CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1988 Alabama

9–⁠3 (4–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bill Curry, finished No. 17 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 1988, game by game: won at Temple 37–0; won vs. Vanderbilt 44–10; won at Kentucky 31–27; lost vs. Ole Miss 12–22; won at Tennessee 28–20; won vs. Penn State 8–3; won at Mississippi State 53–34; lost vs. No. 13 LSU 18–19; won vs. Louisiana 17–0; lost vs. No. 7 Auburn 10–15; won at Texas A&M 30–10; won vs. Army 29–28+37−10Won 37–0 at Temple+37TempleWon 44–10 vs. Vanderbilt+34VanderbiltWon 31–27 at Kentucky+4KentuckyLost 12–22 vs. Ole Miss-10Ole MissWon 28–20 at Tennessee+8TennesseeWon 8–3 vs. Penn State+5Penn StateWon 53–34 at Mississippi State+19Mississippi Sta…Lost 18–19 vs. No. 13 LSU-1No. 13 LSUWon 17–0 vs. Louisiana+17LouisianaLost 10–15 vs. No. 7 Auburn-5No. 7 AuburnWon 30–10 at Texas A&M+20Texas A&MWon 29–28 vs. Army+1Army
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10atTempleW 37–⁠068%
Sep 24vsVanderbiltW 44–⁠1076%
Oct 1atKentuckyW 31–⁠2760%
Oct 8vsOle MissL 12–⁠2283%
Oct 15atTennesseeW 28–⁠2060%
Oct 22vsPenn StateW 8–⁠359%
Oct 29atMississippi StateW 53–⁠3476%
Nov 5vs13LSUL 18–⁠1953%
Nov 12vsLouisianaW 17–⁠075%
Nov 25vs7AuburnL 10–⁠1535%
Dec 1atTexas A&MW 30–⁠1039%
Dec 24Bowls & playoffvsArmySun BowlW 29–⁠2869%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Army 29–⁠28 in the Sun Bowl; No. 17 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 61st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 2: 14
  3. Wk 3: 14
  4. Wk 4: 13
  5. Wk 5: 13
  6. Wk 6: 12
  7. Wk 7: 12
  8. Wk 10: 19
  9. Wk 11: 18
  10. Wk 12: 18
  11. Wk 13: 18
  12. Wk 14: 17
  13. Wk 15: 20
  14. Wk 16: 20
  15. Final: 17

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 1988.

Butkus AwardDerrick Thomas, LB

Consensus All-AmericanDerrick Thomas, LB

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 17 peak No. 12
Points
317–⁠188
Coach
Bill Curry
Elo
1685 +86 this season
SP+ rating
16.6 No. 19 of 102; offense No. 29, defense No. 12
SRS
13.6 No. 18 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Homer Smith
Defensive coordinator
Don Lindsey
Captains
Derrick Thomas and David Smith

Drafted in 1989

The 1989 draft
Rd 1Derrick Thomas LBKansas City Chiefs
Rd 5Greg Gilbert LBChicago Bears
Rd 6Chris Mohr PTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 6Howard Cross TENew York Giants
Rd 7George Bethune LBLos Angeles Rams

All-SEC

2 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1988 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Auburn6–⁠110–⁠28
LSU6–⁠18–⁠419
Georgia5–⁠29–⁠315
Alabama4–⁠39–⁠317
Florida4–⁠37–⁠5
Tennessee3–⁠45–⁠6
Ole Miss3–⁠45–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠55–⁠6
Vanderbilt2–⁠53–⁠8
Mississippi State0–⁠71–⁠10

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