CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1986 Alabama

10–⁠3 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Ray Perkins, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 1986, game by game: won vs. Ohio State 16–10; won vs. Vanderbilt 42–10; won vs. Southern Miss 31–17; won at No. 13 Florida 21–7; won vs. Notre Dame 28–10; won vs. Memphis 37–0; won at Tennessee 56–28; lost vs. No. 6 Penn State 3–23; won at No. 19 Mississippi State 38–3; lost vs. No. 18 LSU 10–14; won vs. Temple 24–14; lost vs. No. 14 Auburn 17–21; won vs. No. 12 Washington 28–6+37−20Won 16–10 vs. Ohio State+6Ohio StateWon 42–10 vs. Vanderbilt+32VanderbiltWon 31–17 vs. Southern Miss+14Southern MissWon 21–7 at No. 13 Florida+14No. 13 FloridaWon 28–10 vs. Notre Dame+18Notre DameWon 37–0 vs. Memphis+37MemphisWon 56–28 at Tennessee+28TennesseeLost 3–23 vs. No. 6 Penn State-20No. 6 Penn StateWon 38–3 at No. 19 Mississippi State+35No. 19 Mississippi Sta…Lost 10–14 vs. No. 18 LSU-4No. 18 LSUWon 24–14 vs. Temple+10TempleLost 17–21 vs. No. 14 Auburn-4No. 14 AuburnWon 28–6 vs. No. 12 Washington+22No. 12 Washington
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 27vsOhio StateW 16–⁠1051%
Sep 6vsVanderbiltW 42–⁠1083%
Sep 13vsSouthern MissW 31–⁠1775%
Sep 20at13FloridaW 21–⁠744%
Oct 4vsNotre DameW 28–⁠1076%
Oct 11vsMemphisW 37–⁠094%
Oct 18atTennesseeW 56–⁠2860%
Oct 25vs6Penn StateL 3–⁠2364%
Nov 1at19Mississippi StateW 38–⁠364%
Nov 8vs18LSUL 10–⁠1467%
Nov 15vsTempleW 24–⁠1480%
Nov 29vs14AuburnL 17–⁠2152%
Dec 25Bowls & playoffvs12WashingtonSun BowlW 28–⁠651%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Washington 28–⁠6 in the Sun Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 42nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1986.

Lombardi AwardCornelius Bennett, LB

Consensus All-AmericanCornelius Bennett, LB

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 2
Points
351–⁠163
Coach
Ray Perkins
Elo
1726 +99 this season
SP+ rating
26.4 No. 4 of 101; offense No. 15, defense No. 2
SRS
20.8 No. 7 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
George Henshaw
Defensive coordinator
Joe Kines
Captains
Mike Shula and Cornelius Bennett

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 1Cornelius Bennett LBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 6Freddie Robinson DBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 6Greg Richardson WRMinnesota Vikings
Rd 7Curt Jarvis DTTampa Bay Buccaneers

All-SEC

5 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
LSU5–⁠19–⁠310
Auburn4–⁠210–⁠26
Alabama4–⁠210–⁠39
Ole Miss4–⁠28–⁠3–⁠1
Georgia4–⁠28–⁠4
Tennessee3–⁠37–⁠5
Mississippi State2–⁠46–⁠5
Florida2–⁠46–⁠5
Kentucky2–⁠45–⁠5–⁠1
Vanderbilt0–⁠61–⁠10

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