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1986 SMU

6–⁠5 (5–⁠3 Southwest Conference), coached by Bobby Collins.

Schedule and results

SMU in 1986, game by game: won at Rice 45–3; lost at No. 18 Arizona State 0–30; won vs. TCU 31–21; won vs. Boston College 31–29; won at No. 13 Baylor 27–21; won vs. Houston 10–3; lost at Texas 24–27; lost vs. No. 10 Texas A&M 35–39; lost at Notre Dame 29–61; won at Texas Tech 13–7; lost vs. No. 11 Arkansas 0–41+42−41Won 45–3 at Rice+42RiceLost 0–30 at No. 18 Arizona State-30No. 18 Arizona StateWon 31–21 vs. TCU+10TCUWon 31–29 vs. Boston College+2Boston CollegeWon 27–21 at No. 13 Baylor+6No. 13 BaylorWon 10–3 vs. Houston+7HoustonLost 24–27 at Texas-3TexasLost 35–39 vs. No. 10 Texas A&M-4No. 10 Texas A&MLost 29–61 at Notre Dame-32Notre DameWon 13–7 at Texas Tech+6Texas TechLost 0–41 vs. No. 11 Arkansas-41No. 11 Arkansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13atRiceW 45–⁠370%
Sep 20at18Arizona StateL 0–⁠3044%
Sep 27vsTCUW 31–⁠2168%
Oct 4vsBoston CollegeW 31–⁠2972%
Oct 11at13BaylorW 27–⁠2136%
Oct 18vsHoustonW 10–⁠379%
Oct 25atTexasL 24–⁠2761%
Nov 1vs10Texas A&ML 35–⁠3951%
Nov 8atNotre DameL 29–⁠6143%
Nov 15atTexas TechW 13–⁠746%
Nov 22vs11ArkansasL 0–⁠4149%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arkansas 41–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 40th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 110 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 20
  2. Wk 8: 18

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 1986.

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
245–⁠282
Coach
Bobby Collins
Elo
1553 −33 this season
SP+ rating
4.4 No. 44 of 101; offense No. 39, defense No. 60
SRS
0.7 No. 49 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Bill Clay
Offense
No-huddle option
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 2Ron Morris WRChicago Bears
Rd 3Jerry Ball DTDetroit Lions

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jeff AtkinsRBAP-2
  • Howard RichardsOTAP-2
  • Craig KenningtonOTAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas A&M7–⁠19–⁠313
Baylor6–⁠29–⁠312
Arkansas6–⁠29–⁠315
Texas Tech5–⁠37–⁠5
SMU5–⁠36–⁠5
Texas4–⁠45–⁠6
Rice2–⁠64–⁠7
TCU1–⁠73–⁠8
Houston0–⁠81–⁠10

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