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1951 TCU

6–⁠5 (5–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Dutch Meyer, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

TCU in 1951, game by game: lost vs. Kansas 13–27; won at No. 12 Nebraska 28–7; won at Arkansas 17–7; lost at Texas Tech 19–33; won vs. No. 6 Texas A&M 20–14; lost at No. 6 USC 26–28; won at No. 8 Baylor 20–7; lost at No. 15 Texas 21–32; won vs. No. 18 Rice 22–6; won vs. SMU 13–2; lost vs. No. 17 Kentucky 7–20+21−14Lost 13–27 vs. Kansas-14KansasWon 28–7 at No. 12 Nebraska+21No. 12 NebraskaWon 17–7 at Arkansas+10ArkansasLost 19–33 at Texas Tech-14Texas TechWon 20–14 vs. No. 6 Texas A&M+6No. 6 Texas A&MLost 26–28 at No. 6 USC-2No. 6 USCWon 20–7 at No. 8 Baylor+13No. 8 BaylorLost 21–32 at No. 15 Texas-11No. 15 TexasWon 22–6 vs. No. 18 Rice+16No. 18 RiceWon 13–2 vs. SMU+11SMULost 7–20 vs. No. 17 Kentucky-13No. 17 Kentucky
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22vsKansasL 13–⁠2760%
Sep 29at12NebraskaW 28–⁠740%
Oct 6atArkansasW 17–⁠746%
Oct 13atTexas TechL 19–⁠3359%
Oct 20vs6Texas A&MW 20–⁠1447%
Oct 27at6USCL 26–⁠2839%
Nov 3at8BaylorW 20–⁠729%
Nov 17at15TexasL 21–⁠3232%
Nov 24vs18RiceW 22–⁠653%
Dec 1vsSMUW 13–⁠265%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs17KentuckyCotton BowlL 7–⁠2041%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Kentucky 20–⁠7 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 13
  2. Wk 8: 13
  3. Wk 10: 11
  4. Final: 11

Southwest Conference champions5–⁠1 in the conference

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠1 first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 11
Points
206–⁠183
Coach
Dutch Meyer
Elo
1606 +58 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
13.7 No. 16 of 116 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offense
Meyer spread

All-Southwest Conference

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Ray McKowanBAP-1; UP-2
  • Herb ZimmermanDefensive guardsAP-1; UP-2
  • Keith FlowersLBAP-1

Second team

  • Bobby Jack FloydBUP-2
  • Doug ConawayOTUP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1951 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1951 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
TCU5–⁠16–⁠511
Baylor4–⁠1–⁠18–⁠2–⁠19
Texas3–⁠37–⁠3
Rice3–⁠35–⁠5
Arkansas2–⁠45–⁠5
Texas A&M1–⁠3–⁠25–⁠3–⁠2
SMU1–⁠4–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1

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