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1961 Tennessee

6–⁠4 (4–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bowden Wyatt.

Tennessee, 1961
Photo: not named, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1961, game by game: lost vs. Auburn 21–24; won vs. Mississippi State 17–3; won vs. Tulsa 52–6; lost at Alabama 3–34; won vs. Chattanooga 20–7; lost at North Carolina 21–22; won vs. Georgia Tech 10–6; lost at Ole Miss 10–24; won at Kentucky 26–16; won vs. Vanderbilt 41–7+46−31Lost 21–24 vs. Auburn-3AuburnWon 17–3 vs. Mississippi State+14Mississippi Sta…Won 52–6 vs. Tulsa+46TulsaLost 3–34 at Alabama-31AlabamaWon 20–7 vs. Chattanooga+13ChattanoogaLost 21–22 at North Carolina-1North CarolinaWon 10–6 vs. Georgia Tech+4Georgia TechLost 10–24 at Ole Miss-14Ole MissWon 26–16 at Kentucky+10KentuckyWon 41–7 vs. Vanderbilt+34Vanderbilt
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30vsAuburnL 21–⁠2450%
Oct 7vsMississippi StateW 17–⁠364%
Oct 14vsTulsaW 52–⁠673%
Oct 21atAlabamaL 3–⁠3429%
Oct 28vsChattanoogaW 20–⁠794%
Nov 4atNorth CarolinaL 21–⁠2252%
Nov 11vsGeorgia TechW 10–⁠642%
Nov 18atOle MissL 10–⁠2420%
Nov 25atKentuckyW 26–⁠1640%
Dec 2vsVanderbiltW 41–⁠783%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Vanderbilt 41–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 68th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

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 1961.

Record
6–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
221–⁠149
Coach
Bowden Wyatt
Elo
1598 +51 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
16.2 No. 13 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Mike Lucci

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 2Glenn Glass DBBuffalo Bills (AFL)

All-SEC

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Mallon FairclothRBAP-2; UPI-3

From Wikipedia’s 1961 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1961 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠011–⁠01
LSU6–⁠010–⁠14
Ole Miss5–⁠19–⁠25
Georgia Tech4–⁠37–⁠413
Tennessee4–⁠36–⁠4
Florida3–⁠34–⁠5–⁠1
Auburn3–⁠46–⁠4
Kentucky2–⁠45–⁠5
Georgia2–⁠53–⁠7
Mississippi State1–⁠55–⁠5
Tulane1–⁠52–⁠8
Vanderbilt1–⁠62–⁠8

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