CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1987 Alabama

7–⁠5 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bill Curry.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 1987, game by game: won vs. Southern Miss 38–6; won at No. 11 Penn State 24–13; lost vs. Florida 14–23; won at Vanderbilt 30–23; won vs. Louisiana 38–10; lost at Memphis 10–13; won vs. No. 8 Tennessee 41–22; won vs. Mississippi State 21–18; won at No. 5 LSU 22–10; lost at No. 7 Notre Dame 6–37; lost vs. No. 7 Auburn 0–10; lost vs. Michigan 24–28+32−31Won 38–6 vs. Southern Miss+32Southern MissWon 24–13 at No. 11 Penn State+11No. 11 Penn StateLost 14–23 vs. Florida-9FloridaWon 30–23 at Vanderbilt+7VanderbiltWon 38–10 vs. Louisiana+28LouisianaLost 10–13 at Memphis-3MemphisWon 41–22 vs. No. 8 Tennessee+19No. 8 TennesseeWon 21–18 vs. Mississippi State+3Mississippi Sta…Won 22–10 at No. 5 LSU+12No. 5 LSULost 6–37 at No. 7 Notre Dame-31No. 7 Notre DameLost 0–10 vs. No. 7 Auburn-10No. 7 AuburnLost 24–28 vs. Michigan-4Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vsSouthern MissW 38–⁠678%
Sep 12at11Penn StateW 24–⁠1336%
Sep 19vsFloridaL 14–⁠2371%
Sep 26atVanderbiltW 30–⁠2378%
Oct 3vsLouisianaW 38–⁠1083%
Oct 10atMemphisL 10–⁠1384%
Oct 17vs8TennesseeW 41–⁠2258%
Oct 31vsMississippi StateW 21–⁠1883%
Nov 7at5LSUW 22–⁠1036%
Nov 14at7Notre DameL 6–⁠3746%
Nov 27vs7AuburnL 0–⁠1043%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvsMichiganHall of Fame BowlL 24–⁠2852%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan 28–⁠24 in the Hall of Fame Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 73rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 19
  2. Wk 3: 11
  3. Wk 4: 17
  4. Wk 5: 17
  5. Wk 6: 15
  6. Wk 8: 17
  7. Wk 9: 16
  8. Wk 10: 13
  9. Wk 11: 11
  10. Wk 12: 17
  11. Wk 13: 18

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 1987.

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 11
Points
268–⁠213
Coach
Bill Curry
Elo
1649 −1 this season
SP+ rating
18.6 No. 15 of 101; offense No. 32, defense No. 10
SRS
13.1 No. 19 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Rip Scherer
Defensive coordinator
Don Lindsey
Captains
Randy Rockwell and Kerry Goode

Drafted in 1988

The 1988 draft
Rd 7Kerry Goode RBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 7Bo Wright RBBuffalo Bills

All-SEC

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Bill CondonOGAP-2
  • Randy RockwellDEAP-2
  • Willie WyattMGAP-2
  • John MangumDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1987 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1987 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Auburn5–⁠0–⁠19–⁠1–⁠27
LSU5–⁠110–⁠1–⁠15
Tennessee4–⁠1–⁠110–⁠2–⁠114
Georgia4–⁠29–⁠313
Alabama4–⁠27–⁠5
Florida3–⁠36–⁠6
Kentucky1–⁠55–⁠6
Mississippi State1–⁠54–⁠7
Vanderbilt1–⁠54–⁠7
Ole Miss1–⁠53–⁠8

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