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1983 Alabama

8–⁠4 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Ray Perkins, finished No. 15 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 1983, game by game: won vs. Georgia Tech 20–7; won vs. Ole Miss 40–0; won at Vanderbilt 44–24; won vs. Memphis 44–13; lost at Penn State 28–34; lost vs. Tennessee 34–41; won vs. Mississippi State 35–18; won at LSU 32–26; won vs. Southern Miss 28–16; lost at No. 15 Boston College 13–20; lost vs. No. 3 Auburn 20–23; won vs. No. 6 SMU 28–7+40−7Won 20–7 vs. Georgia Tech+13Georgia TechWon 40–0 vs. Ole Miss+40Ole MissWon 44–24 at Vanderbilt+20VanderbiltWon 44–13 vs. Memphis+31MemphisLost 28–34 at Penn State-6Penn StateLost 34–41 vs. Tennessee-7TennesseeWon 35–18 vs. Mississippi State+17Mississippi Sta…Won 32–26 at LSU+6LSUWon 28–16 vs. Southern Miss+12Southern MissLost 13–20 at No. 15 Boston College-7No. 15 Boston CollegeLost 20–23 vs. No. 3 Auburn-3No. 3 AuburnWon 28–7 vs. No. 6 SMU+21No. 6 SMU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10vsGeorgia TechW 20–⁠776%
Sep 17vsOle MissW 40–⁠083%
Sep 24atVanderbiltW 44–⁠2460%
Oct 1vsMemphisW 44–⁠1389%
Oct 8atPenn StateL 28–⁠3447%
Oct 15vsTennesseeL 34–⁠4171%
Oct 29vsMississippi StateW 35–⁠1876%
Nov 5atLSUW 32–⁠2657%
Nov 12vsSouthern MissW 28–⁠1662%
Nov 25at15Boston CollegeL 13–⁠2044%
Dec 3vs3AuburnL 20–⁠2337%
Dec 24Bowls & playoffvs6SMUSun BowlW 28–⁠735%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat SMU 28–⁠7 in the Sun Bowl; No. 15 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 62nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 13
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 6
  5. Wk 5: 6
  6. Wk 6: 3
  7. Wk 7: 11
  8. Wk 8: 20
  9. Wk 9: 18
  10. Wk 10: 19
  11. Wk 11: 16
  12. Wk 12: 16
  13. Wk 13: 13
  14. Wk 14: 19
  15. Final: 15

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 1983.

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 15 peak No. 3
Points
366–⁠229
Coach
Ray Perkins
Elo
1684 +66 this season
SP+ rating
22.1 No. 6 of 108; offense No. 4, defense No. 22
SRS
18.6 No. 6 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
George Henshaw
Defensive coordinator
Ken Donahue
Captains
Walter Lewis and Randy Edwards
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
5–⁠2

Drafted in 1984

The 1984 draft
Rd 4Joe Carter RBMiami Dolphins
Rd 7Jesse Bendross WRSan Diego Chargers

All-SEC

3 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1983 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1983 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Auburn6–⁠011–⁠13
Georgia5–⁠110–⁠1–⁠14
Florida4–⁠29–⁠2–⁠16
Tennessee4–⁠29–⁠3
Alabama4–⁠28–⁠415
Ole Miss4–⁠26–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠46–⁠5–⁠1
Mississippi State1–⁠53–⁠8
LSU0–⁠64–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠62–⁠9

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