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1959 UCLA

5–⁠4–⁠1 (3–⁠1 Athletic Association of Western Universities), coached by Bill Barnes.

Schedule and results

UCLA in 1959, game by game: tied vs. No. 11 Purdue 0–0; lost at Pittsburgh 21–25; won vs. California 19–12; lost vs. Air Force 7–20; lost vs. No. 17 Washington 7–23; won at Stanford 55–13; won vs. NC State 21–12; won at No. 4 USC 10–3; won vs. Utah 21–6; lost vs. No. 1 Syracuse 8–36+42−28Tied 0–0 vs. No. 11 Purdue0No. 11 PurdueLost 21–25 at Pittsburgh-4PittsburghWon 19–12 vs. California+7CaliforniaLost 7–20 vs. Air Force-13Air ForceLost 7–23 vs. No. 17 Washington-16No. 17 WashingtonWon 55–13 at Stanford+42StanfordWon 21–12 vs. NC State+9NC StateWon 10–3 at No. 4 USC+7No. 4 USCWon 21–6 vs. Utah+15UtahLost 8–36 vs. No. 1 Syracuse-28No. 1 Syracuse
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18vs11PurdueT 0–⁠043%
Oct 3atPittsburghL 21–⁠2540%
Oct 17vsCaliforniaW 19–⁠1262%
Oct 23vsAir ForceL 7–⁠2045%
Oct 31vs17WashingtonL 7–⁠2352%
Nov 7atStanfordW 55–⁠1346%
Nov 13vsNC StateW 21–⁠1273%
Nov 21at4USCW 10–⁠323%
Nov 28vsUtahW 21–⁠666%
Dec 5vs1SyracuseL 8–⁠3630%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Syracuse 36–⁠8; unranked in the final AP poll; Athletic Association of Western Universities champions.

In program history: The 60th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 102 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 11: 20
  2. Wk 12: 17

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.

Athletic Association of Western Universities champions3–⁠1 in the conference, shared with USC and Washington

Record
5–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠1 shared first in Athletic Association of Western Universities
AP final
Unranked peak No. 17
Points
169–⁠150
Coach
Bill Barnes
Elo
1541 +38 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
8.7 No. 32 of 112 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Rod Cochran and Ray Smith

All-Pacific Coast

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Ray SmithFBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Marv LusterEUPI-2

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

1959 Athletic Association of Western Universities standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Washington3–⁠110–⁠18
USC3–⁠18–⁠214
UCLA3–⁠15–⁠4–⁠1
California1–⁠32–⁠8
Stanford0–⁠43–⁠7

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