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1956 USC

8–⁠2 (5–⁠2 Pacific Coast Conference), coached by Jess Hill, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

USC in 1956, game by game: won at Texas 44–20; won vs. Oregon State 21–13; won at Wisconsin 13–6; won vs. Washington 35–7; lost at Stanford 19–27; won at Washington State 28–12; won vs. California 20–7; lost at Oregon 0–7; won at UCLA 10–7; won vs. Notre Dame 28–20+28−8Won 44–20 at Texas+24TexasWon 21–13 vs. Oregon State+8Oregon StateWon 13–6 at Wisconsin+7WisconsinWon 35–7 vs. Washington+28WashingtonLost 19–27 at Stanford-8StanfordWon 28–12 at Washington State+16Washington StateWon 20–7 vs. California+13CaliforniaLost 0–7 at Oregon-7OregonWon 10–7 at UCLA+3UCLAWon 28–20 vs. Notre Dame+8Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22atTexasW 44–⁠2048%
Sep 28vsOregon StateW 21–⁠1373%
Oct 6atWisconsinW 13–⁠653%
Oct 20vsWashingtonW 35–⁠773%
Oct 27atStanfordL 19–⁠2753%
Nov 3atWashington StateW 28–⁠1275%
Nov 10vsCaliforniaW 20–⁠782%
Nov 17atOregonL 0–⁠761%
Nov 24atUCLAW 10–⁠738%
Dec 1vsNotre DameW 28–⁠2077%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Notre Dame 28–⁠20; No. 18 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Pacific Coast Conference.

In program history: The 52nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 15
  2. Wk 2: 6
  3. Wk 3: 10
  4. Wk 4: 8
  5. Wk 5: 9
  6. Wk 6: 6
  7. Wk 7: 20
  8. Wk 8: 16
  9. Wk 9: 14
  10. Wk 11: 17
  11. Final: 18

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 1956.

Record
8–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Pacific Coast Conference
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 6
Points
218–⁠126
Coach
Jess Hill
Elo
1661 +80 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
15.9 No. 15 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Jon Arnett

Drafted in 1957

The 1957 draft
Rd 1Jon Arnett RBLos Angeles Rams
Rd 5Karl Rubke CSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 5Dick Enright OGLos Angeles Rams

All-Pacific Coast

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1956 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1956 Pacific Coast Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oregon State6–⁠1–⁠17–⁠3–⁠110
USC5–⁠28–⁠218
UCLA5–⁠27–⁠3
Washington4–⁠45–⁠5
Oregon3–⁠3–⁠24–⁠4–⁠2
Stanford3–⁠44–⁠6
Washington State2–⁠5–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
California2–⁠53–⁠7
Idaho0–⁠44–⁠5

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