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1972 Tennessee

10–⁠2 (4–⁠2 Southeastern Conference), coached by Bill Battle, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1972, game by game: won at Georgia Tech 34–3; won vs. No. 6 Penn State 28–21; won vs. Wake Forest 45–6; lost at Auburn 6–10; won at Memphis 38–7; lost vs. No. 3 Alabama 10–17; won vs. Hawai’i 34–2; won at Georgia 14–0; won vs. Ole Miss 17–0; won vs. Kentucky 17–7; won at Vanderbilt 30–10; won vs. No. 10 LSU 24–17+39−7Won 34–3 at Georgia Tech+31Georgia TechWon 28–21 vs. No. 6 Penn State+7No. 6 Penn StateWon 45–6 vs. Wake Forest+39Wake ForestLost 6–10 at Auburn-4AuburnWon 38–7 at Memphis+31MemphisLost 10–17 vs. No. 3 Alabama-7No. 3 AlabamaWon 34–2 vs. Hawai’i+32Hawai’iWon 14–0 at Georgia+14GeorgiaWon 17–0 vs. Ole Miss+17Ole MissWon 17–7 vs. Kentucky+10KentuckyWon 30–10 at Vanderbilt+20VanderbiltWon 24–17 vs. No. 10 LSU+7No. 10 LSU
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9atGeorgia TechW 34–⁠360%
Sep 16vs6Penn StateW 28–⁠2160%
Sep 23vsWake ForestW 45–⁠685%
Sep 30atAuburnL 6–⁠1053%
Oct 7atMemphisW 38–⁠777%
Oct 21vs3AlabamaL 10–⁠1753%
Oct 28vsHawai’iW 34–⁠289%
Nov 4atGeorgiaW 14–⁠052%
Nov 18vsOle MissW 17–⁠074%
Nov 25vsKentuckyW 17–⁠791%
Dec 2atVanderbiltW 30–⁠1086%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvs10LSUAstro-Bluebonnet BowlW 24–⁠1754%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat LSU 24–⁠17 in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; 4th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 7th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 15
  2. Wk 2: 7
  3. Wk 3: 5
  4. Wk 4: 4
  5. Wk 5: 10
  6. Wk 6: 11
  7. Wk 7: 10
  8. Wk 8: 14
  9. Wk 9: 13
  10. Wk 10: 13
  11. Wk 11: 13
  12. Wk 12: 12
  13. Wk 13: 12
  14. Wk 14: 11
  15. Final: 8
Record
10–⁠2
Conference
4–⁠2 4th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 4
Points
297–⁠100
Coach
Bill Battle
Elo
1769 +104 this season
SP+ rating
25.2 No. 6 of 121; offense No. 27, defense No. 4
SRS
24.7 No. 6 of 127 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jim Wright
Captain
Jamie Rotella

Drafted in 1973

The 1973 draft
Rd 3Jamie Rotella LBBaltimore Colts

All-SEC

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Bill EmendorferOGAP-1; UPI
  • John WagsterDTAP-1
  • Jamie RotellaLBAP-1; UPI
  • Conrad GrahamDBAP-1; UPI
  • Ricky TownsendKAP-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1972 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1972 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Alabama7–⁠110–⁠27
Auburn6–⁠110–⁠15
LSU4–⁠1–⁠19–⁠2–⁠111
Tennessee4–⁠210–⁠28
Georgia4–⁠37–⁠4
Florida3–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Ole Miss2–⁠55–⁠5
Kentucky2–⁠53–⁠8
Mississippi State1–⁠64–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠63–⁠8

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