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1959 Texas

9–⁠2 (5–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Darrell Royal, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Texas in 1959, game by game: won at Nebraska 20–0; won vs. Maryland 26–0; won vs. California 33–0; won vs. No. 13 Oklahoma 19–12; won at No. 12 Arkansas 13–12; won vs. Rice 28–6; won at SMU 21–0; won vs. Baylor 13–12; lost vs. No. 18 TCU 9–14; won at Texas A&M 20–17; lost vs. No. 1 Syracuse 14–23+33−9Won 20–0 at Nebraska+20NebraskaWon 26–0 vs. Maryland+26MarylandWon 33–0 vs. California+33CaliforniaWon 19–12 vs. No. 13 Oklahoma+7No. 13 OklahomaWon 13–12 at No. 12 Arkansas+1No. 12 ArkansasWon 28–6 vs. Rice+22RiceWon 21–0 at SMU+21SMUWon 13–12 vs. Baylor+1BaylorLost 9–14 vs. No. 18 TCU-5No. 18 TCUWon 20–17 at Texas A&M+3Texas A&MLost 14–23 vs. No. 1 Syracuse-9No. 1 Syracuse
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19atNebraskaW 20–⁠061%
Sep 26vsMarylandW 26–⁠062%
Oct 3vsCaliforniaW 33–⁠067%
Oct 10vs13OklahomaW 19–⁠1241%
Oct 17at12ArkansasW 13–⁠1246%
Oct 24vsRiceW 28–⁠675%
Oct 31atSMUW 21–⁠049%
Nov 7vsBaylorW 13–⁠1280%
Nov 14vs18TCUL 9–⁠1461%
Nov 26atTexas A&MW 20–⁠1771%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs1SyracuseCotton BowlL 14–⁠2335%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Syracuse 23–⁠14 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 57th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 126 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1959.

Southwest Conference champions5–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Arkansas and TCU

Record
9–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠1 shared first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 2
Points
216–⁠96
Coach
Darrell Royal
Elo
1656 +120 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
20.1 No. 4 of 112 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1960

The 1960 draft
Rd 2Larry Stephens OTCleveland Browns

All-Southwest Conference

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1959 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1959 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arkansas5–⁠19–⁠29
Texas5–⁠19–⁠24
TCU5–⁠18–⁠37
SMU2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠4–⁠1
Baylor2–⁠44–⁠6
Rice1–⁠4–⁠11–⁠7–⁠2
Texas A&M0–⁠63–⁠7

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