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1952 Alabama

10–⁠2 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Red Drew, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 1952, game by game: won vs. Southern Miss 20–6; won at LSU 21–20; won at Miami 21–7; won vs. Virginia Tech 33–0; lost at Tennessee 0–20; won vs. Mississippi State 42–19; won vs. Georgia 34–19; won vs. Chattanooga 42–28; lost at No. 2 Georgia Tech 3–7; won vs. No. 8 Maryland 27–7; won vs. Auburn 21–0; won vs. No. 16 Syracuse 61–6+55−20Won 20–6 vs. Southern Miss+14Southern MissWon 21–20 at LSU+1LSUWon 21–7 at Miami+14MiamiWon 33–0 vs. Virginia Tech+33Virginia TechLost 0–20 at Tennessee-20TennesseeWon 42–19 vs. Mississippi State+23Mississippi Sta…Won 34–19 vs. Georgia+15GeorgiaWon 42–28 vs. Chattanooga+14ChattanoogaLost 3–7 at No. 2 Georgia Tech-4No. 2 Georgia TechWon 27–7 vs. No. 8 Maryland+20No. 8 MarylandWon 21–0 vs. Auburn+21AuburnWon 61–6 vs. No. 16 Syracuse+55No. 16 Syracuse
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19vsSouthern MissW 20–⁠692%
Sep 27atLSUW 21–⁠2042%
Oct 3atMiamiW 21–⁠733%
Oct 11vsVirginia TechW 33–⁠080%
Oct 18atTennesseeL 0–⁠2030%
Oct 25vsMississippi StateW 42–⁠1967%
Nov 1vsGeorgiaW 34–⁠1963%
Nov 8vsChattanoogaW 42–⁠2891%
Nov 15at2Georgia TechL 3–⁠723%
Nov 22vs8MarylandW 27–⁠735%
Nov 29vsAuburnW 21–⁠084%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs16SyracuseOrange BowlW 61–⁠655%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Syracuse 61–⁠6 in the Orange Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 63rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 18
  2. Wk 4: 18
  3. Wk 6: 19
  4. Wk 7: 16
  5. Wk 8: 12
  6. Wk 9: 14
  7. Wk 10: 8
  8. Final: 9
Record
10–⁠2
Conference
4–⁠2 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 8
Points
325–⁠139
Coach
Red Drew
Elo
1683 +169 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
22.4 No. 8 of 113 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Bobby Wilson

All-SEC

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

  • Jerry WatfordOGAP-1; UP-3
  • Bobby MarlowRBAP-1; UP-1
  • Hootie IngramDBAP-1

Second team

  • Travis HuntOTAP-2
  • Corky TharpRBAP-2; UP-3
  • Ed CulpepperDTAP-2
  • Ralph CarriganLBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1952 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1952 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia Tech6–⁠012–⁠02
Tennessee5–⁠0–⁠18–⁠2–⁠18
Ole Miss4–⁠0–⁠28–⁠1–⁠27
Alabama4–⁠210–⁠29
Georgia4–⁠37–⁠4
Florida3–⁠38–⁠315
Mississippi State3–⁠45–⁠4
Tulane3–⁠55–⁠5
Kentucky1–⁠3–⁠25–⁠4–⁠220
LSU2–⁠53–⁠7
Vanderbilt1–⁠4–⁠13–⁠5–⁠2
Auburn0–⁠72–⁠8

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