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1950 Tennessee

11–⁠1 (4–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bob Neyland, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1950, game by game: won vs. Southern Miss 56–0; lost at Mississippi State 0–7; won at No. 14 Duke 28–7; won vs. Chattanooga 41–0; won vs. Alabama 14–9; won vs. Washington and Lee 27–20; won vs. North Carolina 16–0; won vs. Tennessee Tech 48–14; won vs. Ole Miss 35–0; won vs. No. 3 Kentucky 7–0; won at Vanderbilt 43–0; won vs. No. 5 Texas 20–14+56−7Won 56–0 vs. Southern Miss+56Southern MissLost 0–7 at Mississippi State-7Mississippi Sta…Won 28–7 at No. 14 Duke+21No. 14 DukeWon 41–0 vs. Chattanooga+41ChattanoogaWon 14–9 vs. Alabama+5AlabamaWon 27–20 vs. Washington and Lee+7Washington and …Won 16–0 vs. North Carolina+16North CarolinaWon 48–14 vs. Tennessee Tech+34Tennessee TechWon 35–0 vs. Ole Miss+35Ole MissWon 7–0 vs. No. 3 Kentucky+7No. 3 KentuckyWon 43–0 at Vanderbilt+43VanderbiltWon 20–14 vs. No. 5 Texas+6No. 5 Texas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 23vsSouthern MissW 56–⁠095%
Sep 30atMississippi StateL 0–⁠767%
Oct 7at14DukeW 28–⁠738%
Oct 14vsChattanoogaW 41–⁠089%
Oct 21vsAlabamaW 14–⁠959%
Oct 28vsWashington and LeeW 27–⁠2071%
Nov 4vsNorth CarolinaW 16–⁠064%
Nov 11vsTennessee TechW 48–⁠1497%
Nov 18vsOle MissW 35–⁠074%
Nov 25vs3KentuckyW 7–⁠048%
Dec 2atVanderbiltW 43–⁠065%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs5TexasCotton BowlW 20–⁠1444%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas 20–⁠14 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 14th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 4
  2. Wk 3: 14
  3. Wk 4: 18
  4. Wk 5: 8
  5. Wk 6: 11
  6. Wk 7: 11
  7. Wk 8: 9
  8. Wk 9: 9
  9. 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 1950.

National championsa title the school claims

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠1 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 4
Points
335–⁠71
Coach
Bob Neyland
Elo
1741 +153 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
20.8 No. 2 of 120 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offense
Single-wing
Defense
Multiple

Drafted in 1951

The 1951 draft
Rd 5Jack Stroud OTNew York Giants

All-SEC

4 first team

First team

  • Bud SherrodEAP-1; UP-2
  • Pug PearmanOTAP-2; UP-1
  • Ted DafferOGAP-1; UP-1
  • Hank LauricellaRBAP-2; UP-1

From Wikipedia’s 1950 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1950 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Kentucky5–⁠111–⁠17
Tennessee4–⁠111–⁠14
Alabama6–⁠29–⁠216
Tulane3–⁠1–⁠16–⁠2–⁠120
Georgia Tech4–⁠25–⁠6
Georgia3–⁠2–⁠16–⁠3–⁠3
Vanderbilt3–⁠47–⁠4
Mississippi State3–⁠44–⁠5
LSU2–⁠3–⁠24–⁠5–⁠2
Florida2–⁠45–⁠5
Ole Miss1–⁠55–⁠5
Auburn0–⁠70–⁠10

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