CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1976 Texas Tech

10–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Steve Sloan, finished No. 13 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Texas Tech in 1976, game by game: won vs. Colorado 24–7; won at New Mexico 20–16; won at No. 17 Texas A&M 27–16; won at Rice 37–13; won vs. Arizona 52–27; won vs. No. 15 Texas 31–28; won at TCU 14–10; won vs. SMU 34–7; lost vs. No. 9 Houston 19–27; won at Arkansas 30–7; won vs. No. 18 Baylor 24–21; lost vs. No. 13 Nebraska 24–27+27−8Won 24–7 vs. Colorado+17ColoradoWon 20–16 at New Mexico+4New MexicoWon 27–16 at No. 17 Texas A&M+11No. 17 Texas A&MWon 37–13 at Rice+24RiceWon 52–27 vs. Arizona+25ArizonaWon 31–28 vs. No. 15 Texas+3No. 15 TexasWon 14–10 at TCU+4TCUWon 34–7 vs. SMU+27SMULost 19–27 vs. No. 9 Houston-8No. 9 HoustonWon 30–7 at Arkansas+23ArkansasWon 24–21 vs. No. 18 Baylor+3No. 18 BaylorLost 24–27 vs. No. 13 Nebraska-3No. 13 Nebraska
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vsColoradoW 24–⁠753%
Sep 25atNew MexicoW 20–⁠1649%
Oct 9at17Texas A&MW 27–⁠1636%
Oct 16atRiceW 37–⁠1371%
Oct 23vsArizonaW 52–⁠2764%
Oct 30vs15TexasW 31–⁠2857%
Nov 6atTCUW 14–⁠1087%
Nov 13vsSMUW 34–⁠788%
Nov 20vs9HoustonL 19–⁠2768%
Nov 27atArkansasW 30–⁠748%
Dec 4vs18BaylorW 24–⁠2172%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs13NebraskaAstro-Bluebonnet BowlL 24–⁠2752%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Nebraska 27–⁠24 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl; No. 13 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 9th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 101 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 20
  2. Wk 4: 17
  3. Wk 5: 15
  4. Wk 6: 10
  5. Wk 7: 8
  6. Wk 8: 6
  7. Wk 9: 5
  8. Wk 10: 5
  9. Wk 11: 5
  10. Wk 12: 9
  11. Wk 13: 9
  12. Final: 13

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 1976.

Southwest Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Houston

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 13 peak No. 5
Points
336–⁠206
Coach
Steve Sloan
Elo
1673 +133 this season
SP+ rating
19.7 No. 18 of 132; offense No. 14, defense No. 42
SRS
15.9 No. 17 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Rex Dockery
Defensive coordinator
Bill Parcells
Offense
Option
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1977

The 1977 draft
Rd 3Thomas Howard LBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 6Tommy Duniven QBCincinnati Bengals

All-Southwest Conference

7 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Sammy WilliamsWRAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1976 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1976 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Houston7–⁠110–⁠24
Texas Tech7–⁠110–⁠213
Texas A&M6–⁠210–⁠27
Baylor4–⁠3–⁠17–⁠3–⁠1
Texas4–⁠45–⁠5–⁠1
Arkansas3–⁠4–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Rice2–⁠63–⁠8
SMU2–⁠63–⁠8
TCU0–⁠80–⁠11

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