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1986 Ole Miss

8–⁠3–⁠1 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Billy Brewer.

Schedule and results

Ole Miss in 1986, game by game: won vs. Memphis 28–6; lost at No. 18 Arkansas 0–21; tied vs. Arkansas State 10–10; won vs. Tulane 35–10; lost at Georgia 10–14; won vs. Kentucky 33–13; won vs. Louisiana 21–20; won at Vanderbilt 28–12; won at No. 12 LSU 21–19; lost vs. Tennessee 10–22; won vs. Mississippi State 24–3; won vs. Texas Tech 20–17+25−21Won 28–6 vs. Memphis+22MemphisLost 0–21 at No. 18 Arkansas-21No. 18 ArkansasTied 10–10 vs. Arkansas State0Arkansas StateWon 35–10 vs. Tulane+25TulaneLost 10–14 at Georgia-4GeorgiaWon 33–13 vs. Kentucky+20KentuckyWon 21–20 vs. Louisiana+1LouisianaWon 28–12 at Vanderbilt+16VanderbiltWon 21–19 at No. 12 LSU+2No. 12 LSULost 10–22 vs. Tennessee-12TennesseeWon 24–3 vs. Mississippi State+21Mississippi Sta…Won 20–17 vs. Texas Tech+3Texas Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsMemphisW 28–⁠662%
Sep 13at18ArkansasL 0–⁠2126%
Sep 20vsArkansas StateT 10–⁠1071%
Sep 27vsTulaneW 35–⁠1069%
Oct 4atGeorgiaL 10–⁠1428%
Oct 11vsKentuckyW 33–⁠1347%
Oct 18vsLouisianaW 21–⁠2061%
Oct 25atVanderbiltW 28–⁠1264%
Nov 1at12LSUW 21–⁠1926%
Nov 15vsTennesseeL 10–⁠2258%
Nov 22vsMississippi StateW 24–⁠364%
Dec 20Bowls & playoffvsTexas TechIndependence BowlW 20–⁠1753%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas Tech 20–⁠17 in the Independence Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 45th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 11: 20

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 1986.

Record
8–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 20
Points
240–⁠167
Coach
Billy Brewer
Elo
1570 +93 this season
SP+ rating
9.8 No. 31 of 101; offense No. 64, defense No. 10
SRS
6.1 No. 35 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bill Canty
Defensive coordinator
Carl Torbush

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 7Bill Smith PGreen Bay Packers

All-SEC

1 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • J.R. AmbroseWRAP-2
  • Mike FitzsimmonsDTAP-2
  • Jeff HerrodLBAP-2
  • Jeff NoblinDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
LSU5–⁠19–⁠310
Auburn4–⁠210–⁠26
Alabama4–⁠210–⁠39
Ole Miss4–⁠28–⁠3–⁠1
Georgia4–⁠28–⁠4
Tennessee3–⁠37–⁠5
Mississippi State2–⁠46–⁠5
Florida2–⁠46–⁠5
Kentucky2–⁠45–⁠5–⁠1
Vanderbilt0–⁠61–⁠10

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