CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1976 Florida

8–⁠4 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Doug Dickey.

Schedule and results

Florida in 1976, game by game: lost vs. North Carolina 21–24; won vs. Houston 49–14; won vs. Mississippi State 34–30; won vs. No. 11 LSU 28–23; won at Florida State 33–26; won at Tennessee 20–18; won vs. Auburn 24–19; lost vs. No. 7 Georgia 27–41; lost at Kentucky 9–28; won vs. Rice 50–22; won vs. Miami 19–10; lost vs. No. 10 Texas A&M 14–37+35−23Lost 21–24 vs. North Carolina-3North CarolinaWon 49–14 vs. Houston+35HoustonWon 34–30 vs. Mississippi State+4Mississippi Sta…Won 28–23 vs. No. 11 LSU+5No. 11 LSUWon 33–26 at Florida State+7Florida StateWon 20–18 at Tennessee+2TennesseeWon 24–19 vs. Auburn+5AuburnLost 27–41 vs. No. 7 Georgia-14No. 7 GeorgiaLost 9–28 at Kentucky-19KentuckyWon 50–22 vs. Rice+28RiceWon 19–10 vs. Miami+9MiamiLost 14–37 vs. No. 10 Texas A&M-23No. 10 Texas A&M
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vsNorth CarolinaL 21–⁠2477%
Sep 18vsHoustonW 49–⁠1471%
Sep 25vsMississippi StateW 34–⁠3065%
Oct 2vs11LSUW 28–⁠2369%
Oct 16atFlorida StateW 33–⁠2666%
Oct 23atTennesseeW 20–⁠1856%
Oct 30vsAuburnW 24–⁠1975%
Nov 6vs7GeorgiaL 27–⁠4143%
Nov 13atKentuckyL 9–⁠2860%
Nov 20vsRiceW 50–⁠2284%
Nov 27vsMiamiW 19–⁠1074%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs10Texas A&MSun BowlL 14–⁠3737%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Texas A&M 37–⁠14 in the Sun Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 53rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 116 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1976.

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 10
Points
328–⁠292
Coach
Doug Dickey
Elo
1602 −13 this season
SP+ rating
14.2 No. 24 of 132; offense No. 7, defense No. 82
SRS
12.4 No. 23 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jimmy Dunn
Defensive coordinator
Doug Knotts
Captains
Darrell Carpenter, Alvin Cowens and Jimmy Fisher
Offense
Wishbone

All-SEC

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jimmy StephensTEAP-2
  • David ForresterOTAP-2
  • Robbie MooreCAP-2
  • Darrell CarpenterDTAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1976 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1976 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Georgia5–⁠110–⁠210
Alabama5–⁠29–⁠311
Mississippi State4–⁠29–⁠220
Kentucky4–⁠28–⁠418
Florida4–⁠28–⁠4
Ole Miss3–⁠45–⁠6
LSU2–⁠46–⁠4–⁠1
Tennessee2–⁠46–⁠5
Auburn2–⁠43–⁠8
Vanderbilt0–⁠62–⁠9

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