1961 Baylor Bears football team

1961 Southwest Conference football standings
	+ – Conference co-champions; Rankings from AP Poll

1961 Baylor Bears football
1961 Baylor Bears football
Gotham Bowl champion
Gotham Bowl, W 24–9 vs. Utah State
Conference	Southwest Conference
1961 record	6–5 (2–5 SWC)
Head coach	John Bridgers (3rd season);
Captain	Ronald Stanley ; Bill Hicks ; Bobby Lane
Home stadium	Baylor Stadium
	Seasons ← 1960 1962 →

The 1961 Baylor Bears football team represented Baylor University during the 1961 NCAA University Division football season.^[1] The Bears were led by third-year head coach John Bridgers and played their home games at Baylor Stadium in Waco, Texas. They competed as members of the Southwest Conference, finishing in sixth with a regular season record of 5–5 (2–5 SWC). Baylor was invited to the first Gotham Bowl, where they beat the previously-undefeated Utah State Aggies, 24–9.

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 23	Wake Forest*		Baylor Stadium Waco, TX	W 31–0	28,000
September 30	at Pittsburgh*		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 16–13	41,194
October 14	Arkansas	No. 9	Baylor Stadium Waco, TX	L 13–23	34,000
October 21	at Texas Tech		Jones Stadium Lubbock, TX (rivalry)	L 17–19	32,500
October 28	at Texas A&M		Kyle Field College Station, TX (Battle of the Brazos)	L 0–23	29,000
November 4	TCU		Baylor Stadium Waco, TX (rivalry)	W 28–14	23,000
November 11	at No. 1 Texas		Memorial Stadium Austin, TX	L 7–33	62,000
November 18	Air Force*		Baylor Stadium Waco, TX	W 31–7	22,000
November 25	SMU		Baylor Stadium Waco, TX	W 31–6	17,000
December 2	at No. 17 Rice		Rice Stadium Houston, TX	L 14–26	30,000
December 9	vs. No. 10 Utah State*		Polo Grounds New York, NY (Gotham Bowl)	W 24–9	15,123
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^ ^a ^b "1961 Baylor Bears Schedule and Results". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
^ 2016 Baylor Media Guide^{[permanent dead link]}. p. 142

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v t Baylor Bears football
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Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games TCU Texas A&M: Battle of the Brazos Texas Tech
Culture & lore	"Old Fite" The Golden Wave Band Year of the Bear Sexual assault scandal
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

1961 Southwest Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 3 Texas +	6	–	1	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Arkansas +	6	–	1	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. 17 Rice	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Texas A&M	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	1
TCU	2	–	4	–	1	3	–	5	–	2
Baylor	2	–	5	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Texas Tech	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	0
SMU	1	–	5	–	1	2	–	7	–	1

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll