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1985 Tennessee

9–⁠1–⁠2 (5–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Johnny Majors, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1985, game by game: tied vs. No. 10 UCLA 26–26; won vs. No. 1 Auburn 38–20; won vs. Wake Forest 31–29; lost at No. 7 Florida 10–17; won at No. 15 Alabama 16–14; tied vs. Georgia Tech 6–6; won vs. Rutgers 40–0; won at Memphis 17–7; won vs. Ole Miss 34–14; won at Kentucky 42–0; won vs. Vanderbilt 30–0; won vs. No. 2 Miami 35–7+42−7Tied 26–26 vs. No. 10 UCLA0No. 10 UCLAWon 38–20 vs. No. 1 Auburn+18No. 1 AuburnWon 31–29 vs. Wake Forest+2Wake ForestLost 10–17 at No. 7 Florida-7No. 7 FloridaWon 16–14 at No. 15 Alabama+2No. 15 AlabamaTied 6–6 vs. Georgia Tech0Georgia TechWon 40–0 vs. Rutgers+40RutgersWon 17–7 at Memphis+10MemphisWon 34–14 vs. Ole Miss+20Ole MissWon 42–0 at Kentucky+42KentuckyWon 30–0 vs. Vanderbilt+30VanderbiltWon 35–7 vs. No. 2 Miami+28No. 2 Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14vs10UCLAT 26–⁠2650%
Sep 28vs1AuburnW 38–⁠2046%
Oct 5vsWake ForestW 31–⁠2976%
Oct 12at7FloridaL 10–⁠1725%
Oct 19at15AlabamaW 16–⁠1441%
Oct 26vsGeorgia TechT 6–⁠663%
Nov 2vsRutgersW 40–⁠079%
Nov 9atMemphisW 17–⁠768%
Nov 16vsOle MissW 34–⁠1481%
Nov 23atKentuckyW 42–⁠061%
Nov 30vsVanderbiltW 30–⁠088%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs2MiamiSugar BowlW 35–⁠739%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Miami 35–⁠7 in the Sugar Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Southeastern Conference champions.

In program history: The 17th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 16
  2. Wk 7: 14
  3. Wk 8: 20
  4. Wk 9: 16
  5. Wk 10: 19
  6. Wk 11: 19
  7. Wk 12: 18
  8. Wk 13: 16
  9. Wk 14: 10
  10. Wk 15: 8
  11. Wk 16: 8
  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 1985.

Southeastern Conference champions5–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanTim McGee, WR

Record
9–⁠1–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠1 shared first in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 4
Points
325–⁠140
Coach
Johnny Majors
Elo
1737 +155 this season
SP+ rating
24.1 No. 5 of 106; offense No. 23, defense No. 4
SRS
22.7 No. 3 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Walt Harris
Defensive coordinator
Ken Donahue
Captains
Tim McGee, Tommy Sims and Chris White

Drafted in 1986

The 1986 draft
Rd 1Tim McGee WRCincinnati Bengals
Rd 6Jeff Powell RBChicago Bears
Rd 7Eric Swanson WRSt. Louis Cardinals
Rd 7Tommy Sims DBIndianapolis Colts

All-SEC

5 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1985 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1985 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida5–⁠19–⁠1–⁠15
Tennessee5–⁠19–⁠1–⁠24
LSU4–⁠1–⁠19–⁠2–⁠120
Alabama4–⁠1–⁠19–⁠2–⁠113
Georgia3–⁠2–⁠17–⁠3–⁠2
Auburn3–⁠38–⁠4
Ole Miss2–⁠44–⁠6–⁠1
Vanderbilt1–⁠4–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Kentucky1–⁠55–⁠6
Mississippi State0–⁠65–⁠6

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