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1970 Tennessee

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

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1970, game by game: won vs. SMU 28–3; lost at Auburn 23–36; won vs. Army 48–3; won at No. 13 Georgia Tech 17–6; won vs. Alabama 24–0; won vs. Florida 38–7; won vs. Wake Forest 41–7; won at South Carolina 20–18; won vs. Kentucky 45–0; won at Vanderbilt 24–6; won vs. UCLA 28–17; won vs. No. 11 Air Force 34–13+45−13Won 28–3 vs. SMU+25SMULost 23–36 at Auburn-13AuburnWon 48–3 vs. Army+45ArmyWon 17–6 at No. 13 Georgia Tech+11No. 13 Georgia TechWon 24–0 vs. Alabama+24AlabamaWon 38–7 vs. Florida+31FloridaWon 41–7 vs. Wake Forest+34Wake ForestWon 20–18 at South Carolina+2South CarolinaWon 45–0 vs. Kentucky+45KentuckyWon 24–6 at Vanderbilt+18VanderbiltWon 28–17 vs. UCLA+11UCLAWon 34–13 vs. No. 11 Air Force+21No. 11 Air Force
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19vsSMUW 28–⁠380%
Sep 26atAuburnL 23–⁠3645%
Oct 3vsArmyW 48–⁠377%
Oct 10at13Georgia TechW 17–⁠657%
Oct 17vsAlabamaW 24–⁠068%
Oct 24vsFloridaW 38–⁠766%
Oct 31vsWake ForestW 41–⁠785%
Nov 7atSouth CarolinaW 20–⁠1872%
Nov 21vsKentuckyW 45–⁠091%
Nov 28atVanderbiltW 24–⁠680%
Dec 5vsUCLAW 28–⁠1774%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs11Air ForceSugar BowlW 34–⁠1366%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Air Force 34–⁠13 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 17
  2. Wk 5: 20
  3. Wk 6: 14
  4. Wk 7: 11
  5. Wk 8: 9
  6. Wk 9: 8
  7. Wk 10: 10
  8. Wk 11: 8
  9. Wk 12: 7
  10. Wk 13: 5
  11. Wk 14: 4
  12. 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 1970.

Consensus All-AmericanChip Kell, C/OG

Record
11–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠1 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 4
Points
370–⁠116
Coach
Bill Battle
Elo
1774 +130 this season
SP+ rating
30.1 No. 3 of 117; offense No. 9, defense No. 2
SRS
28.3 No. 4 of 123 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Tim Priest

All-SEC

6 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1970 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1970 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
LSU5–⁠09–⁠37
Tennessee4–⁠111–⁠14
Auburn5–⁠29–⁠210
Ole Miss4–⁠27–⁠420
Florida3–⁠37–⁠4
Georgia3–⁠35–⁠5
Mississippi State3–⁠46–⁠5
Alabama3–⁠46–⁠5–⁠1
Vanderbilt1–⁠54–⁠7
Kentucky0–⁠72–⁠9

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