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1940 Mississippi State

10–⁠0–⁠1 (4–⁠0–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Allyn McKeen, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Mississippi State in 1940, game by game: won at Florida 27–7; won vs. Louisiana 20–0; tied vs. Auburn 7–7; won vs. Samford 41–7; won at NC State 26–10; won at Rhodes 13–0; won at LSU 22–7; won vs. Millsaps 46–13; won vs. No. 11 Ole Miss 19–0; won at No. 17 Alabama 13–0; won vs. No. 9 Georgetown 14–7+34Won 27–7 at Florida+20FloridaWon 20–0 vs. Louisiana+20LouisianaTied 7–7 vs. Auburn0AuburnWon 41–7 vs. Samford+34SamfordWon 26–10 at NC State+16NC StateWon 13–0 at Rhodes+13RhodesWon 22–7 at LSU+15LSUWon 46–13 vs. Millsaps+33MillsapsWon 19–0 vs. No. 11 Ole Miss+19No. 11 Ole MissWon 13–0 at No. 17 Alabama+13No. 17 AlabamaWon 14–7 vs. No. 9 Georgetown+7No. 9 Georgetown
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 28atFloridaW 27–⁠756%
Oct 5vsLouisianaW 20–⁠096%
Oct 12vsAuburnT 7–⁠759%
Oct 19vsSamfordW 41–⁠796%
Oct 26atNC StateW 26–⁠1062%
Nov 2atRhodesW 13–⁠077%
Nov 9atLSUW 22–⁠757%
Nov 16vsMillsapsW 46–⁠1395%
Nov 23vs11Ole MissW 19–⁠052%
Nov 30at17AlabamaW 13–⁠048%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs9GeorgetownOrange BowlW 14–⁠752%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Georgetown 14–⁠7 in the Orange Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 20
  2. Wk 4: 19
  3. Wk 5: 15
  4. Wk 6: 16
  5. Wk 7: 11
  6. Final: 9

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 1940.

Record
10–⁠0–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠0–⁠1 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 9
Points
248–⁠58
Coach
Allyn McKeen
Elo
1710 +164 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
19.7 No. 7 of 121 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1941

The 1941 draft
Rd 6John Tripson OTDetroit Lions

All-SEC

4 first team

First team

  • Buddy ElrodEAP-1; INS; UP
  • John TripsonOTAP-2; UP
  • Hunter CorhernOGAP-1
  • Harvey JohnsonBackfieldAP-2; INS; UP

From Wikipedia’s 1940 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1940 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee5–⁠010–⁠14
Mississippi State4–⁠0–⁠110–⁠0–⁠19
Ole Miss3–⁠19–⁠2
Alabama4–⁠27–⁠2
Auburn3–⁠2–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
LSU3–⁠36–⁠4
Georgia2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠4–⁠1
Florida2–⁠35–⁠5
Kentucky1–⁠2–⁠25–⁠3–⁠2
Tulane1–⁠35–⁠5
Georgia Tech1–⁠53–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠5–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1

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