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1997 Ole Miss

8–⁠4 (4–⁠4 Southeastern Conference), coached by Tommy Tuberville, finished No. 22 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ole Miss in 1997, game by game: won vs. UCF 24–23; won vs. SMU 23–15; lost at No. 16 Auburn 9–19; won vs. Vanderbilt 15–3; lost at No. 9 Tennessee 17–31; won at No. 8 LSU 36–21; lost vs. Alabama 20–29; won vs. Arkansas 19–9; won at Tulane 41–24; lost vs. No. 14 Georgia 14–21; won at No. 22 Mississippi State 15–14; won vs. Marshall 34–31+17−14Won 24–23 vs. UCF+1UCFWon 23–15 vs. SMU+8SMULost 9–19 at No. 16 Auburn-10No. 16 AuburnWon 15–3 vs. Vanderbilt+12VanderbiltLost 17–31 at No. 9 Tennessee-14No. 9 TennesseeWon 36–21 at No. 8 LSU+15No. 8 LSULost 20–29 vs. Alabama-9AlabamaWon 19–9 vs. Arkansas+10ArkansasWon 41–24 at Tulane+17TulaneLost 14–21 vs. No. 14 Georgia-7No. 14 GeorgiaWon 15–14 at No. 22 Mississippi State+1No. 22 Mississippi Sta…Won 34–31 vs. Marshall+3Marshall
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsUCFW 24–⁠2363%
Sep 6vsSMUW 23–⁠1561%
Sep 13at16AuburnL 9–⁠1926%
Sep 27vsVanderbiltW 15–⁠363%
Oct 4at9TennesseeL 17–⁠3118%
Oct 18at8LSUW 36–⁠2121%
Oct 25vsAlabamaL 20–⁠2945%
Nov 6vsArkansasW 19–⁠969%
Nov 15atTulaneW 41–⁠2443%
Nov 22vs14GeorgiaL 14–⁠2148%
Nov 29at22Mississippi StateW 15–⁠1439%
Dec 26Bowls & playoffvsMarshallMotor City BowlW 34–⁠3146%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Marshall 34–⁠31 in the Motor City Bowl; No. 22 in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 47th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 10: 25
  2. Final: 22

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 1997.

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 6th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 22 peak No. 22
Points
267–⁠240
Coach
Tommy Tuberville
Elo
1559 +102 this season
SP+ rating
17.0 No. 18 of 112; offense No. 51, defense No. 6
SRS
10.6 No. 21 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Noel Mazzone
Defensive coordinator
Art Kaufman
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 1John Avery RBMiami Dolphins
Rd 7Nate Wayne LBDenver Broncos

All-SEC

1 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • John AveryRBAP-2; Coaches-2
  • Devon CoburnOGCoaches-2
  • Boyd KitchenOTAP-2
  • Broc KreitzLBCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 1997 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1997 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee7–⁠111–⁠27
Florida6–⁠210–⁠24
Georgia6–⁠210–⁠210
Auburn6–⁠210–⁠311
LSU6–⁠29–⁠313
Ole Miss4–⁠48–⁠422
Mississippi State4–⁠47–⁠4
South Carolina3–⁠55–⁠6
Kentucky2–⁠65–⁠6
Alabama2–⁠64–⁠7
Arkansas2–⁠64–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠83–⁠8

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