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1980 Tulsa

8–⁠3 (4–⁠1 Missouri Valley Conference), coached by John Cooper.

Schedule and results

Tulsa in 1980, game by game: won vs. Cincinnati 31–13; lost at Wichita State 10–23; lost at No. 15 Arkansas 10–13; won vs. Kansas State 3–0; won vs. North Texas 28–27; won at TCU 23–17; won vs. West Texas 44–24; lost at No. 5 Florida State 2–45; won vs. Indiana State 30–7; won at Southern Illinois 41–7; won at New Mexico State 21–20+34−43Won 31–13 vs. Cincinnati+18CincinnatiLost 10–23 at Wichita State-13Wichita StateLost 10–13 at No. 15 Arkansas-3No. 15 ArkansasWon 3–0 vs. Kansas State+3Kansas StateWon 28–27 vs. North Texas+1North TexasWon 23–17 at TCU+6TCUWon 44–24 vs. West Texas+20West TexasLost 2–45 at No. 5 Florida State-43No. 5 Florida StateWon 30–7 vs. Indiana State+23Indiana StateWon 41–7 at Southern Illinois+34Southern Illino…Won 21–20 at New Mexico State+1New Mexico State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13vsCincinnatiW 31–⁠1371%
Sep 20atWichita StateL 10–⁠2366%
Sep 27at15ArkansasL 10–⁠1321%
Oct 4vsKansas StateW 3–⁠063%
Oct 11vsNorth TexasW 28–⁠2754%
Oct 18atTCUW 23–⁠1763%
Oct 25vsWest TexasW 44–⁠2461%
Nov 1at5Florida StateL 2–⁠4516%
Nov 8vsIndiana StateW 30–⁠769%
Nov 15atSouthern IllinoisW 41–⁠765%
Nov 22atNew Mexico StateW 21–⁠2072%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat New Mexico State 21–⁠20; unranked in the final AP poll; Missouri Valley Conference champions.

In program history: The 25th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 111 on file).

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 1980.

Missouri Valley Conference champions4–⁠1 in the conference

Record
8–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠1 first in Missouri Valley Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
243–⁠196
Coach
John Cooper
Elo
1563 +62 this season
SP+ rating
4.6 No. 56 of 133; offense No. 66, defense No. 55
SRS
2.0 No. 60 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Larry Coker
Defensive coordinator
Mike Knoll

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 4Don Blackmon LBNew England Patriots

1980 Missouri Valley Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tulsa4–⁠18–⁠3
Wichita State4–⁠1–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Indiana State4–⁠26–⁠5
Drake3–⁠28–⁠3
West Texas2–⁠45–⁠6
New Mexico State1–⁠4–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Southern Illinois1–⁠53–⁠8

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