 No. 14 of 133; offense No. 13, defense No. 22
SRS
16.2 No. 16 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Steve Sidwell
Offense
Option
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 3John Simmons DBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 7Lee Spivey OTDetroit Lions

All-Southwest Conference

6 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1980 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1980 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Baylor8–⁠010–⁠214
SMU5–⁠38–⁠420
Houston5–⁠37–⁠5
Texas4–⁠47–⁠5
Rice4–⁠45–⁠6
Arkansas3–⁠57–⁠5
Texas Tech3–⁠55–⁠6
Texas A&M3–⁠54–⁠7
TCU1–⁠71–⁠10

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