CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1972 Texas A&M

3–⁠8 (2–⁠5 Southwest Conference), coached by Emory Bellard.

Schedule and results

Texas A&M in 1972, game by game: won at Wichita State 36–13; lost at No. 10 Nebraska 7–37; lost at No. 8 LSU 17–42; lost vs. Army 14–24; lost vs. Texas Tech 14–17; lost vs. TCU 10–13; lost at Baylor 13–15; won vs. No. 20 Arkansas 10–7; won at SMU 27–17; lost vs. Rice 14–20; lost at No. 7 Texas 3–38+23−35Won 36–13 at Wichita State+23Wichita StateLost 7–37 at No. 10 Nebraska-30No. 10 NebraskaLost 17–42 at No. 8 LSU-25No. 8 LSULost 14–24 vs. Army-10ArmyLost 14–17 vs. Texas Tech-3Texas TechLost 10–13 vs. TCU-3TCULost 13–15 at Baylor-2BaylorWon 10–7 vs. No. 20 Arkansas+3No. 20 ArkansasWon 27–17 at SMU+10SMULost 14–20 vs. Rice-6RiceLost 3–38 at No. 7 Texas-35No. 7 Texas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9atWichita StateW 36–⁠1363%
Sep 16at10NebraskaL 7–⁠3716%
Sep 23at8LSUL 17–⁠4221%
Sep 30vsArmyL 14–⁠2460%
Oct 14vsTexas TechL 14–⁠1741%
Oct 21vsTCUL 10–⁠1344%
Oct 28atBaylorL 13–⁠1546%
Nov 4vs20ArkansasW 10–⁠731%
Nov 11atSMUW 27–⁠1732%
Nov 18vsRiceL 14–⁠2059%
Nov 23at7TexasL 3–⁠3812%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Texas 38–⁠3; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 115th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

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 1972.

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠5 tied for 7th in Southwest Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
165–⁠243
Coach
Emory Bellard
Elo
1425 −37 this season
SP+ rating
3.7 No. 56 of 121; offense No. 70, defense No. 45
SRS
3.7 No. 51 of 127 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Ben Hurt
Defensive coordinator
Melvin Robertson
Offense
Wishbone

Drafted in 1973

The 1973 draft
Rd 3Brad Dusek DBNew England Patriots

All-Southwest Conference

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Grady HoermannLBAP-1
  • Robert MurskiDBAP-1; UPI-2

Second team

  • Homer MayTEAP-2; UPI-2
  • Boice BestDTAP-2; UPI-2
  • Ed SimoniniLBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1972 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1972 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas7–⁠010–⁠13
Texas Tech4–⁠38–⁠4
SMU4–⁠37–⁠4
Arkansas3–⁠46–⁠5
Rice3–⁠45–⁠5–⁠1
Baylor3–⁠45–⁠6
TCU2–⁠55–⁠6
Texas A&M2–⁠53–⁠8

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