CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1972 Texas

10–⁠1 (7–⁠0 Southwest Conference), coached by Darrell Royal, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Texas in 1972, game by game: won vs. Miami 23–10; won at Texas Tech 25–20; won vs. Utah State 27–12; lost vs. No. 2 Oklahoma 0–27; won vs. No. 17 Arkansas 35–15; won at Rice 45–9; won vs. SMU 17–9; won at Baylor 17–3; won at TCU 27–0; won vs. Texas A&M 38–3; won vs. No. 4 Alabama 17–13+36−27Won 23–10 vs. Miami+13MiamiWon 25–20 at Texas Tech+5Texas TechWon 27–12 vs. Utah State+15Utah StateLost 0–27 vs. No. 2 Oklahoma-27No. 2 OklahomaWon 35–15 vs. No. 17 Arkansas+20No. 17 ArkansasWon 45–9 at Rice+36RiceWon 17–9 vs. SMU+8SMUWon 17–3 at Baylor+14BaylorWon 27–0 at TCU+27TCUWon 38–3 vs. Texas A&M+35Texas A&MWon 17–13 vs. No. 4 Alabama+4No. 4 Alabama
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 23vsMiamiW 23–⁠1083%
Sep 30atTexas TechW 25–⁠2052%
Oct 7vsUtah StateW 27–⁠1267%
Oct 14vs2OklahomaL 0–⁠2740%
Oct 21vs17ArkansasW 35–⁠1561%
Oct 28atRiceW 45–⁠971%
Nov 4vsSMUW 17–⁠979%
Nov 11atBaylorW 17–⁠374%
Nov 18atTCUW 27–⁠068%
Nov 23vsTexas A&MW 38–⁠388%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs4AlabamaCotton BowlW 17–⁠1340%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Alabama 17–⁠13 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Southwest Conference champions.

In program history: The 16th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 126 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 2: 15
  3. Wk 3: 14
  4. Wk 4: 12
  5. Wk 5: 9
  6. Wk 6: 10
  7. Wk 7: 14
  8. Wk 8: 10
  9. Wk 9: 9
  10. Wk 10: 9
  11. Wk 11: 7
  12. Wk 12: 7
  13. Wk 13: 6
  14. Wk 14: 7
  15. 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 1972.

Southwest Conference champions7–⁠0 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanJerry Sisemore, OT

Record
10–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Southwest Conference
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 3
Points
271–⁠121
Coach
Darrell Royal
Elo
1749 +129 this season
SP+ rating
29.5 No. 5 of 121; offense No. 14, defense No. 1
SRS
26.6 No. 5 of 127 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fred Akers
Defensive coordinator
Mike Campbell
Offense
Wishbone
Defense
4–⁠4

Drafted in 1973

The 1973 draft
Rd 1Jerry Sisemore OTPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 6Travis Roach OGNew York Jets

All-Southwest Conference

7 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

  • Steve OxleyOTAP-2
  • Don CrosslinOGAP-2
  • Bill WymanCAP-2; UPI-2
  • Doug EnglishDTUPI-2
  • Mike RowanDBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Mike BayerDBUPI-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.