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1961 Texas

10–⁠1 (6–⁠1 Southwest Conference), coached by Darrell Royal, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Texas in 1961, game by game: won at California 28–3; won vs. Texas Tech 42–14; won vs. Washington State 41–8; won vs. Oklahoma 28–7; won at Arkansas 33–7; won vs. Rice 34–7; won at SMU 27–0; won vs. Baylor 33–7; lost vs. TCU 0–6; won at Texas A&M 25–0; won vs. No. 5 Ole Miss 12–7+33−6Won 28–3 at California+25CaliforniaWon 42–14 vs. Texas Tech+28Texas TechWon 41–8 vs. Washington State+33Washington StateWon 28–7 vs. Oklahoma+21OklahomaWon 33–7 at Arkansas+26ArkansasWon 34–7 vs. Rice+27RiceWon 27–0 at SMU+27SMUWon 33–7 vs. Baylor+26BaylorLost 0–6 vs. TCU-6TCUWon 25–0 at Texas A&M+25Texas A&MWon 12–7 vs. No. 5 Ole Miss+5No. 5 Ole Miss
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 23atCaliforniaW 28–⁠368%
Sep 30vsTexas TechW 42–⁠1481%
Oct 7vsWashington StateW 41–⁠877%
Oct 14vsOklahomaW 28–⁠774%
Oct 21atArkansasW 33–⁠746%
Oct 28vsRiceW 34–⁠774%
Nov 4atSMUW 27–⁠084%
Nov 11vsBaylorW 33–⁠780%
Nov 18vsTCUL 0–⁠687%
Nov 23atTexas A&MW 25–⁠070%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs5Ole MissCotton BowlW 12–⁠743%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Ole Miss 12–⁠7 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 18th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 126 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1961.

Southwest Conference champions6–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Arkansas

Heisman voteJimmy Saxton, third

Led the nationJimmy Saxton: yards per carry (7.9)

Consensus All-AmericanJimmy Saxton, RB

Eddie Robinson Coach of the YearDarrell Royal, coach

Record
10–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠1 shared first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 1
Points
303–⁠66
Coach
Darrell Royal
Elo
1746 +134 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
29.3 No. 2 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 7Jack Collins RBPittsburgh Steelers

All-Southwest Conference

6 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1961 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1961 Southwest Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Texas6–⁠110–⁠13
Arkansas6–⁠18–⁠39
Rice5–⁠27–⁠417
Texas A&M3–⁠44–⁠5–⁠1
TCU2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠5–⁠2
Baylor2–⁠56–⁠5
Texas Tech2–⁠54–⁠6
SMU1–⁠5–⁠12–⁠7–⁠1

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