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1963 Alabama

9–⁠2 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bear Bryant, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 1963, game by game: won at Georgia 32–7; won vs. Tulane 28–0; won at Vanderbilt 21–6; lost vs. Florida 6–10; won vs. Tennessee 35–0; won vs. Houston 21–13; won vs. Mississippi State 20–19; won vs. Georgia Tech 27–11; lost vs. No. 9 Auburn 8–10; won at Miami 17–12; won vs. No. 7 Ole Miss 12–7+35−4Won 32–7 at Georgia+25GeorgiaWon 28–0 vs. Tulane+28TulaneWon 21–6 at Vanderbilt+15VanderbiltLost 6–10 vs. Florida-4FloridaWon 35–0 vs. Tennessee+35TennesseeWon 21–13 vs. Houston+8HoustonWon 20–19 vs. Mississippi State+1Mississippi Sta…Won 27–11 vs. Georgia Tech+16Georgia TechLost 8–10 vs. No. 9 Auburn-2No. 9 AuburnWon 17–12 at Miami+5MiamiWon 12–7 vs. No. 7 Ole Miss+5No. 7 Ole Miss
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 21atGeorgiaW 32–⁠773%
Sep 28vsTulaneW 28–⁠092%
Oct 5atVanderbiltW 21–⁠687%
Oct 12vsFloridaL 6–⁠1078%
Oct 19vsTennesseeW 35–⁠084%
Oct 26vsHoustonW 21–⁠1387%
Nov 2vsMississippi StateW 20–⁠1981%
Nov 16vsGeorgia TechW 27–⁠1165%
Nov 30vs9AuburnL 8–⁠1062%
Dec 7atMiamiW 17–⁠1277%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs7Ole MissSugar BowlW 12–⁠744%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Ole Miss 12–⁠7 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 37th-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: 2
  3. Wk 3: 2
  4. Wk 4: 3
  5. Wk 5: 9
  6. Wk 6: 6
  7. Wk 7: 7
  8. Wk 8: 7
  9. Wk 9: 7
  10. Wk 10: 7
  11. Wk 11: 6
  12. Wk 12: 9
  13. Final: 8

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 1963.

Record
9–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠2 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 2
Points
227–⁠95
Coach
Bear Bryant
Elo
1755 +50 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
20.0 No. 4 of 120 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Howard Schnellenberger
Defensive coordinator
Gene Stallings
Captains
Steve Allen and Benny Nelson

Drafted in 1964

The 1964 draft
Rd 5Benny Nelson RBDetroit Lions
Rd 5Steve Wright OTGreen Bay Packers

All-SEC

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1963 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1963 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ole Miss5–⁠0–⁠17–⁠1–⁠27
Auburn6–⁠19–⁠25
Alabama6–⁠29–⁠28
Mississippi State4–⁠1–⁠27–⁠2–⁠2
LSU4–⁠27–⁠4
Georgia Tech4–⁠37–⁠3
Florida3–⁠3–⁠16–⁠3–⁠1
Tennessee3–⁠55–⁠5
Georgia2–⁠44–⁠5–⁠1
Vanderbilt0–⁠5–⁠21–⁠7–⁠2
Kentucky0–⁠5–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
Tulane0–⁠6–⁠11–⁠8–⁠1

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