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1997 Auburn

10–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Terry Bowden, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Auburn in 1997, game by game: won at Virginia 28–17; won vs. Ole Miss 19–9; won at No. 10 LSU 31–28; won vs. UCF 41–14; won at South Carolina 23–6; won vs. Louisiana Tech 49–13; lost vs. No. 7 Florida 10–24; won at Arkansas 26–21; lost vs. Mississippi State 0–20; won at No. 7 Georgia 45–34; won vs. Alabama 18–17; lost vs. No. 3 Tennessee 29–30; won vs. Clemson 21–17+36−20Won 28–17 at Virginia+11VirginiaWon 19–9 vs. Ole Miss+10Ole MissWon 31–28 at No. 10 LSU+3No. 10 LSUWon 41–14 vs. UCF+27UCFWon 23–6 at South Carolina+17South CarolinaWon 49–13 vs. Louisiana Tech+36Louisiana TechLost 10–24 vs. No. 7 Florida-14No. 7 FloridaWon 26–21 at Arkansas+5ArkansasLost 0–20 vs. Mississippi State-20Mississippi Sta…Won 45–34 at No. 7 Georgia+11No. 7 GeorgiaWon 18–17 vs. Alabama+1AlabamaLost 29–30 vs. No. 3 Tennessee-1No. 3 TennesseeWon 21–17 vs. Clemson+4Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4atVirginiaW 28–⁠1744%
Sep 13vsOle MissW 19–⁠974%
Sep 20at10LSUW 31–⁠2841%
Sep 27vsUCFW 41–⁠1481%
Oct 4atSouth CarolinaW 23–⁠661%
Oct 11vsLouisiana TechW 49–⁠1378%
Oct 18vs7FloridaL 10–⁠2446%
Oct 25atArkansasW 26–⁠2173%
Nov 1vsMississippi StateL 0–⁠2078%
Nov 15at7GeorgiaW 45–⁠3437%
Nov 22vsAlabamaW 18–⁠1773%
Dec 6Bowls & playoffvs3TennesseeSEC Championship GameL 29–⁠3031%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvsClemsonPeach BowlW 21–⁠1759%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Clemson 21–⁠17 in the Peach Bowl; No. 11 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 31st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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.

SEC West champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with LSU

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 6
Points
340–⁠250
Coach
Terry Bowden
Elo
1663 +82 this season
SP+ rating
22.5 No. 11 of 112; offense No. 22, defense No. 5
SRS
17.1 No. 12 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Rodney Allison
Defensive coordinator
Bill Oliver
Offense
Pro I formation
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 1Takeo Spikes LBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 1Victor Riley OTKansas City Chiefs
Rd 6Fred Beasley RBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 6Kevin McLeod RBJacksonville Jaguars

All-SEC

4 first team, 3 second team

First 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.