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1971 Tennessee

10–⁠2 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bill Battle, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1971, game by game: won vs. California–Santa Barbara 48–6; lost vs. No. 5 Auburn 9–10; won at Florida 20–13; won vs. Georgia Tech 10–6; lost at No. 4 Alabama 15–32; won vs. Mississippi State 10–7; won vs. Tulsa 38–3; won vs. South Carolina 35–6; won at Kentucky 21–7; won vs. Vanderbilt 19–7; won vs. No. 5 Penn State 31–11; won vs. No. 18 Arkansas 14–13+42−17Won 48–6 vs. California–Santa Barbara+42California–Sant…Lost 9–10 vs. No. 5 Auburn-1No. 5 AuburnWon 20–13 at Florida+7FloridaWon 10–6 vs. Georgia Tech+4Georgia TechLost 15–32 at No. 4 Alabama-17No. 4 AlabamaWon 10–7 vs. Mississippi State+3Mississippi Sta…Won 38–3 vs. Tulsa+35TulsaWon 35–6 vs. South Carolina+29South CarolinaWon 21–7 at Kentucky+14KentuckyWon 19–7 vs. Vanderbilt+12VanderbiltWon 31–11 vs. No. 5 Penn State+20No. 5 Penn StateWon 14–13 vs. No. 18 Arkansas+1No. 18 Arkansas
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18vsCalifornia–Santa BarbaraW 48–⁠694%
Sep 25vs5AuburnL 9–⁠1064%
Oct 2atFloridaW 20–⁠1369%
Oct 9vsGeorgia TechW 10–⁠676%
Oct 16at4AlabamaL 15–⁠3242%
Oct 23vsMississippi StateW 10–⁠785%
Oct 30vsTulsaW 38–⁠386%
Nov 6vsSouth CarolinaW 35–⁠678%
Nov 20atKentuckyW 21–⁠782%
Nov 27vsVanderbiltW 19–⁠787%
Dec 4vs5Penn StateW 31–⁠1151%
Dec 20Bowls & playoffvs18ArkansasLiberty BowlW 14–⁠1360%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Arkansas 14–⁠13 in the Liberty Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 12th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 8
  2. Wk 2: 8
  3. Wk 3: 9
  4. Wk 4: 12
  5. Wk 5: 13
  6. Wk 6: 14
  7. Wk 7: 18
  8. Wk 8: 16
  9. Wk 9: 11
  10. Wk 10: 11
  11. Wk 11: 11
  12. Wk 12: 11
  13. Wk 13: 12
  14. Wk 14: 9
  15. Final: 9

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 1971.

Consensus All-AmericanBobby Majors, DB

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
4–⁠2 tied for 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 8
Points
270–⁠121
Coach
Bill Battle
Elo
1748 +65 this season
SP+ rating
18.1 No. 17 of 120; offense No. 39, defense No. 4
SRS
17.9 No. 15 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Jackie Walker

Drafted in 1972

The 1972 draft
Rd 3Bobby Majors DBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 5George Hunt KCleveland Browns
Rd 6Jackie Walker DBSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 6Curt Watson RBNew Orleans Saints
Rd 6Ray Nettles LBMiami Dolphins

All-SEC

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Bill EmendorferOGAP-2
  • Conrad GrahamDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1971 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1971 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠011–⁠14
Georgia5–⁠111–⁠17
Auburn5–⁠19–⁠212
Ole Miss4–⁠210–⁠215
Tennessee4–⁠210–⁠29
LSU3–⁠29–⁠311
Vanderbilt1–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Florida1–⁠64–⁠7
Kentucky1–⁠63–⁠8
Mississippi State1–⁠72–⁠9

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