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1956 Tennessee

10–⁠1 (6–⁠0 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bowden Wyatt, finished No. 2 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1956, game by game: won at Auburn 35–7; won at Duke 33–20; won vs. Chattanooga 42–20; won vs. Alabama 24–0; won vs. Maryland 34–7; won vs. North Carolina 20–0; won at No. 2 Georgia Tech 6–0; won vs. No. 19 Ole Miss 27–7; won vs. Kentucky 20–7; won at Vanderbilt 27–7; lost vs. No. 15 Baylor 7–13+28−6Won 35–7 at Auburn+28AuburnWon 33–20 at Duke+13DukeWon 42–20 vs. Chattanooga+22ChattanoogaWon 24–0 vs. Alabama+24AlabamaWon 34–7 vs. Maryland+27MarylandWon 20–0 vs. North Carolina+20North CarolinaWon 6–0 at No. 2 Georgia Tech+6No. 2 Georgia TechWon 27–7 vs. No. 19 Ole Miss+20No. 19 Ole MissWon 20–7 vs. Kentucky+13KentuckyWon 27–7 at Vanderbilt+20VanderbiltLost 7–13 vs. No. 15 Baylor-6No. 15 Baylor
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 29atAuburnW 35–⁠737%
Oct 6atDukeW 33–⁠2040%
Oct 13vsChattanoogaW 42–⁠2096%
Oct 20vsAlabamaW 24–⁠087%
Oct 27vsMarylandW 34–⁠769%
Nov 3vsNorth CarolinaW 20–⁠084%
Nov 10at2Georgia TechW 6–⁠030%
Nov 17vs19Ole MissW 27–⁠761%
Nov 24vsKentuckyW 20–⁠772%
Dec 1atVanderbiltW 27–⁠768%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs15BaylorSugar BowlL 7–⁠1360%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Baylor 13–⁠7 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 2 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The 25th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 3: 9
  3. Wk 4: 6
  4. Wk 5: 7
  5. Wk 6: 4
  6. Wk 7: 3
  7. Wk 8: 3
  8. Wk 9: 1
  9. Wk 10: 2
  10. Wk 11: 2
  11. Final: 2

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 1956.

Southeastern Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteJohnny Majors, second

Consensus All-AmericanJohnny Majors, RB

Record
10–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠0 first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 2 peak No. 1
Points
275–⁠88
Coach
Bowden Wyatt
Elo
1712 +176 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
28.1 No. 3 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—

Drafted in 1957

The 1957 draft
Rd 2John Gordy OTDetroit Lions

All-SEC

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Roger UrbanoEAP-3; UP-2
  • Bobby HoweCUP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1956 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1956 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Tennessee6–⁠010–⁠12
Georgia Tech7–⁠110–⁠14
Florida5–⁠26–⁠3–⁠1
Ole Miss4–⁠27–⁠3
Auburn4–⁠37–⁠3
Kentucky4–⁠46–⁠4
Tulane3–⁠36–⁠4
Vanderbilt2–⁠55–⁠5
Mississippi State2–⁠54–⁠6
Alabama2–⁠52–⁠7–⁠1
LSU1–⁠53–⁠7
Georgia1–⁠63–⁠6–⁠1

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