CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1973 Texas Tech

11–⁠1 (6–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Jim Carlen, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Texas Tech in 1973, game by game: won vs. Utah 29–22; won vs. New Mexico 41–7; lost at No. 14 Texas 12–28; won at No. 11 Oklahoma State 20–7; won vs. Texas A&M 28–16; won at No. 19 Arizona 31–17; won vs. SMU 31–14; won vs. Rice 19–6; won at TCU 24–10; won vs. Baylor 55–24; won at Arkansas 24–17; won vs. No. 20 Tennessee 28–19+34−16Won 29–22 vs. Utah+7UtahWon 41–7 vs. New Mexico+34New MexicoLost 12–28 at No. 14 Texas-16No. 14 TexasWon 20–7 at No. 11 Oklahoma State+13No. 11 Oklahoma StateWon 28–16 vs. Texas A&M+12Texas A&MWon 31–17 at No. 19 Arizona+14No. 19 ArizonaWon 31–14 vs. SMU+17SMUWon 19–6 vs. Rice+13RiceWon 24–10 at TCU+14TCUWon 55–24 vs. Baylor+31BaylorWon 24–17 at Arkansas+7ArkansasWon 28–19 vs. No. 20 Tennessee+9No. 20 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vsUtahW 29–⁠2263%
Sep 22vsNew MexicoW 41–⁠769%
Sep 29at14TexasL 12–⁠2831%
Oct 6at11Oklahoma StateW 20–⁠735%
Oct 13vsTexas A&MW 28–⁠1671%
Oct 20at19ArizonaW 31–⁠1750%
Oct 27vsSMUW 31–⁠1465%
Nov 3vsRiceW 19–⁠684%
Nov 10atTCUW 24–⁠1070%
Nov 17vsBaylorW 55–⁠2486%
Nov 24atArkansasW 24–⁠1765%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvs20TennesseeGator BowlW 28–⁠1952%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Tennessee 28–⁠19 in the Gator Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Southwest Conference.

In program history: The 3rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 101 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 2: 20
  3. Wk 8: 18
  4. Wk 9: 15
  5. Wk 10: 12
  6. Wk 11: 12
  7. Wk 12: 12
  8. Wk 13: 12
  9. Wk 14: 11
  10. Final: 11
Record
11–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠1 2nd in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 11
Points
342–⁠187
Coach
Jim Carlen
Elo
1706 +182 this season
SP+ rating
20.5 No. 17 of 123; offense No. 17, defense No. 27
SRS
20.0 No. 12 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Richard Bell
Offense
No-huddle option
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1974

The 1974 draft
Rd 2Andre Tillman TEMiami Dolphins

All-Southwest Conference

9 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Joe BarnesQBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Andre TillmanTEAP-1; UPI-1
  • Tom FergusonOTAP-1; UPI-1
  • Dennis AllenOGAP-1; UPI-1
  • Don GrimesKUPI-1
  • Ecomet BurleyDT
  • David KnausNG
  • Danny WillisDBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Kenneth WallaceDBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

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.