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1961 Alabama

11–⁠0 (7–⁠0 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bear Bryant, finished No. 1 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 1961, game by game: won at Georgia 32–6; won vs. Tulane 9–0; won at Vanderbilt 35–6; won vs. NC State 26–7; won vs. Tennessee 34–3; won at Houston 17–0; won vs. Mississippi State 24–0; won vs. Richmond 66–0; won vs. Georgia Tech 10–0; won vs. Auburn 34–0; won vs. No. 9 Arkansas 10–3+66Won 32–6 at Georgia+26GeorgiaWon 9–0 vs. Tulane+9TulaneWon 35–6 at Vanderbilt+29VanderbiltWon 26–7 vs. NC State+19NC StateWon 34–3 vs. Tennessee+31TennesseeWon 17–0 at Houston+17HoustonWon 24–0 vs. Mississippi State+24Mississippi Sta…Won 66–0 vs. Richmond+66RichmondWon 10–0 vs. Georgia Tech+10Georgia TechWon 34–0 vs. Auburn+34AuburnWon 10–3 vs. No. 9 Arkansas+7No. 9 Arkansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 23atGeorgiaW 32–⁠645%
Sep 30vsTulaneW 9–⁠079%
Oct 7atVanderbiltW 35–⁠661%
Oct 14vsNC StateW 26–⁠779%
Oct 21vsTennesseeW 34–⁠371%
Oct 28atHoustonW 17–⁠067%
Nov 4vsMississippi StateW 24–⁠082%
Nov 11vsRichmondW 66–⁠089%
Nov 18vsGeorgia TechW 10–⁠070%
Dec 2vsAuburnW 34–⁠064%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs9ArkansasSugar BowlW 10–⁠364%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Arkansas 10–⁠3 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 1 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 4
  3. Wk 3: 4
  4. Wk 4: 3
  5. Wk 5: 5
  6. Wk 6: 4
  7. Wk 7: 4
  8. Wk 8: 2
  9. Wk 9: 2
  10. Wk 10: 1
  11. Wk 11: 1
  12. Final: 1

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 1961.

National championsNo. 1 in the final AP poll, and a title the school claims

Southeastern Conference champions7–⁠0 in the conference, shared with LSU

Heisman votePat Trammell, fifth

Consensus All-AmericanBilly Neighbors, OG

Record
11–⁠0
Conference
7–⁠0 shared first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 1 peak No. 1
Points
297–⁠25
Coach
Bear Bryant
Elo
1780 +190 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
27.6 No. 3 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Howard Schnellenberger
Captains
Billy Neighbors and Pat Trammell

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 4Billy Neighbors OTWashington Redskins
Rd 5Bill Rice ESt. Louis Cardinals
Rd 5Bill Rice EHouston Oilers (AFL)
Rd 6Billy Neighbors OGBoston Patriots (AFL)

All-SEC

4 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1961 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1961 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠011–⁠01
LSU6–⁠010–⁠14
Ole Miss5–⁠19–⁠25
Georgia Tech4–⁠37–⁠413
Tennessee4–⁠36–⁠4
Florida3–⁠34–⁠5–⁠1
Auburn3–⁠46–⁠4
Kentucky2–⁠45–⁠5
Georgia2–⁠53–⁠7
Mississippi State1–⁠55–⁠5
Tulane1–⁠52–⁠8
Vanderbilt1–⁠62–⁠8

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