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1959 Alabama

7–⁠2–⁠2 (4–⁠1–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bear Bryant, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 1959, game by game: lost at Georgia 3–17; won at Houston 3–0; tied at Vanderbilt 7–7; won vs. Chattanooga 13–0; tied at No. 14 Tennessee 7–7; won vs. Mississippi State 10–0; won vs. Tulane 19–7; won vs. No. 15 Georgia Tech 9–7; won vs. Memphis 14–7; won vs. No. 11 Auburn 10–0; lost vs. No. 14 Penn State 0–7+13−14Lost 3–17 at Georgia-14GeorgiaWon 3–0 at Houston+3HoustonTied 7–7 at Vanderbilt0VanderbiltWon 13–0 vs. Chattanooga+13ChattanoogaTied 7–7 at No. 14 Tennessee0No. 14 TennesseeWon 10–0 vs. Mississippi State+10Mississippi Sta…Won 19–7 vs. Tulane+12TulaneWon 9–7 vs. No. 15 Georgia Tech+2No. 15 Georgia TechWon 14–7 vs. Memphis+7MemphisWon 10–0 vs. No. 11 Auburn+10No. 11 AuburnLost 0–7 vs. No. 14 Penn State-7No. 14 Penn State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19atGeorgiaL 3–⁠1740%
Sep 26atHoustonW 3–⁠036%
Oct 3atVanderbiltT 7–⁠738%
Oct 10vsChattanoogaW 13–⁠089%
Oct 17at14TennesseeT 7–⁠739%
Oct 31vsMississippi StateW 10–⁠061%
Nov 7vsTulaneW 19–⁠766%
Nov 14vs15Georgia TechW 9–⁠748%
Nov 21vsMemphisW 14–⁠777%
Nov 28vs11AuburnW 10–⁠029%
Dec 19Bowls & playoffvs14Penn StateLiberty BowlL 0–⁠738%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Penn State 7–⁠0 in the Liberty Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 93rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 10: 17
  2. Wk 11: 19
  3. Wk 12: 11
  4. Final: 10

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 1959.

Record
7–⁠2–⁠2
Conference
4–⁠1–⁠2 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 10
Points
95–⁠59
Coach
Bear Bryant
Elo
1571 +84 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
11.0 No. 22 of 112 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Marlin Dyess and Jim Blevins

All-SEC

1 second team

Second team

  • Don CochranOGAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1959 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1959 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia7–⁠010–⁠15
Ole Miss5–⁠110–⁠12
LSU5–⁠19–⁠23
Alabama4–⁠1–⁠27–⁠2–⁠210
Auburn4–⁠37–⁠3
Vanderbilt3–⁠2–⁠25–⁠3–⁠2
Georgia Tech3–⁠36–⁠5
Tennessee3–⁠4–⁠15–⁠4–⁠1
Florida2–⁠45–⁠4–⁠119
Kentucky1–⁠64–⁠6
Tulane0–⁠5–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
Mississippi State0–⁠72–⁠7

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