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1986 Tennessee

7–⁠5 (3–⁠3 Southeastern Conference), coached by Johnny Majors.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1986, game by game: won vs. New Mexico 35–21; lost vs. Mississippi State 23–27; lost at No. 8 Auburn 8–34; won vs. UTEP 26–16; lost vs. Army 21–25; lost vs. No. 2 Alabama 28–56; lost at Georgia Tech 13–14; won vs. Memphis 33–3; won at No. 20 Ole Miss 22–10; won vs. Kentucky 28–9; won at Vanderbilt 35–20; won vs. Minnesota 21–14+30−28Won 35–21 vs. New Mexico+14New MexicoLost 23–27 vs. Mississippi State-4Mississippi Sta…Lost 8–34 at No. 8 Auburn-26No. 8 AuburnWon 26–16 vs. UTEP+10UTEPLost 21–25 vs. Army-4ArmyLost 28–56 vs. No. 2 Alabama-28No. 2 AlabamaLost 13–14 at Georgia Tech-1Georgia TechWon 33–3 vs. Memphis+30MemphisWon 22–10 at No. 20 Ole Miss+12No. 20 Ole MissWon 28–9 vs. Kentucky+19KentuckyWon 35–20 at Vanderbilt+15VanderbiltWon 21–14 vs. Minnesota+7Minnesota
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6vsNew MexicoW 35–⁠2186%
Sep 13vsMississippi StateL 23–⁠2778%
Sep 27at8AuburnL 8–⁠3442%
Oct 4vsUTEPW 26–⁠1686%
Oct 11vsArmyL 21–⁠2573%
Oct 18vs2AlabamaL 28–⁠5640%
Oct 25atGeorgia TechL 13–⁠1441%
Nov 8vsMemphisW 33–⁠386%
Nov 15at20Ole MissW 22–⁠1042%
Nov 22vsKentuckyW 28–⁠968%
Nov 29atVanderbiltW 35–⁠2079%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsMinnesotaLiberty BowlW 21–⁠1463%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Minnesota 21–⁠14 in the Liberty Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 6th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 57th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 10
  2. Wk 2: 8

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 1986.

Record
7–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠3 6th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 8
Points
293–⁠249
Coach
Johnny Majors
Elo
1640 −18 this season
SP+ rating
5.7 No. 43 of 101; offense No. 44, defense No. 42
SRS
3.6 No. 40 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Walt Harris
Defensive coordinator
Ken Donahue
Captains
Joey Clinkscales, Dale Jones and Bruce Wilkerson

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 2Bruce Wilkerson OTLos Angeles Raiders

All-SEC

4 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
LSU5–⁠19–⁠310
Auburn4–⁠210–⁠26
Alabama4–⁠210–⁠39
Ole Miss4–⁠28–⁠3–⁠1
Georgia4–⁠28–⁠4
Tennessee3–⁠37–⁠5
Mississippi State2–⁠46–⁠5
Florida2–⁠46–⁠5
Kentucky2–⁠45–⁠5–⁠1
Vanderbilt0–⁠61–⁠10

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