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1953 Kentucky

7–⁠2–⁠1 (4–⁠1–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bear Bryant, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 1953, game by game: lost vs. Texas A&M 6–7; lost at Ole Miss 6–22; won vs. Florida 26–13; tied at No. 14 LSU 6–6; won vs. No. 20 Mississippi State 32–13; won vs. Villanova 19–0; won at No. 12 Rice 19–13; won at Vanderbilt 40–14; won vs. Memphis 20–7; won vs. Tennessee 27–21+26−16Lost 6–7 vs. Texas A&M-1Texas A&MLost 6–22 at Ole Miss-16Ole MissWon 26–13 vs. Florida+13FloridaTied 6–6 at No. 14 LSU0No. 14 LSUWon 32–13 vs. No. 20 Mississippi State+19No. 20 Mississippi Sta…Won 19–0 vs. Villanova+19VillanovaWon 19–13 at No. 12 Rice+6No. 12 RiceWon 40–14 at Vanderbilt+26VanderbiltWon 20–7 vs. Memphis+13MemphisWon 27–21 vs. Tennessee+6Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19vsTexas A&ML 6–⁠769%
Sep 26atOle MissL 6–⁠2234%
Oct 3vsFloridaW 26–⁠1353%
Oct 10at14LSUT 6–⁠643%
Oct 17vs20Mississippi StateW 32–⁠1358%
Oct 24vsVillanovaW 19–⁠072%
Oct 31at12RiceW 19–⁠1343%
Nov 7atVanderbiltW 40–⁠1468%
Nov 14vsMemphisW 20–⁠797%
Nov 21vsTennesseeW 27–⁠2160%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Tennessee 27–⁠21; No. 16 in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 4th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 16
  2. Wk 6: 19
  3. Wk 7: 14
  4. Wk 8: 13
  5. Wk 9: 13
  6. Wk 10: 13
  7. Final: 16

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 1953.

Record
7–⁠2–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠1–⁠1 tied for 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 13
Points
201–⁠116
Coach
Bear Bryant
Elo
1667 +96 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
15.8 No. 13 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1954

The 1954 draft
Rd 1Steve Meilinger EWashington Redskins

All-SEC

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Ralph PaoloneRBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama4–⁠0–⁠36–⁠3–⁠313
Georgia Tech4–⁠1–⁠19–⁠2–⁠18
Kentucky4–⁠1–⁠17–⁠2–⁠116
Ole Miss4–⁠1–⁠17–⁠2–⁠1
Auburn4–⁠2–⁠17–⁠3–⁠117
Mississippi State3–⁠1–⁠35–⁠2–⁠3
Tennessee3–⁠2–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
LSU2–⁠3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠3
Florida1–⁠3–⁠23–⁠5–⁠2
Vanderbilt1–⁠53–⁠7
Georgia1–⁠53–⁠8
Tulane0–⁠71–⁠8–⁠1

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