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1939 Georgia Tech

8–⁠2 (6–⁠0 Southeastern Conference), coached by William Alexander, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Georgia Tech in 1939, game by game: lost at Notre Dame 14–17; won vs. Samford 35–0; won vs. Vanderbilt 14–6; won vs. Auburn 7–6; lost vs. No. 12 Duke 6–7; won vs. No. 18 Kentucky 13–6; won at Alabama 6–0; won at Florida 21–7; won vs. Georgia 13–0; won vs. No. 7 Missouri 21–7+35−3Lost 14–17 at Notre Dame-3Notre DameWon 35–0 vs. Samford+35SamfordWon 14–6 vs. Vanderbilt+8VanderbiltWon 7–6 vs. Auburn+1AuburnLost 6–7 vs. No. 12 Duke-1No. 12 DukeWon 13–6 vs. No. 18 Kentucky+7No. 18 KentuckyWon 6–0 at Alabama+6AlabamaWon 21–7 at Florida+14FloridaWon 13–0 vs. Georgia+13GeorgiaWon 21–7 vs. No. 7 Missouri+14No. 7 Missouri
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Oct 7atNotre DameL 14–⁠1725%
Oct 14vsSamfordW 35–⁠093%
Oct 21vsVanderbiltW 14–⁠662%
Oct 28vsAuburnW 7–⁠656%
Nov 4vs12DukeL 6–⁠734%
Nov 11vs18KentuckyW 13–⁠661%
Nov 18atAlabamaW 6–⁠034%
Nov 25atFloridaW 21–⁠760%
Dec 2vsGeorgiaW 13–⁠076%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs7MissouriOrange BowlW 21–⁠741%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Missouri 21–⁠7 in the Orange Bowl; No. 16 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The 33rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 125 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 19
  2. Wk 8: 13
  3. Final: 16

Southeastern Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference, shared with Tennessee and Tulane

Record
8–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠0 shared first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 13
Points
150–⁠56
Coach
William Alexander
Elo
1630 +124 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
15.1 No. 12 of 124 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
F.W. “Buck” Murphy
Offense
Single-wing

All-SEC

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Bob IsonEAP-1; UP-1
  • Howard EctorFBAP-2; UP-1

Second team

  • CavetteOGAP-3; UP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1939 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1939 Southeastern Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee6–⁠010–⁠12
Georgia Tech6–⁠08–⁠216
Tulane5–⁠08–⁠1–⁠15
Mississippi State3–⁠28–⁠2
Auburn3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Ole Miss2–⁠27–⁠2
Kentucky2–⁠2–⁠16–⁠2–⁠1
Alabama2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠3–⁠1
Georgia1–⁠35–⁠6
LSU1–⁠54–⁠5
Vanderbilt1–⁠62–⁠7–⁠1
Florida0–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Sewanee0–⁠33–⁠5

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