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1971 USC

6–⁠4–⁠1 (3–⁠2–⁠1 Pac-8), coached by John McKay, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

USC in 1971, game by game: lost vs. No. 16 Alabama 10–17; won at Rice 24–0; won vs. Illinois 28–0; lost at No. 8 Oklahoma 20–33; lost vs. Oregon 23–28; lost vs. No. 15 Stanford 18–33; won at No. 6 Notre Dame 28–14; won at California 28–0; won vs. Washington State 30–20; won at No. 19 Washington 13–12; tied vs. UCLA 7–7+28−15Lost 10–17 vs. No. 16 Alabama-7No. 16 AlabamaWon 24–0 at Rice+24RiceWon 28–0 vs. Illinois+28IllinoisLost 20–33 at No. 8 Oklahoma-13No. 8 OklahomaLost 23–28 vs. Oregon-5OregonLost 18–33 vs. No. 15 Stanford-15No. 15 StanfordWon 28–14 at No. 6 Notre Dame+14No. 6 Notre DameWon 28–0 at California+28CaliforniaWon 30–20 vs. Washington State+10Washington StateWon 13–12 at No. 19 Washington+1No. 19 WashingtonTied 7–7 vs. UCLA0UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10vs16AlabamaL 10–⁠1763%
Sep 18atRiceW 24–⁠061%
Sep 25vsIllinoisW 28–⁠087%
Oct 2at8OklahomaL 20–⁠3342%
Oct 9vsOregonL 23–⁠2871%
Oct 16vs15StanfordL 18–⁠3343%
Oct 23at6Notre DameW 28–⁠1420%
Oct 30atCaliforniaW 28–⁠045%
Nov 6vsWashington StateW 30–⁠2082%
Nov 13at19WashingtonW 13–⁠1243%
Nov 20vsUCLAT 7–⁠779%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Tied UCLA 7–⁠7; No. 20 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Pac-8.

In program history: The 58th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 112 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1971.

Record
6–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠2–⁠1 2nd in Pac-8
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 5
Points
229–⁠164
Coach
John McKay
Elo
1639 +29 this season
SP+ rating
20.0 No. 15 of 120; offense No. 26, defense No. 5
SRS
19.1 No. 13 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Willie Hall and John Vella

Drafted in 1972

The 1972 draft
Rd 2Willie Hall LBNew Orleans Saints
Rd 2John Vella OTOakland Raiders
Rd 7Alonzo Thomas DBOakland Raiders

All-Pac-8

3 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1971 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1971 Pac-8 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Stanford6–⁠19–⁠310
USC3–⁠2–⁠16–⁠4–⁠120
Washington4–⁠38–⁠319
California4–⁠36–⁠5
Oregon State3–⁠35–⁠6
Oregon2–⁠45–⁠6
Washington State2–⁠54–⁠7
UCLA1–⁠4–⁠12–⁠7–⁠1

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