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1940 Tennessee

10–⁠1 (5–⁠0 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bob Neyland, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1940, game by game: won vs. Mercer 49–0; won vs. Duke 13–0; won vs. Chattanooga 53–0; won at Alabama 27–12; won vs. Florida 14–0; won vs. LSU 28–0; won at Rhodes 41–0; won vs. Virginia 41–14; won vs. Kentucky 33–0; won at Vanderbilt 20–0; lost vs. No. 4 Boston College 13–19+53−6Won 49–0 vs. Mercer+49MercerWon 13–0 vs. Duke+13DukeWon 53–0 vs. Chattanooga+53ChattanoogaWon 27–12 at Alabama+15AlabamaWon 14–0 vs. Florida+14FloridaWon 28–0 vs. LSU+28LSUWon 41–0 at Rhodes+41RhodesWon 41–14 vs. Virginia+27VirginiaWon 33–0 vs. Kentucky+33KentuckyWon 20–0 at Vanderbilt+20VanderbiltLost 13–19 vs. No. 4 Boston College-6No. 4 Boston College
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 28vsMercerW 49–⁠097%
Oct 5vsDukeW 13–⁠057%
Oct 12vsChattanoogaW 53–⁠097%
Oct 19atAlabamaW 27–⁠1258%
Oct 26vsFloridaW 14–⁠087%
Nov 2vsLSUW 28–⁠082%
Nov 9atRhodesW 41–⁠089%
Nov 16vsVirginiaW 41–⁠1487%
Nov 23vsKentuckyW 33–⁠082%
Nov 30atVanderbiltW 20–⁠082%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs4Boston CollegeSugar BowlL 13–⁠1961%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Boston College 19–⁠13 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 5
  2. Wk 2: 5
  3. Wk 3: 7
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 5
  6. Wk 6: 6
  7. Wk 7: 6
  8. Final: 4

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.

National championsa title the school claims

Southeastern Conference champions5–⁠0 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanBob Suffridge, OG

Record
10–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠0 first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 4
Points
332–⁠45
Coach
Bob Neyland
Elo
1739 +78 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
22.2 No. 4 of 121 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offense
Single-wing

Drafted in 1941

The 1941 draft
Rd 2Marshall Shires OTCleveland Rams
Rd 3Bob Foxx BChicago Cardinals
Rd 6Bob Suffridge OGPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 6Ed Cifers EWashington Redskins

All-SEC

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

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.