In the mid-80's the Texas A&M football team started a stretch of dominance in the Southwest Conference that lasted until the conference's endings in 1995. It was all started by head coach Jackie Sherrill who took over the squad in 1982 and by 1985 won the first of 3 consecutive SWC Championships. When Jackie left following the 1988 season his defensive mastermind, R.C. Slocum, took the reigns and picked up right where Jackie left off. R.C. never had a losing season in his 14 years as the head coach of the Aggies and through the 1995 season, the last of the SWC, he never finished lower than 2nd place in conference play, including another 3 consecutive crowns.
Once the SWC was dissolved in prior to the 1996 season things continued well for the Aggies winning the Big XII South twice in the first three seasons of existence including an improbable Big XII Conference Championship in 1998. Following 1998, however, things slowly starting to spiral down as each season the Ags finished lower than the one before. It came to a head in 2002 when the Ags finished the season 6-6 in 5th place in the Big XII South. It was then that R.C. was replaced by Coach Fran.
Ever since the Aggies decline there was always a debate regarding how good our teams actually were against the SWC. Were we the big bully on the corner who just beat up all the small dorks or were we a legitimate college powerhouse program? I certainly had no clue, nor did I feel I had the right to contribute to the conversation because I was in 8th grade when the SWC came to an end and I certainly didn't follow college football, let alone A&M football, at that point in my life.
As a result, I have taken the liberty of doing the legwork so we can analyze the strength of the SWC and discuss this topic with some credibility....or at least some factual basis.
Without my copy of ESPN College Football Encyclopedia this would have been a task that I probably would have passed on because of the sheer amount of work it would have taken. It still took a lot of time but I was able to pull about 95% of the information out of that one source. 4.9% of the remaining information came from CFBDataWarehouse.com (I used that for the Southland Conference teams) and the remaining 0.1% came from Michigan-football.com because they were the only source I could find that included any information on Lamar's football team (which is no longer in existence).
I should probably explain a couple of things to keep confusion to a minimum (there is a lot of information crammed into a relatively small amount of space). The first thing I did was put the SWC teams in order based on that year's standings (overall record and conference record) and along the side of each team I listed their non-conference opponents, if they won or lost and the differential in the score. Then I took each opponent that played against the SWC and listed their season record, listed their conference, & showed the SWC's record against them that season. From there I went ahead and calculated the splits that you'll see.
Let's dive in....
If there are any abbreviations that you are unsure of, please leave a note in the "Comments" section and I'll address them. Some of the ones I think I need to clarify upfront are:
Teams: ====== Col = Colorado Miss = Mississippi OSU = Ohio State CSU = Colorado State Mizz = Missouri Tula = Tulane FulS = Cal State Fullerton MSU = Mississippi State Tuls = Tulsa Lam = Lamar OkS = Oklahoma State UNT = North Texas Lou = Louisville OreSt = Oregon State WSU = Washington State Conferences: ============ ATL10 = Atlantic 10 GSC = Gulf Star Conference INDP = Independent INDP2 = Div-II Independent MVC = Missouri Valley Conference OVC = Ohio Valley Conference SLnd = Southland Conference Bowl Game Indicators: ===================== ^^ Sun Bowl -h Holiday Bowl -b Alamo Bowl ! Independence Bowl -a All-American Bowl $ Liberty Bowl @ Aloha Bowl % Orange Bowl # Bluebonnet Bowl -s Sugar Bowl -c Copper Bowl ^^ Sun Bowl ^ Cotton Bowl Other: ====== @OpponentName = Game was played at opponent's home field vOpponentName = Game was played at a neutral siteThe one other thing that I can think that I need to point out is that anytime I use a national ranking it is referring to the final AP Poll from that season. It would have taken me ages to go through each team's schedule and figure out if, and then what, ranking the opponent had at the time the game was played. It still gives us a good look at who the top opponents the conference played were....just as much as the final record would. Prior to 1989 the AP Poll only ranked the top 20 teams as opposed to the current 25.
I used the term "Bad" Team to indicate teams that had 0, 1, or 2 wins on the season. It was basically the opposite of a ranked team, who typically are 0, 1, or 2 loss teams.
1985
I chose to start this analysis in 1985 for two reasons. One is that it allows us to cover the last 10 years (11 seasons) of the conference and the second is because it was the first year of the A&M dominance which is the main topic of discussion for Aggie fans.
SWC Standings Opponents ================ ===================================================== TAMU 10-2 (7-1) vAla L -13 LaMon W +14 Tuls W +35 vAub^ W +20 Ark 10-2 (6-2) vMiss W +5 vTuls W +24 vNMSt W +31 vOU% L -31 Bay 9-3 (5-3) Wyo W +21 @UGA L -3 @USC W +7 vLSU$ W +14 tu 8-4 (6-2) Mizz W +4 @Stan W +4 vOU L -7 vAF# L -8 SMU* 6-5 (5-3) UTEP W +12 @Ari L -22 @OU L -22 Hou 4-7 (3-5) @Tuls L -7 Wash L -17 @Lou W +22 Rice 3-8 (2-6) Mia L -28 @AF L -42 Lam W +1 tt 4-7 (1-7) NM W +1 @Tuls W +4 UNT W +21 TCU 3-8 (0-8) Tula W +27 @KSU W +2 UNT W +4 *ineligible for championship ^Cotton Bowl %Orange Bowl #Bluebonnet Bowl $Liberty Bowl SWC in Final Poll: #6 TAMU, #12 Arkansas, #17 Baylor Opponents in Final Poll: #1 Oklahoma, #8 Air Force, #9 Miami, #13 Alabama, #20 LSU Opponent's Records: Team Record Conf SWC vs. ========================== AF 12-1-0 WAC 0-2 Ala 9-2-1 SEC 0-1 Vs. >.500 Teams: 6-11 Ari 8-3-1 Pac10 0-1 Vs. .500 Teams: 1-0 Aub 8-4-0 SEC 1-0 Vs. <.500 Teams: 12-1 UGA 7-3-2 SEC 0-1 KSU 1-10-0 Big 8 1-0 Vs. Top 20: 1-7 Lamar 3-8-0 SLnd 1-0 Vs. "Bad" Teams: 5-1 LaMon 6-5-0 SLnd 1-0 Lou 2-9-0 INDP 1-0 Vs. Big 8: 1-4 LSU 9-2-1 SEC 1-0 Vs. Big West: 1-0 Mia 10-2-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. MVC: 3-1 Miss 4-6-1 SEC 1-0 Vs. Pac-10: 2-2 Mizz 1-10-0 Big 8 0-1 Vs. SEC: 3-2 NM 3-8-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. SLnd: 4-0 NMSt 1-10-0 BigWest 1-0 Vs. WAC: 3-2 UNT 4-6-1 SLnd 2-0 Vs. Indp: 2-1 OU 11-1-0 Big 8 0-3 USC 6-6-0 Pac10 1-0 Non-Conf Totals: 19-12 Stan 4-7-0 Pac10 1-0 Tula 1-10-0 INDP 1-0 Tuls 6-5-0 MVC 3-1 Wash 7-5-0 Pac10 0-1 Wyo 3-8-0 WAC 1-0 UTEP 1-10-0 WAC 1-0There isn't really too much to say about '85 other than this was one of the more top heavy conference seasons the SWC had during the time I looked at. Also, 3 games v. the National Champion, OU is never good for the W-L records. Twelve of our 19 non-conference victories were against teams that finished below .500.
1986
SWC Standings Opponents ================ ===================================================== TAMU 9-3 (7-1) @LSU L -18 UNT W +20 SMiss W +9 OSU^ L -16 Ark 9-3 (6-2) vMiss W +21 Tuls W +17 NMSt W +31 OU% L -34 Bay 9-3 (6-2) @Wyo W +3 LaT W +31 USC L -3 Col# W +12 tt 7-5 (5-3) KSU W +34 @Mia L -50 NM W +7 Miss! L -3 SMU* 6-5 (5-3) @ASU L -30 BC W +2 @ND L -32 tu 5-6 (4-4) Stan L -11 @Mizz W +2 vOU L -35 Rice 4-7 (2-6) Lam W +14 SWTSt L -25 AF L -4 TCU* 3-8 (1-7) @Tula W +17 KSU W +13 UNT L -4 Hou 1-10 (0-8) @Ari L -34 @OkS W +16 Tuls L -10 *ineligible for championship ^Cotton Bowl %Orange Bowl #Bluebonnet Bowl !Independence Bowl SWC in Final Poll: #12 Baylor, #13 TAMU, #15 Arkansas Opponents in Final Poll: #2 Miami, #3 Oklahoma, #4 Arizona State, #7 Ohio State, #10 LSU, #11 Arizona, #19 Boston College Opponent's Records: Team Record Conf SWC vs. =========================== AF 6-5-0 WAC 0-1 Ari 9-3-0 Pac10 0-1 Vs. >.500 Teams: 7-13 ASU 10-1-1 Pac10 0-1 Vs. .500 Teams: 2-0 BC 9-3-0 INDP 1-0 Vs. <.500 Teams: 7-2 Col 6-6-0 Big8 1-0 KSU 2-9-0 Big8 2-0 Vs. Top 20: 1-7 Lamar 2-9-0 SLnd 1-0 Vs. "Bad" Teams: 4-0 LaT 6-4-1 SLnd 1-0 LSU 9-3-0 SEC 0-1 Vs. Big 8: 5-2 Mia 11-1-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. Big West: 1-0 Miss 8-3-1 SEC 1-1 Vs. GSC: 0-1 SMiss 6-5-0 INDP 1-0 Vs. Pac-10: 0-4 Mizz 3-8-0 Big8 1-0 Vs. SEC: 1-2 ND 5-6-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. SLnd: 3-1 NM 4-8-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. WAC: 2-1 NMSt 1-10-0 BigWest 1-0 Vs. Indp: 4-2 OkS 6-5-0 Big8 1-0 OSU 10-3-0 Big10 0-1 Non-Conf Totals: 16-15 OU 11-1-0 Big8 0-2 Stan 8-4-0 Pac10 0-1 SWTSt 4-7-0 GSC 0-1 Tula 4-7-0 INDP 1-0 Tuls 7-4-0 INDP 1-1 Wyo 6-6-0 WAC 1-0 UNT 6-4-0 SLnd 1-1 USC 7-5-0 Pac10 0-1This was a weaker season in terms of the top teams but from the overall standpoint we played more teams over .500 than we did in '85 and we had a higher percentage of our overall victories against those teams (7 of our 16 wins or 44%).
1987
SWC Standings Opponents =================== =================================================================================== TAMU 10-2-0 (6-1-0) LSU L -14 Wash W +17 vSMiss W +13 LaT W +29 ND^ W +25 tu 7-5-0 (5-2-0) @Aub L -28 BYU L -5 OreSt W +45 vOU L -35 Pitt# W +5 Ark 9-4-0 (5-2-0) vMiss W +21 Tuls W +15 vMia L -44 vNM W +18 @Haw W +18 UGA$ L -3 tt 6-4-1 (3-3-1) @FSU L -24 CSU W +9 Lam W +29 Tuls W +35 TCU 5-6-0 (3-4-0) @BC L -10 @AF L -11 BYU W +21 UNT W +9 Bay 6-5-0 (3-4-0) LaT W +10 @Mizz L -5 @UNLV W +7 SWTSt W +21 Hou 4-6-1 (2-4-1) OkS L -35 SamH W +4 @Wyo L -2 @Temp W +30 Rice 2-9-0 (0-7-0) Lam W +4 @Ind L -22 @LSU L -33 SWTSt W +10 SMU* DNP *ineligible for championship ^Cotton Bowl #Bluebonnet Bowl $Liberty Bowl SWC in Final Poll: #10 TAMU Opponents in Final Poll: #1 Miami, #2 Florida State, #3 Oklahoma, #5 LSU, #7 Auburn, #11 Oklahoma State, #13 Georgia, #17 Notre Dame Opponent's Records: Team Record Conf SWC vs. ========================== AF 9-4-0 WAC 0-1 Aub 9-1-2 SEC 0-1 Vs. >.500 Teams: 7-12 BC 5-6-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. .500 Teams: 0-0 BYU 9-4-0 WAC 1-1 Vs. <.500 Teams: 15-2 CSU 1-11-0 WAC 1-0 FSU 11-1-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. Top 20: 1-8 Haw 5-7-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. "Bad" Teams: 3-0 Ind 8-4-0 Big10 0-1 LaT 3-8-0 INDP2 2-0 Lamar 3-8-0 SLnd 2-0 Vs. Big 8: 0-3 LSU 10-1-1 SEC 0-2 Vs. Big 10: 0-1 Mia 12-0-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. Big West: 1-0 Miss 3-8-0 SEC 1-0 Vs. Pac-10: 2-0 Mizz 5-6-0 Big8 0-1 Vs. SEC: 1-4 ND 8-4-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. SLnd: 6-0 NM 0-11-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. WAC: 4-3 OkS 10-2-0 Big8 0-1 Independent: 5-4 OreS 2-9-0 Pac10 1-0 Independent D-II: 2-0 OU 11-1-0 Big8 0-1 Pitt 8-4-0 INDP 1-0 Non-Conf Totals: 22-14 SamH 8-3-0 SLnd 1-0 SMiss 6-5-0 INDP 1-0 SWTSt 4-7-0 SLnd 2-0 Temp 3-8-0 INDP 1-0 Tuls 3-8-0 INDP 2-0 UGA 9-3-0 SEC 0-1 UNLV 5-6-0 BigWest 1-0 UNT 7-5-0 SLnd 1-0 Wash 7-4-1 Pac10 1-0 Wyo 10-3-0 WAC 0-15 of our losses came to four of the teams that finished ranked in the top 5. The overall non-conference record improved but again we played very well against the poor teams and not so great against good opponents. We won 1 of 9 games against teams that finished in the top 20.
1988
SWC Standings Opponents ================ =================================================================== Ark 10-2 (7-0) vPac W +49 Tuls W +4 vMiss W +8 @Mia L -2 UCLA^ L -14 TAMU* 7-5 (6-1) vNeb L -9 @LSU L -27 @OkS L -47 LaT W +39 Ala L -20 Hou 9-3 (5-2) vLaT W +60 @Mizz W +24 Tuls W +54 Wyo W +24 WSU@ L -2 tt 5-6 (4-3) UNT L -5 @Ari L -16 Lam W +31 vOkS L -3 Bay 6-5 (2-5) UNLV W +24 @KU W +13 @ISU W +35 SWTSt W +38 tu 4-7 (2-5) @BYU L -41 NM W +47 UNT W +3 vOU L -15 TCU 5-6 (3-4) @UGA L -28 BG W +37 BC W +14 @BYU L -13 Rice 0-11 (0-7) Ind L -27 @LaLa L -25 @ND L -43 UNT L -16 SMU* DNP *ineligible for championship ^Cotton Bowl @Aloha Bowl SWC in Final Poll: #12 Arkansas, #18 Houston Opponents in Final Poll: #1 Notre Dame, #2 Miami, #6 UCLA, #10 Nebraska, #11 Oklahoma State, #14 Oklahoma, #15 Georgia, #16 Washington State, #17 Alabama, #19 LSU, #20 Indiana Opponent's Records: Team Record Conf SWC vs. ========================== Ala 9-3-0 SEC 0-1 Ari 7-4-0 Pac10 0-1 Vs. >.500 Teams: 2-18 BC 3-8-0 INDP 1-0 Vs. .500 Teams: 0-0 BG 2-8-1 MAC 1-0 Vs. <.500 Teams: 15-0 BYU 9-4-0 WAC 0-2 Ind 8-3-1 Big10 0-1 Vs. Top 20 Teams: 0-11 ISU 5-6-0 Big8 1-0 Vs. "Bad" Teams: 4-0 KU 1-10-0 Big8 1-0 LaLa 6-5-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. Big 8: 3-4 Lamar 3-8-0 SLnd 1-0 Vs. Big 10: 1-1 LaT 4-7-0 INDP 2-0 Vs. Big West: 2-0 LSU 8-4-0 SEC 0-1 Vs. MAC: 1-0 Mia 11-1-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. Pac-10: 0-3 Miss 5-6-0 SEC 1-0 Vs. SEC: 1-3 Mizz 3-7-1 Big8 1-0 Vs. SLnd: 3-2 ND 12-0-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. WAC: 1-2 Neb 11-2-0 Big8 0-1 Indep: 5-3 NM 2-10-0 Big10 1-0 OkS 10-2-0 Big8 0-2 Non-Conf Totals: 17-18 OU 9-3-0 Big8 0-1 Pac 2-9-0 BigWest 1-0 SWTSt 4-7-0 SLnd 1-0 Tuls 4-7-0 INDP 2-0 UCLA 10-2-0 Pac10 0-1 UGA 9-3-0 SEC 0-1 UNLV 4-7-0 BigWest 1-0 UNT 8-4-0 SLnd 1-2 WSU 9-3-0 Pac10 0-1 Wyo 11-2-0 WAC 1-0We went 0-11 against teams that finished in the Top 20 and we only played 2 of those games against top 5 teams. Even against teams that were above .500 but not Top 20 we only went 2-7. We were perfect against the sub-.500s though. This was a rough season for the conference topped off with SMU sitting out its second season as a result of the Death Penalty.
On a quasi-unrelated note....Barry Sanders was flat out sickening in 1988. The man averaged 21.3 points per game, 238.9 yards rushing/game, 7.6 yards/carry, 295.5 all-purpose yards/game (which was 112 more/game than the guy who finished 2nd; it's also 73.19 yards/game more than Bush had in '05), & he ran for more than 2000 yards more in '88 than he did in '87. Suprisingly, there were 4 other teams that still finished ahead of Oklahoma State in rushing yards per game that season. Following Barry's departure Okie State completely fell apart going 4-7 in '89, 4-7 in '90, and 0-10-1 in '91.
1989
SWC Standings Opponents ================== ====================================================== Ark 10-2-0 (7-1) Tuls W +19 vMiss W +7 vUTEP W +32 Tenn^ L -4 TAMU 8-4-0 (6-2) LSU W +12 @Wash L -13 SMiss W +17 Pitt^^ L -3 Hou* 9-2-0 (6-2) @UNLV W +69 @ASU W +29 Temp W +58 tt 9-3-0 (5-3) Ari W +10 NM W +7 @OkS W +16 Duke-a L -28 Bay 5-6-0 (4-4) @OU L -26 @UGA L -12 KU W +43 tu 5-6-0 (4-4) @Col L -21 PSU L -4 vOU W +4 TCU 4-7-0 (2-6) @Mizz L -4 SMiss W +2 AF W +18 Rice 2-8-1 (2-6) @Tula L -1 LaLa L -15 @WF T +0 SMU 2-9-0 (0-8) UConn W +1 UNT W +24 @ND L -53 *ineligible for championship ^ Cotton Bowl ^^ Sun Bowl -a All-American Bowl SWC in Final Poll: #13 Arkansas, #14 Houston, #19 texas tech, #20 TAMU Opponents in Final Poll: #2 Notre Dame, #4 Colorado, #5 Tennessee, #15 Penn State, #17 Pitt, #23 Washington, #25 Arizona Opponent's Records: Team Record Conf SWC vs. ========================== AF 8-4-1 WAC 1-0 Ari 8-4-0 Pac10 1-0 Vs. >.500 Teams: 6-9 ASU 6-4-1 Pac10 1-0 Vs. .500 Teams: 1-1 Col 11-1-0 Big8 0-1 Vs. <.500 Teams: 10-2-1 Duke 8-4-0 ACC 0-1 KU 4-7-0 Big8 1-0 Vs. Top 25 Teams: 1-6-0 LaLa 7-4-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. "Bad" Teams: 3-1-1 LSU 4-7-0 SEC 1-0 Miss 8-4-0 SEC 1-0 Vs. ACC: 0-1-1 Mizz 2-9-0 Big8 0-1 Vs. Atl 10: 1-0 ND 12-1-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. Big 8: 3-3 NM 2-10-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. Big West: 1-0 OkS 4-7-0 Big8 1-0 Vs. Pac-10: 2-1 OU 7-4-0 Big8 1-1 Vs. SEC: 2-2 Pitt 8-3-1 INDP 0-1 Vs. SLnd: 1-0 PSU 8-3-1 INDP 0-1 Vs. WAC: 3-0 SMiss 5-6-0 INDP 2-0 Vs. Indep: 4-5 Temp 1-10-0 INDP 1-0 Tenn 11-1-0 SEC 0-1 Non-Conf Totals: 17-12-1 Tula 4-8-0 INDP 0-1 Tuls 6-6-0 INDP 1-0 UConn 8-3-0 ATL10 1-0 UGA 6-6-0 SEC 0-1 UNLV 4-7-0 BigWest 1-0 UNT 5-6-0 SLnd 1-0 UTEP 2-10-0 WAC 1-0 Wash 8-4-0 Pac10 0-1 WF 2-8-1 ACC 0-0-1Hey, we won the Heisman (Houston QB, Andre Ware). We played better against better opponents winning 6 of our 15 games against them but that still just barely over 1/3 of our non-conf victories. It was kind of a bleh year for the conference....good teams at the top but not great teams.
1990
SWC Standings Opponents ==================== ================================================================== tu 10-2-0 (8-0-0) @PSU W +4 Col L -7 vOU W +1 Mia^ L -43 TAMU 9-3-1 (5-2-1) @Haw W +15 LaLa W +49 UNT W +32 @LSU L -9 BYU-h W +41 Hou* 10-1-0 (7-1-0) UNLV W +28 EWash W +63 vASU W +17 Bay 6-4-1 (5-2-1) @Neb L -13 @ASU L -21 SamH W +4 Rice 5-6-0 (3-5-0) WF W +16 Tula L -11 NW W +17 TCU 5-6-0 (3-5-0) WSU L -18 @Mizz W +1 OkS W +10 tt 4-7-0 (3-5-0) @OSU L -17 @NM W +2 Mia L -35 Ark 1-7-0 (3-8-0) Tuls W +25 vMiss L -4 vCSU W +11 SMU 1-10-0 (1-8-0) Vand W +37 @Tula L -36 @UNT L -7 *ineligible for championship ^Cotton Bowl -h Holiday Bowl SWC in Final Poll: #10 Houston, #12 texas, #15 TAMU, Opponents in Final Poll: #1 Colorado, #3 Miami, #11 Penn State, #17 Oklahoma, #22 BYU, #24 Nebraska Opponent's Records: Team Record Conf SWC vs. ========================== ASU 4-7-0 Pac10 1-1 BYU 10-3-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. >.500 Teams: 6-7 Col 11-1-1 Big8 0-1 Vs. .500 Teams: 0-0 CSU 9-4-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. <.500 Teams: 12-5 EWash 2-9-0 MAC 1-0 Haw 7-5-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. Top 25 Teams: 3-4 LaLa 5-6-0 INDP 1-0 Vs. "Bad" Teams: 4-0 LSU 5-6-0 SEC 0-1 Mia 10-2-0 INDP 0-2 Vs. ACC: 1-0 Miss 9-3-0 SEC 0-1 Vs. Big 8: 3-2 Mizz 4-7-0 Big8 1-0 Vs. Big 10: 1-1 Neb 9-3-0 Big8 0-1 Vs. BigWest: 1-0 NM 2-10-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. MAC: 1-0 NW 2-9-0 Big10 1-0 Vs. Pac-10: 1-2 OkS 4-7-0 Big8 1-0 Vs. SEC: 1-2 OU 8-3-0 Big8 1-0 Vs. SLnd: 2-1 OSU 7-4-1 Big10 0-1 Vs. WAC: 4-0 PSU 9-3-0 INDP 1-0 Vs. Indep: 3-4 SamH 4-7-0 SLnd 1-0 Tula 4-7-0 INDP 0-2 Non-Conf Totals: 18-12 Tuls 3-8-0 INDP 1-0 UNLV 4-7-0 BigWest 1-0 UNT 6-5-0 SLnd 1-1 Vand 1-10-0 SEC 1-0 WF 3-8-0 ACC 1-0 WSU 3-8-0 Pac10 0-1I don't know how to interpret 1990. We lost three games to Colorado and Miami who finished 1 & 2 in the polls and outside of that we played better than .500 against winning teams. Still 5 losses to teams under .500 isn't great. We were very top heavy and the bottom of the conference was simply terrible.
1991
SWC Standings Opponents ================ ===================================================== TAMU 10-2 (8-0) LSU W +38 @Tuls L -1 LaLa W +27 FSU^ L -8 Bay 8-4 (5-3) UTEP W +20 @Col W +2 Mizz W +26 Ind-c L -24 tt 6-5 (5-3) CSFU W +34 Ore L -15 @Wyo L -5 Ark 6-6 (5-3) vMia L -28 LaLa W +2 vMiss L -7 UGA! L -9 tu 5-6 (4-4) @MSU L -7 Aub L -4 vOU W +3 TCU 7-4 (4-4) NM W +53 BSt W +6 @OkS W +3 Hou 4-7 (3-5) LaT W +70 @Mia L -30 @Ill L -41 Rice 4-7 (2-6) @NW W +29 @Tula W +9 ISU L -1 SMU 1-10 (0-8) @Van L -3 @Tula W +14 Tuls L -5 *ineligible for championship ^Cotton Bowl -c Copper Bowl !Independence Bowl SWC in Final Poll: #12 TAMU Opponents in Final Poll: #1 Miami, #4 Florida State, #16 Oklahoma, #17 Georgia, #20 Colorado, #21 Tulsa Opponent's Records: Team Record Conf SWC vs. ========================== Aub 5-6-0 SEC 0-1 BSt 6-5-0 MAC 1-0 Vs. >.500 Teams: 4-8 Col 8-3-1 Big8 1-0 Vs. .500 Teams: 0-1 CSFU 2-9-0 BigWest 1-0 Vs. <.500 Teams: 11-6 FSU 11-2-0 INDP 0-1 Ill 6-6-0 Big10 0-1 Vs. Top 25 Teams: 2-6 Ind 7-4-1 Big10 0-1 Vs. "Bad" Teams: 6-0 ISU 3-7-1 Big8 0-1 LaLa 2-8-1 INDP 2-0 Vs. Big 8: 4-1 LaT 8-1-2 INDP 1-0 Vs. Big 10: 1-3 Mia 12-0-0 BigEast 0-2 Vs. Big East: 0-2 Miss 5-6-0 SEC 0-1 Vs. Big West: 1-0 Mizz 3-7-1 Big8 1-0 Vs. MAC: 1-0 MSU 7-5-0 SEC 0-1 Vs. Pac-10: 0-1 NM 3-9-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. SEC: 1-5 NW 3-8-0 Big10 1-0 Vs. WAC: 2-1 OkS 0-10-1 Big8 1-0 Vs. Indep: 5-3 Ore 3-8-0 Pac10 0-1 OU 9-3-0 Big8 1-0 LSU 5-6-0 SEC 1-0 Non-Conf Totals: 15-15 Tula 1-10-0 INDP 2-0 Tuls 10-2-0 INDP 0-2 UGA 9-3-0 SEC 0-1 UTEP 4-7-1 WAC 1-0 Vand 5-6-0 SEC 0-1 Wyo 4-6-1 WAC 0-1Not a very good year at all with A&M being in a class all by itself. The conference continued to be very poor against winning teams (4 of our 15 wins or 27%). 15-15 just isn't very great.
1992
SWC Standings Opponents ================== ================================================================================= TAMU* 12-1-0 (7-0) vStan W +3 @LSU W +9 Tuls W +10 @Mizz W +13 Lou W +22 ND^ L -25 Bay 7-5-0 (4-3) LaT L -1 Col L -19 UtS W +35 GT W +4 Ari^^ W +5 Rice 6-5-0 (4-3) @AF L -9 @Duke L -5 SamH W +31 Navy W +5 tu 6-5-0 (4-3) MSU L -18 @Syr L -10 UNT W +18 vOU W +10 tt 5-6-0 (4-3) OU L -25 Wyo W +17 @Ore L -3 @NCSt L -35 SMU 5-6-0 (2-5) Tula L -1 UNT W +14 @NM W +7 vArk L -5 Hou 4-7-0 (2-5) @Tuls L -3 Ill W +18 @Mich L -54 LaLa W +56 TCU 2-8-1 (1-6) @NM L -17 WMi T +0 OkS W +2 @Mia L -35 *ineligible for championship ^Cotton Bowl ^^Sun Bowl SWC in Final Poll: #7 TAMU Opponents in Final Poll: #3 Miami, #4 Notre Dame, #5 Michigan, #6 Syracuse, #9 Stanford, #13 Colorado, #17 NC State, #23 Mississippi State, Opponent's Records: Team Record Conf SWC vs. ========================== AF 7-5-0 WAC 0-1 Ari 6-5-1 Pac10 1-0 Vs. >.500 Teams: 5-9-1 Ark 3-7-1 SEC 0-1 Vs. .500 Teams: 0-1 Col 9-2-1 Big8 0-1 Vs. <.500 Teams: 13-6 Duke 2-9-0 ACC 0-1 GT 5-6-0 ACC 1-0 Vs. Top 25 Teams: 1-7 Ill 6-5-1 Big10 1-0 Vs. "Bad" Teams: 3-2 LaLa 2-9-0 INDP 1-0 LaT 5-6-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. ACC: 1-2 Lou 5-6-0 INDP 1-0 Vs. Big 8: 3-2 LSU 2-9-0 SEC 1-0 Vs. Big 10: 1-1 Mia 11-1-0 BigEast 0-1 Vs. Big East: 0-2 Mich 9-0-3 Big10 0-1 Vs. Big West: 1-0 Mizz 3-8-0 Big8 1-0 Vs. MAC: 0-0-1 MSU 7-5-0 SEC 0-1 Vs. Pac-10: 2-1 Navy 1-10-0 INDP 1-0 Vs. SEC: 1-2 NCSt 9-3-1 ACC 0-1 Vs. SLnd: 3-0 ND 10-1-1 INDP 0-1 Vs. WAC: 2-2 NM 3-8-0 WAC 1-1 Vs. Indep: 4-4 OkS 4-6-1 Big8 1-0 Ore 6-6-0 Pac10 0-1 Non-Conf Totals: 18-15-2 OU 5-4-2 Big8 1-1 SamH 6-3-2 SLnd 1-0 Stan 10-3-0 Pac10 1-0 Syr 10-2-0 BigEast 0-1 Tula 2-9-0 INDP 0-1 Tuls 4-7-0 INDP 1-1 UNT 4-7-0 SLnd 2-0 UtS 5-6-0 BigWest 1-0 WMi 7-3-1 MAC 0-0-1 Wyo 5-7-0 WAC 1-0Same results, different season. One team is clearly better than the rest and everyone else is kind of huddled around each other in the middle. I thought I should point out that at this point (from 1985-1992) we are 10-57 against non-conference opponents who have finished the season ranked. That isn't just the bad teams in our conference, that's everyone.
1993
SWC Standings Opponents ==================== =================================================================== TAMU 10-2-0 (7-0-0) LSU W +24 @OU L -30 Mizz W +73 Lou W +35 ND^ L -3 tt 6-6-0 (5-2-0) Pac W +48 @Neb L -23 @UGA L -15 NCSt L -2 OU^^ L -31 tu 5-5-1 (5-2-0) @Col L -22 Syr T +0 @Lou L -31 vOU L -21 Rice 6-5-0 (3-4-0) @OSU L -27 Tula W +34 SamH W +1 ISU W +28 Bay 5-6-0 (3-4-0) Fres W +3 @Col L -24 @UtS W +4 @GT L -10 TCU 4-7-0 (2-5-0) OU L -32 NM W +1 @OkS L -5 Tula W +7 SMU 2-7-2 (1-5-1) Ark L -4 UNT W +14 @Mizz T +0 @Navy W +29 Hou 1-9-1 (1-5-1) @USC L -42 Tuls L -14 @Mich L -21 Cin L -24 ^Cotton Bowl ^^Sun Bowl SWC in Final Poll: #9 TAMU Opponents in Final Poll: #2 Notre Dame, #3 Nebraska, #11 Ohio State, #16 Colorado, #17 Oklahoma, #21 Michigan, #24 Louisville Opponent's Records: Team Record Conf SWC vs. ========================== Ark 5-5-1 SEC 0-1 Cin 8-3-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. >.500 Teams: 4-14-1 Col 8-3-1 Big8 0-2 Vs. .500 Teams: 0-1-0 Fres 8-4-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. <.500 Teams: 9-4-1 GT 5-6-0 ACC 0-1 ISU 3-8-0 Big8 1-0 Vs. Top 25 Teams: 1-11 Lou 9-3-0 INDP 1-1 Vs. "Bad" Teams: 0-0 LSU 5-6-0 SEC 1-0 Mich 8-4-0 Big10 0-1 Vs. ACC: 0-2-0 Mizz 3-7-1 Big8 1-0-1 Vs. Big 8: 2-8-1 Navy 4-7-0 INDP 1-0 Vs. Big 10: 0-2-0 NCSt 7-5-0 ACC 0-1 Vs. Big East: 0-0-1 ND 11-1-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. Big West: 2-0-0 NM 6-5-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. Pac-10: 0-1-0 Neb 11-1-0 Big8 0-1 Vs. SEC: 1-2-0 OkS 3-8-0 Big8 0-1 Vs. SLnd: 2-0-0 OSU 10-1-1 Big10 0-1 Vs. WAC: 2-0-0 OU 9-3-0 Big8 0-4 Vs. Indep: 4-4-0 Pac 3-8-0 BigWest 1-0 SamH 4-7-0 SLnd 1-0 Non-Conf Totals: 13-19-2 Syr 6-4-1 BigEas 0-0-1 Tula 3-9-0 INDP 2-0 Tuls 4-6-1 INDP 0-1 UGA 5-6-0 SEC 0-1 UNT 4-7-0 SLnd 1-0 USC 8-5-0 Pac10 0-1 UtS 7-5-0 BigWest 1-0See 1992.....and now we're 11-68 againt non-conference opponents who finished in the season ranked.
1994
SWC Standings Opponents ==================== =================================================================== TAMU* 10-0-1 (6-0-1) @LSU W +5 OU W +22 SMiss W +24 @Lou W +16 tt 6-6-0 (4-3-0) NM W +6 Neb L -26 @OU L -6 LaLa W +32 USC^ L -41 Bay 7-5-0 (4-3-0) LaT W +41 @SJS W +34 OkS W +4 @USC L -10 WSU-b L -7 Rice 5-6-0 (4-3-0) Tula L -2 @KSU L -9 @ISU W +10 @Navy L -12 tu 8-4-0 (4-3-0) @Pitt W +2 Lou W +14 Col L -3 vOU W +7 UNC^^ W +4 TCU 7-5-0 (4-3-0) @UNC L -10 @NM W +15 KU W +10 @Tula W +2 UVA! L -10 Hou 1-10-0 (1-6-0) KU L -22 @LaT L -25 Mizz L -16 @OSU L -52 SMU 1-9-1 (0-6-1) vArk L -20 @UCLA L -7 NM W +3 UNC L -4 *ineligible for championship ^Cotton Bowl ^^Sun Bowl !Independence Bowl SWC in Final Poll: #8 TAMU, #25 texas Opponents in Final Poll: #1 Nebraska, #3 Colorado, #13 Southern Cal, #14 Ohio State, #15 Virginia, #19 Kansas State, #21 Washington State Opponent's Records: Team Record Conf SWC vs. ========================== Ark 4-7-0 SEC 0-1 Col 11-1-0 Big8 0-1 Vs. >.500 Teams: 6-11 ISU 0-10-1 Big8 1-0 Vs. .500 Teams: 2-1 KU 6-5-0 Big8 1-1 Vs. <.500 Teams: 8-8 KSU 9-3-0 Big8 0-1 LaLa 6-5-0 BigWest 1-0 Vs. Top 25 Teams: 0-8 LaT 3-8-0 BigWest 1-1 Vs. "Bad" Teams: 2-1 Lou 6-5-0 INDP 2-0 LSU 4-7-0 SEC 1-0 Vs. ACC: 1-3 Mizz 3-8-1 Big8 0-1 Vs. Big 8: 5-6 Navy 3-8-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. Big 10: 0-1 Neb 13-0-0 Big8 0-1 Vs. Big East: 1-0 NM 5-7-0 WAC 3-0 Vs. Big West: 3-1 OkS 3-7-1 Big8 1-0 Vs. Pac-10: 0-4 OSU 9-4-0 Big10 0-1 Vs. SEC: 1-1 OU 6-6-0 Big8 2-1 Vs. WAC: 3-0 Pitt 3-8-0 BigEast 1-0 Vs. Indep: 4-2 SJS 3-8-0 BigWest 1-0 SMiss 6-5-0 INDP 1-0 Non-Conf Totals: 16-20 Tula 1-10-0 INDP 1-1 UCLA 5-6-0 Pac10 0-1 UNC 8-4-0 ACC 1-2 USC 8-3-1 Pac10 0-2 UVA 9-3-0 ACC 0-1 WSU 8-4-0 Pac10 0-1See 1993 or 1992. One team clearly ahead of the rest. We're really not winning any more games against teams with winning records but we are losing more games against teams with losing records. Sadly, 5 of the SWC's 6 wins against teams with a winning record were against teams only 1 game over .500. It seems that the league has become less and less competitive since around 1990.
1995
SWC Standings Opponents ================== ==================================================================== tu 10-2-1 (7-0) @Haw W +21 Pitt W +11 @ND L -28 vOU T +0 VT-s L -18 TAMU 9-3-0 (5-2) LSU W +16 Tuls W +43 @Col L -8 MTen W +42 Mich-b W +2 tt 9-3-0 (5-2) @PSU L -1 Mizz W +27 ArkS W +38 @NM W +27 AF-c W +14 Bay 7-4-0 (5-2) @Tuls W +32 MSU L -9 @NCSt W +14 @Mia L -21 TCU 6-5-0 (3-4) ISU W +17 @KU L -18 @Vand L -13 Tula W +5 Hou 2-9-0 (2-5) @Fla L -24 LaT L -12 @USC L -35 @KU L -7 Rice 2-8-1 (1-6) UNLV W +38 Tula L -2 @LSU L -45 @Army T +0 SMU 1-10-0 (0-7) Ark W +3 Navy L -31 @OU L -14 @Wisc L -42 ^Cotton Bowl ^^Sun Bowl -b Alamo Bowl -s Sugar Bowl SWC in Final Poll: #14 texas, #15 TAMU, #23 texas tech Opponents in Final Poll: #2 Florida, #5 Colorado, #9 Kansas, #10 Virginia Tech, #11 Notre Dame, #12 Southern Cal, #17 Michigan, #20 Miami Opponent's Records: Team Record Conf SWC vs. ========================== AF 8-5-0 WAC 1-0 Ark 8-5-0 SEC 1-0 Vs. >.500 Teams: 6-10-0 ArkS 6-5-0 BigWest 1-0 Vs. .500 Teams: 0-1-2 Army 5-5-1 INDP 0-0-1 Vs. <.500 Teams: 10-6-0 Col 10-2-0 Big8 0-1 Fla 12-1-0 SEC 0-1 Vs. Top 25 Teams: 1-8 Haw 4-8-0 WAC 1-0 Vs. "Bad" Teams: 3-2 ISU 3-8-0 Big8 1-0 KU 10-2-0 Big8 0-2 Vs. ACC: 1-0 LaT 5-6-0 BigWest 0-1 Vs. Big 8: 2-4-1 LSU 7-4-1 SEC 1-1 Vs. Big 10: 1-2 Mia 8-3-0 BigEast 0-1 Vs. Big East: 1-2 Mich 9-4-0 Big10 1-0 Vs. Big West: 2-1 Mizz 3-8-0 Big8 1-0 Vs. OVC: 1-0 MSU 3-8-0 SEC 0-1 Vs. Pac-10: 0-1 MTen 7-4-0 OVC 1-0 Vs. SEC: 2-4 Navy 5-6-0 INDP 0-1 Vs. WAC: 3-0 NCSt 3-8-0 ACC 1-0 Vs. Indep: 3-3-1 ND 9-3-0 INDP 0-1 NM 4-7-0 WAC 1-0 Non-Conf Totals: 16-17-2 OU 5-5-1 Big8 0-1-1 Pitt 2-9-0 BigEast 1-0 PSU 9-3-0 Big10 0-1 Tula 2-9-0 INDP 1-1 Tuls 4-7-0 INDP 2-0 UNLV 2-9-0 BigWest 1-0 USC 9-2-1 Pac10 0-1 Vand 2-9-0 SEC 0-1 VT 10-2-0 BigEast 0-1 Wisc 4-5-2 Big10 0-1Things improved slightly from a record standpoint and the fact that there were a couple more competitive teams, however, there was a big split in the middle leaving the "middle class" a much smaller population as you kind of see which way the teams are going to go when the conference is dissolved.....top 4 go to the Big XII and the bottom 4 go elsewhere.
Overview
Like I mentioned, the conference became much, much weaker once the 1990 started. I have a feeling that had something to do with the recruiting scandals of the 80's and the smaller schools not being able to keep up with the big state schools now....but that's for another day. I think that it was unfortunate that some of the better teams were not able to participate in Bowl games during the early 90s due to penalties and restrictions from the recruiting problems. I think it would have given us a few more games with our top teams to measure ourselves against other quality opponents. Then again, maybe we wouldn't have played in those bowl games in the mid-to-late 80s if we had played by the rules in the first place.Here's a final look at some of the numbers (the "Bad" are teams with 2 wins or less):
The SWC Vs. Non-Conference Opponents >.500 .500 <.500 Vs.Rnk Vs."Bad" Overall ============================================================ 1985 6-11-0 1-0-0 12-1-0 1-7-0 5-1-0 19-12-0 1986 7-13-0 2-0-0 7-2-0 1-7-0 4-0-0 16-15-0 1987 7-12-0 0-0-0 15-2-0 1-8-0 3-0-0 22-14-0 1988 2-18-0 0-0-0 15-0-0 0-11-0 4-0-0 17-18-0 1989 6-9-0 1-1-0 10-2-1 1-6-0 3-1-1 17-12-1 1990 6-7-0 0-0-0 12-5-0 3-4-0 4-0-0 18-12-0 1991 4-8-0 0-1-0 11-6-0 2-6-0 6-0-0 15-15-0 1992 5-9-1 0-1-0 13-6-0 1-7-0 3-2-0 18-15-2 1993 4-14-1 0-1-0 9-4-1 1-11-0 0-0-0 13-19-2 1994 6-11-0 2-1-0 8-8-0 0-8-0 2-1-0 16-20-0 1995 6-10-0 0-1-2 10-6-0 1-8-0 3-2-0 16-17-2 ============================================================ TOT 59-122-2 6-6-2 122-42-2 12-84-0 37-7-1 187-169-7 ============================================================ W% .328 .500 .741 .125 .833 .525Twelve and eighty four against non-conference teams that finished the season ranked. Wow.
In the end, I have to agree that the Southwest Conference was a weak conference. Finding a contemporary comparison, I think that the Big East would be a good fit. They typically have a team in the Top 10 and another in the Top 25 with a third team sprinkled in there every few years.
You would think that since A&M finished at or right at the top of the conference in just about every one of those seasons that the numbers above would be padded by our records. I would think so.
Texas A&M Vs. Non-Conference Opponents >.500 .500 <.500 Vs.Rnk Vs."Bad" Overall ============================================================ 1985 3-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 3-1 1986 2-2 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 2-2 1987 3-1 0-0 1-0 1-1 0-0 4-1 1988 0-4 0-0 1-0 0-4 0-0 1-4 1989 0-2 0-0 2-0 0-2 0-0 2-2 1990 3-0 0-0 1-1 1-0 0-0 4-1 1991 0-2 0-0 2-0 0-2 1-0 2-2 1992 1-1 0-0 4-0 1-1 1-0 5-1 1993 1-2 0-0 2-0 1-2 0-0 3-2 1994 2-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 4-0 1995 3-1 0-0 1-0 1-1 0-0 4-1 ============================================================ TOT 18-16 1-0 15-1 5-16 2-0 34-17 ============================================================ W% .529 1.00 .938 .238 1.00 .666Well, I was correct....we did pad those numbers. At the same time however, you can see why there is question about how much playing in the SWC helped our record.
From 1985-1995 against non-conference opponents that finished the season in the rankings we were 5-16. Against every other non-conference opponent we were 29-1.
Read that sentence again.
So yeah, I think that A&M's late-80s and early-90s (more so the early 90s) should be looked at with a grain of salt.
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