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1997 Alabama

4–⁠7 (2–⁠6 Southeastern Conference), coached by Mike DuBose.

Schedule and results

Alabama in 1997, game by game: won vs. Houston 42–17; won at Vanderbilt 20–0; lost vs. Arkansas 16–17; won vs. Southern Miss 27–13; lost at Kentucky 34–40; lost vs. No. 9 Tennessee 21–38; won at No. 25 Ole Miss 29–20; lost vs. Louisiana Tech 20–26; lost vs. No. 14 LSU 0–27; lost vs. No. 17 Mississippi State 20–32; lost at No. 13 Auburn 17–18+25−27Won 42–17 vs. Houston+25HoustonWon 20–0 at Vanderbilt+20VanderbiltLost 16–17 vs. Arkansas-1ArkansasWon 27–13 vs. Southern Miss+14Southern MissLost 34–40 at Kentucky-6KentuckyLost 21–38 vs. No. 9 Tennessee-17No. 9 TennesseeWon 29–20 at No. 25 Ole Miss+9No. 25 Ole MissLost 20–26 vs. Louisiana Tech-6Louisiana TechLost 0–27 vs. No. 14 LSU-27No. 14 LSULost 20–32 vs. No. 17 Mississippi State-12No. 17 Mississippi Sta…Lost 17–18 at No. 13 Auburn-1No. 13 Auburn
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsHoustonW 42–⁠1777%
Sep 11atVanderbiltW 20–⁠073%
Sep 20vsArkansasL 16–⁠1783%
Sep 27vsSouthern MissW 27–⁠1365%
Oct 4atKentuckyL 34–⁠4067%
Oct 18vs9TennesseeL 21–⁠3847%
Oct 25at25Ole MissW 29–⁠2055%
Nov 1vsLouisiana TechL 20–⁠2673%
Nov 8vs14LSUL 0–⁠2753%
Nov 15vs17Mississippi StateL 20–⁠3259%
Nov 22at13AuburnL 17–⁠1828%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Auburn 18–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 101st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 15
  2. Wk 2: 16
  3. Wk 3: 15
  4. Wk 4: 15
  5. Wk 5: 11
  6. Wk 6: 21
  7. Wk 7: 20

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 1997.

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 9th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 11
Points
246–⁠248
Coach
Mike DuBose
Elo
1534 −101 this season
SP+ rating
7.8 No. 43 of 112; offense No. 61, defense No. 27
SRS
5.2 No. 42 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bruce Arians
Defensive coordinator
Ellis Johnson
Captains
Curtis Alexander, Paul Pickett, Rod Rutledge and Deshea Townsend
Offense
Split backs
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 2Rod Rutledge TENew England Patriots
Rd 4Michael Myers DEDallas Cowboys
Rd 4DeShea Townsend DBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Curtis Alexander RBDenver Broncos

All-SEC

6 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1997 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1997 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee7–⁠111–⁠27
Florida6–⁠210–⁠24
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠210
Auburn6–⁠210–⁠311
LSU6–⁠29–⁠313
Ole Miss4–⁠48–⁠422
Mississippi State4–⁠47–⁠4
South Carolina3–⁠55–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠6
Alabama2–⁠64–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠64–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠83–⁠8

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