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1945 USC

7–⁠4 (5–⁠1 Pacific Coast Conference), coached by Jeff Cravath, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

USC, 1945
Photo: Unidentified (El Rodeo is the University of Southern California yearbook published by University of Southern California), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

USC in 1945, game by game: won at UCLA 13–6; won at California 13–2; won vs. Saint Mary’s (CA) Pre-Flight 26–14; lost at San Diego Navy 6–33; won vs. Pacific 52–0; lost at Washington 7–13; lost vs. No. 8 Saint Mary’s (CA) 0–26; won vs. California 14–0; won vs. Oregon State 34–7; won vs. UCLA 26–15; lost vs. No. 3 Alabama 14–34+52−27Won 13–6 at UCLA+7UCLAWon 13–2 at California+11CaliforniaWon 26–14 vs. Saint Mary’s (CA) Pre-Flight+12Saint Mary’s (C…Lost 6–33 at San Diego Navy-27San Diego NavyWon 52–0 vs. Pacific+52PacificLost 7–13 at Washington-6WashingtonLost 0–26 vs. No. 8 Saint Mary’s (CA)-26No. 8 Saint Mary’s (C…Won 14–0 vs. California+14CaliforniaWon 34–7 vs. Oregon State+27Oregon StateWon 26–15 vs. UCLA+11UCLALost 14–34 vs. No. 3 Alabama-20No. 3 Alabama
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 21atUCLAW 13–⁠667%
Sep 29atCaliforniaW 13–⁠279%
Oct 6vsSaint Mary’s (CA) Pre-FlightW 26–⁠1477%
Oct 13atSan Diego NavyL 6–⁠3390%
Oct 20vsPacificW 52–⁠090%
Oct 27atWashingtonL 7–⁠1353%
Nov 3vs8Saint Mary’s (CA)L 0–⁠2677%
Nov 10vsCaliforniaW 14–⁠074%
Nov 24vsOregon StateW 34–⁠767%
Dec 1vsUCLAW 26–⁠1569%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs3AlabamaRose BowlL 14–⁠3428%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Alabama 34–⁠14 in the Rose Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; Pacific Coast Conference champions.

In program history: The 90th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 6
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 20
  4. Wk 8: 16
  5. Final: 11

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 1945.

Pacific Coast Conference champions5–⁠1 in the conference

Record
7–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠1 first in Pacific Coast Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 6
Points
205–⁠150
Coach
Jeff Cravath
Elo
1550 −76 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
4.4 No. 36 of 101 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1946

The 1946 draft
Rd 1Leo Riggs BPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 3Gordon Gray EPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 6John Ferraro OTGreen Bay Packers
Rd 7Bob Hendren OTWashington Redskins

All-Pacific Coast

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Ted TannehillRB
  • Jim CallananEAP-1; UP-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1945 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1945 Pacific Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC5–⁠17–⁠411
Washington State6–⁠2–⁠16–⁠2–⁠1
Washington6–⁠36–⁠3
Oregon State4–⁠44–⁠4–⁠1
UCLA2–⁠35–⁠4
California2–⁠4–⁠14–⁠5–⁠1
Oregon3–⁠63–⁠6
Idaho1–⁠51–⁠7
Montana0–⁠10–⁠2

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