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1939 Alabama

5–⁠3–⁠1 (2–⁠3–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Frank Thomas.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 1939, game by game: won vs. Samford 21–0; won at Fordham 7–6; won vs. Mercer 20–0; lost at No. 5 Tennessee 0–21; won vs. Mississippi State 7–0; tied at No. 15 Kentucky 7–7; lost at No. 7 Tulane 0–13; lost vs. Georgia Tech 0–6; won at Vanderbilt 39–0+39−21Won 21–0 vs. Samford+21SamfordWon 7–6 at Fordham+1FordhamWon 20–0 vs. Mercer+20MercerLost 0–21 at No. 5 Tennessee-21No. 5 TennesseeWon 7–0 vs. Mississippi State+7Mississippi Sta…Tied 7–7 at No. 15 Kentucky0No. 15 KentuckyLost 0–13 at No. 7 Tulane-13No. 7 TulaneLost 0–6 vs. Georgia Tech-6Georgia TechWon 39–0 at Vanderbilt+39Vanderbilt
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30vsSamfordW 21–⁠096%
Oct 7atFordhamW 7–⁠644%
Oct 14vsMercerW 20–⁠096%
Oct 21at5TennesseeL 0–⁠2133%
Oct 28vsMississippi StateW 7–⁠071%
Nov 4at15KentuckyT 7–⁠760%
Nov 11at7TulaneL 0–⁠1337%
Nov 18vsGeorgia TechL 0–⁠666%
Nov 30atVanderbiltW 39–⁠061%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Vanderbilt 39–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 84th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 8
  2. Wk 2: 20
  3. Wk 3: 19
  4. Wk 4: 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 1939.

Record
5–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
2–⁠3–⁠1 8th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 8
Points
101–⁠53
Coach
Frank Thomas
Elo
1601 −16 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
13.5 No. 14 of 124 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Carey Cox

Drafted in 1940

The 1940 draft
Rd 4Bobby Wood OTCleveland Rams
Rd 5Walt Merrill OTBrooklyn Dodgers

All-SEC

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Cary CoxCUP-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1939 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1939 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee6–⁠010–⁠12
Georgia Tech6–⁠08–⁠216
Tulane5–⁠08–⁠1–⁠15
Mississippi State3–⁠28–⁠2
Auburn3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Ole Miss2–⁠27–⁠2
Kentucky2–⁠2–⁠16–⁠2–⁠1
Alabama2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠3–⁠1
Georgia1–⁠35–⁠6
LSU1–⁠54–⁠5
Vanderbilt1–⁠62–⁠7–⁠1
Florida0–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Sewanee0–⁠33–⁠5

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