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1981 Tulsa

6–⁠5 (5–⁠1 Missouri Valley Conference), coached by John Cooper.

Schedule and results

Tulsa in 1981, game by game: lost vs. Kansas 11–15; lost at Arkansas 10–14; lost at Oklahoma State 21–23; lost vs. Southern Illinois 34–36; won vs. Kansas State 35–21; won at Indiana State 20–19; won vs. Wichita State 52–21; won vs. Drake 59–6; won vs. New Mexico State 31–0; won at West Texas 24–10; lost at Arkansas State 7–31+53−24Lost 11–15 vs. Kansas-4KansasLost 10–14 at Arkansas-4ArkansasLost 21–23 at Oklahoma State-2Oklahoma StateLost 34–36 vs. Southern Illinois-2Southern Illino…Won 35–21 vs. Kansas State+14Kansas StateWon 20–19 at Indiana State+1Indiana StateWon 52–21 vs. Wichita State+31Wichita StateWon 59–6 vs. Drake+53DrakeWon 31–0 vs. New Mexico State+31New Mexico StateWon 24–10 at West Texas+14West TexasLost 7–31 at Arkansas State-24Arkansas State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsKansasL 11–⁠1567%
Sep 12atArkansasL 10–⁠1433%
Sep 19atOklahoma StateL 21–⁠2346%
Sep 26vsSouthern IllinoisL 34–⁠3676%
Oct 3vsKansas StateW 35–⁠2168%
Oct 17atIndiana StateW 20–⁠1945%
Oct 24vsWichita StateW 52–⁠2168%
Oct 31vsDrakeW 59–⁠652%
Nov 7vsNew Mexico StateW 31–⁠083%
Nov 14atWest TexasW 24–⁠1052%
Nov 21atArkansas StateL 7–⁠3169%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arkansas State 31–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; Missouri Valley Conference champions.

In program history: The 29th-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 1981.

Missouri Valley Conference champions5–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Drake

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠1 shared first in Missouri Valley Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
304–⁠196
Coach
John Cooper
Elo
1552 +10 this season
SP+ rating
12.4 No. 31 of 132; offense No. 21, defense No. 60
SRS
7.6 No. 38 of 137 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Larry Coker
Defensive coordinator
Mike Knoll

Drafted in 1982

The 1982 draft
Rd 7Eugene Williams LBSeattle Seahawks
Rd 7Bill Purifoy DEDallas Cowboys

1981 Missouri Valley Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Drake5–⁠110–⁠1
Tulsa5–⁠16–⁠5
Southern Illinois5–⁠27–⁠4
West Texas3–⁠37–⁠4
Wichita State3–⁠3–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Indiana State2–⁠4–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
New Mexico State1–⁠53–⁠8
Illinois State0–⁠53–⁠7

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