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1976 Kentucky

8–⁠4 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Fran Curci, finished No. 18 in the AP poll. Officially 9–⁠3. Mississippi State forfeited to Kentucky. The season’s Wikipedia article records 8–⁠4, the results on the field.

Schedule and results

Kentucky in 1976, game by game: won vs. Oregon State 38–13; lost at No. 13 Kansas 16–37; won vs. West Virginia 14–10; won vs. No. 20 Penn State 22–6; lost at Mississippi State 7–14; won vs. No. 16 LSU 21–7; lost vs. No. 10 Georgia 7–31; lost at No. 5 Maryland 14–24; won vs. Vanderbilt 14–0; won vs. No. 15 Florida 28–9; won at Tennessee 7–0; won vs. No. 19 North Carolina 21–0+25−24Won 38–13 vs. Oregon State+25Oregon StateLost 16–37 at No. 13 Kansas-21No. 13 KansasWon 14–10 vs. West Virginia+4West VirginiaWon 22–6 vs. No. 20 Penn State+16No. 20 Penn StateLost 7–14 at Mississippi State-7Mississippi Sta…Won 21–7 vs. No. 16 LSU+14No. 16 LSULost 7–31 vs. No. 10 Georgia-24No. 10 GeorgiaLost 14–24 at No. 5 Maryland-10No. 5 MarylandWon 14–0 vs. Vanderbilt+14VanderbiltWon 28–9 vs. No. 15 Florida+19No. 15 FloridaWon 7–0 at Tennessee+7TennesseeWon 21–0 vs. No. 19 North Carolina+21No. 19 North Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vsOregon StateW 38–⁠1373%
Sep 18at13KansasL 16–⁠3729%
Sep 25vsWest VirginiaW 14–⁠1045%
Oct 2vs20Penn StateW 22–⁠639%
Oct 9atMississippi StateL 7–⁠14won by forfeit38%
Oct 16vs16LSUW 21–⁠753%
Oct 23vs10GeorgiaL 7–⁠3138%
Oct 30at5MarylandL 14–⁠2418%
Nov 6vsVanderbiltW 14–⁠071%
Nov 13vs15FloridaW 28–⁠940%
Nov 20atTennesseeW 7–⁠037%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs19North CarolinaPeach BowlW 21–⁠057%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat North Carolina 21–⁠0 in the Peach Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The 9th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Final: 18

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.

Southeastern Conference champions4–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Georgia

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 18
Points
209–⁠151
Coach
Fran Curci
Elo
1609 +137 this season
SP+ rating
16.2 No. 22 of 132; offense No. 60, defense No. 3
SRS
13.7 No. 20 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jon Mirilovich
Defensive coordinator
Charlie Bailey

Drafted in 1977

The 1977 draft
Rd 1Warren Bryant OTAtlanta Falcons
Rd 1Randy Burke WRBaltimore Colts

All-SEC

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

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.