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1959 USC

8–⁠2 (3–⁠1 Athletic Association of Western Universities), coached by Don Clark, finished No. 14 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

USC in 1959, game by game: won at Oregon State 27–6; won vs. Pittsburgh 23–0; won vs. No. 14 Ohio State 17–0; won at No. 18 Washington 22–15; won vs. Stanford 30–28; won at California 14–7; won vs. West Virginia 36–0; won vs. Baylor 17–8; lost vs. UCLA 3–10; lost at Notre Dame 6–16+36−10Won 27–6 at Oregon State+21Oregon StateWon 23–0 vs. Pittsburgh+23PittsburghWon 17–0 vs. No. 14 Ohio State+17No. 14 Ohio StateWon 22–15 at No. 18 Washington+7No. 18 WashingtonWon 30–28 vs. Stanford+2StanfordWon 14–7 at California+7CaliforniaWon 36–0 vs. West Virginia+36West VirginiaWon 17–8 vs. Baylor+9BaylorLost 3–10 vs. UCLA-7UCLALost 6–16 at Notre Dame-10Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19atOregon StateW 27–⁠639%
Sep 25vsPittsburghW 23–⁠058%
Oct 2vs14Ohio StateW 17–⁠051%
Oct 17at18WashingtonW 22–⁠1551%
Oct 24vsStanfordW 30–⁠2883%
Oct 31atCaliforniaW 14–⁠769%
Nov 7vsWest VirginiaW 36–⁠076%
Nov 14vsBaylorW 17–⁠878%
Nov 21vsUCLAL 3–⁠1077%
Nov 28atNotre DameL 6–⁠1656%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Notre Dame 16–⁠6; No. 14 in the final AP poll; Athletic Association of Western Universities champions.

In program history: The 72nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 11
  2. Wk 3: 11
  3. Wk 4: 6
  4. Wk 5: 7
  5. Wk 6: 5
  6. Wk 7: 6
  7. Wk 8: 6
  8. Wk 9: 4
  9. Wk 10: 4
  10. Wk 11: 7
  11. Wk 12: 13
  12. Final: 14

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 UCLA and Washington

Record
8–⁠2
Conference
3–⁠1 shared first in Athletic Association of Western Universities
AP final
No. 14 peak No. 4
Points
195–⁠90
Coach
Don Clark
Elo
1598 +91 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
15.2 No. 12 of 112 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1960

The 1960 draft
Rd 1Ron Mix OTBaltimore Colts
Rd 6Al Bansavage OGBaltimore Colts
Rd 7John Wilkins OTPhiladelphia Eagles

All-Pacific Coast

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jerry TraynhamRBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Gary FinneranOTAP-2; UPI-2
  • Al BansavageOGUPI-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.