Coach record book

John Ralston's Top 25 Games

The defining games from John Ralston's unambiguous full-season assignments, with the coached team identified for every result.

Games: 25
Top score: 66/100
Overtime: 0

Teams coached in this list

National ranking

The top 25 of 182 attributable games

25 of these games include at least one AP-ranked team at kickoff. Open a supported game for its box score and statistics.

1970Week 3
Stanford at Arkansas
Stanford 34, Arkansas 28
W · Coached Stanford vs. Arkansas
No. 3 Stanford vs. No. 12 Arkansas · 6-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 24/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
66
Game score
1971PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan vs. Stanford
Michigan 12, Stanford 13
W · Coached Stanford vs. Michigan
No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 16 Stanford · 1-point margin
Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 29/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
66
Game score
1970PostseasonNeutral site
Ohio State vs. Stanford
Ohio State 17, Stanford 27
W · Coached Stanford vs. Ohio State
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 12 Stanford · 10-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 20/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
63
Game score
1970Week 9
Stanford at UCLA
Stanford 9, UCLA 7
W · Coached Stanford vs. UCLA
No. 6 Stanford vs. No. 16 UCLA · 2-point margin
Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 28/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
63
Game score
1970Week 7
USC at Stanford
USC 14, Stanford 24
W · Coached Stanford vs. USC
No. 10 USC vs. No. 8 Stanford · 10-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 20/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
59
Game score
1968Week 5
USC at Stanford
USC 27, Stanford 24
L · Coached Stanford vs. USC
No. 2 USC vs. No. 18 Stanford · 3-point margin
Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 27/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
59
Game score
1969Week 5
Stanford at USC
Stanford 24, USC 26
L · Coached Stanford vs. USC
No. 18 Stanford vs. No. 3 USC · 2-point margin
Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 28/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
59
Game score
1969Week 7
Stanford at UCLA
Stanford 20, UCLA 20
T · Coached Stanford vs. UCLA
No. 16 Stanford vs. No. 9 UCLA · 0-point margin
Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 30/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
57
Game score
1969Week 4
Stanford at Purdue
Stanford 35, Purdue 36
L · Coached Stanford vs. Purdue
No. 16 Stanford vs. No. 9 Purdue · 1-point margin
Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 29/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
56
Game score
1967Week 7
UCLA at Stanford
UCLA 21, Stanford 16
L · Coached Stanford vs. UCLA
No. 2 UCLA vs. Unranked Stanford · 5-point margin
Ranking 24/50 · Closeness 25/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
49
Game score
1971Week 4
Duke at Stanford
Duke 9, Stanford 3
L · Coached Stanford vs. Duke
No. 19 Duke vs. No. 10 Stanford · 6-point margin
Ranking 23/50 · Closeness 24/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
47
Game score
1971Week 5
Stanford at Washington
Stanford 17, Washington 6
W · Coached Stanford vs. Washington
No. 19 Stanford vs. No. 11 Washington · 11-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 19/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
46
Game score
1971Week 10
San José State at Stanford
San José State 13, Stanford 12
L · Coached Stanford vs. San José State
Unranked San José State vs. No. 10 Stanford · 1-point margin
Ranking 16/50 · Closeness 29/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
45
Game score
1971Week 7
Washington State at Stanford
Washington State 24, Stanford 23
L · Coached Stanford vs. Washington State
Unranked Washington State vs. No. 10 Stanford · 1-point margin
Ranking 16/50 · Closeness 29/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
45
Game score
1969Week 11
California at Stanford
California 28, Stanford 29
W · Coached Stanford vs. California
Unranked California vs. No. 15 Stanford · 1-point margin
Ranking 11/50 · Closeness 29/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
45
Game score
1964Week 10
Oregon State at Stanford
Oregon State 7, Stanford 16
W · Coached Stanford vs. Oregon State
No. 8 Oregon State vs. Unranked Stanford · 9-point margin
Ranking 18/50 · Closeness 21/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
44
Game score
1970Week 11
Washington at Stanford
Washington 22, Stanford 29
W · Coached Stanford vs. Washington
Unranked Washington vs. No. 11 Stanford · 7-point margin
Ranking 15/50 · Closeness 23/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
43
Game score
1968Week 6
Washington State at Stanford
Washington State 21, Stanford 21
T · Coached Stanford vs. Washington State
Unranked Washington State vs. No. 14 Stanford · 0-point margin
Ranking 12/50 · Closeness 30/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
42
Game score
1960PostseasonNeutral site
Utah State vs. New Mexico State
Utah State 13, New Mexico State 20
L · Coached Utah State vs. New Mexico State
No. 19 Utah State vs. No. 15 New Mexico State · 7-point margin
Ranking 18/50 · Closeness 23/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
41
Game score
1970Week 12
Stanford at Air Force
Stanford 14, Air Force 31
L · Coached Stanford vs. Air Force
No. 13 Stanford vs. No. 12 Air Force · 17-point margin
Ranking 27/50 · Closeness 13/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
40
Game score
1965Week 6
Stanford at USC
Stanford 0, USC 14
L · Coached Stanford vs. USC
Unranked Stanford vs. No. 4 USC · 14-point margin
Ranking 22/50 · Closeness 16/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
38
Game score
1966Week 10
Stanford at UCLA
Stanford 0, UCLA 10
L · Coached Stanford vs. UCLA
Unranked Stanford vs. No. 8 UCLA · 10-point margin
Ranking 18/50 · Closeness 20/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
38
Game score
1971Week 9
UCLA at Stanford
UCLA 9, Stanford 20
W · Coached Stanford vs. UCLA
Unranked UCLA vs. No. 12 Stanford · 11-point margin
Ranking 14/50 · Closeness 19/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
38
Game score
1960Week 9
Wyoming at Utah State
Wyoming 13, Utah State 17
W · Coached Utah State vs. Wyoming
Unranked Wyoming vs. No. 19 Utah State · 4-point margin
Ranking 7/50 · Closeness 26/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 5/5
38
Game score
1966Week 6
USC at Stanford
USC 21, Stanford 7
L · Coached Stanford vs. USC
No. 5 USC vs. Unranked Stanford · 14-point margin
Ranking 21/50 · Closeness 16/30 · Overtime 0/15 · Win 0/5
37
Game score

Methodology

How coach games are attributed and scored

Attribution: a team-season counts only when one coach owns the full schedule, or exactly one listed coach covers every completed game. Ambiguous split and interim seasons are excluded.

AP ranking, 50: both teams earn points from their AP rank at game time.

Closeness and overtime, 45: close finals earn up to 30 points and overtime earns up to 15.

Result, 5: a win by the coached team earns five points.

Regular-season rankings use the AP poll for the game's week. Postseason games use the final regular-season AP poll before bowl and playoff results. Historical poll, line-score, and video coverage varies.