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1972 Washington State

7–⁠4 (4–⁠3 Pac-8), coached by Jim Sweeney, finished No. 19 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Washington State in 1972, game by game: won at Kansas 18–17; lost at California 23–37; won at Arizona 28–6; lost vs. Utah 25–44; won vs. Idaho 35–14; won at Oregon 31–14; won vs. Oregon State 37–7; lost at No. 9 UCLA 20–35; lost vs. No. 1 USC 3–44; won vs. No. 20 Stanford 27–13; won vs. No. 17 Washington 27–10+30−41Won 18–17 at Kansas+1KansasLost 23–37 at California-14CaliforniaWon 28–6 at Arizona+22ArizonaLost 25–44 vs. Utah-19UtahWon 35–14 vs. Idaho+21IdahoWon 31–14 at Oregon+17OregonWon 37–7 vs. Oregon State+30Oregon StateLost 20–35 at No. 9 UCLA-15No. 9 UCLALost 3–44 vs. No. 1 USC-41No. 1 USCWon 27–13 vs. No. 20 Stanford+14No. 20 StanfordWon 27–10 vs. No. 17 Washington+17No. 17 Washington
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9atKansasW 18–⁠1739%
Sep 16atCaliforniaL 23–⁠3734%
Sep 23atArizonaW 28–⁠636%
Sep 30vsUtahL 25–⁠4466%
Oct 7vsIdahoW 35–⁠1468%
Oct 14atOregonW 31–⁠1439%
Oct 21vsOregon StateW 37–⁠764%
Oct 28at9UCLAL 20–⁠3528%
Nov 4vs1USCL 3–⁠4423%
Nov 11vs20StanfordW 27–⁠1334%
Nov 18vs17WashingtonW 27–⁠1041%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Washington 27–⁠10; No. 19 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Pac-8.

In program history: The 37th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 111 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 11: 20
  2. Wk 12: 19
  3. Wk 13: 19
  4. Wk 14: 19
  5. Final: 19
Record
7–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Pac-8
AP final
No. 19 peak No. 19
Points
274–⁠241
Coach
Jim Sweeney
Elo
1544 +114 this season
SP+ rating
9.4 No. 41 of 121; offense No. 21, defense No. 61
SRS
9.2 No. 33 of 127 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Joe Tiller
Defensive coordinator
Ray Braun
Captain
Bill Moos

All-Pac-8

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Bill MoosOTAP-1
  • Steve OstermannOGAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Ken GrandberryRBUPI-2
  • Gary LarsenLBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1972 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1972 Pac-8 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
USC7–⁠012–⁠01
UCLA5–⁠28–⁠315
Washington4–⁠38–⁠3
Washington State4–⁠37–⁠419
California3–⁠43–⁠8
Stanford2–⁠56–⁠5
Oregon2–⁠54–⁠7
Oregon State1–⁠62–⁠9

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