CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1996 Tennessee

10–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Southeastern Conference), coached by Phillip Fulmer, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tennessee in 1996, game by game: won vs. UNLV 62–3; won vs. UCLA 35–20; lost vs. No. 4 Florida 29–35; won vs. Ole Miss 41–3; won at Georgia 29–17; won vs. No. 7 Alabama 20–13; won at South Carolina 31–14; lost at Memphis 17–21; won vs. Arkansas 55–14; won vs. Kentucky 56–10; won at Vanderbilt 14–7; won vs. No. 11 Northwestern 48–28+59−6Won 62–3 vs. UNLV+59UNLVWon 35–20 vs. UCLA+15UCLALost 29–35 vs. No. 4 Florida-6No. 4 FloridaWon 41–3 vs. Ole Miss+38Ole MissWon 29–17 at Georgia+12GeorgiaWon 20–13 vs. No. 7 Alabama+7No. 7 AlabamaWon 31–14 at South Carolina+17South CarolinaLost 17–21 at Memphis-4MemphisWon 55–14 vs. Arkansas+41ArkansasWon 56–10 vs. Kentucky+46KentuckyWon 14–7 at Vanderbilt+7VanderbiltWon 48–28 vs. No. 11 Northwestern+20No. 11 Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsUNLVW 62–⁠392%
Sep 7vsUCLAW 35–⁠2076%
Sep 21vs4FloridaL 29–⁠3556%
Oct 3vsOle MissW 41–⁠372%
Oct 12atGeorgiaW 29–⁠1767%
Oct 26vs7AlabamaW 20–⁠1360%
Nov 2atSouth CarolinaW 31–⁠1471%
Nov 9atMemphisL 17–⁠2187%
Nov 16vsArkansasW 55–⁠1486%
Nov 23vsKentuckyW 56–⁠1089%
Nov 30atVanderbiltW 14–⁠787%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs11NorthwesternCitrus BowlW 48–⁠2858%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Northwestern 48–⁠28 in the Citrus Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 8th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 2
  2. Wk 2: 2
  3. Wk 3: 2
  4. Wk 4: 2
  5. Wk 5: 2
  6. Wk 6: 9
  7. Wk 7: 9
  8. Wk 8: 7
  9. Wk 9: 6
  10. Wk 10: 6
  11. Wk 11: 6
  12. Wk 12: 6
  13. Wk 13: 12
  14. Wk 14: 9
  15. Wk 15: 9
  16. Wk 16: 9
  17. Wk 17: 9
  18. 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 1996.

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 2nd in Southeastern Conference
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 2
Points
437–⁠185
Coach
Phillip Fulmer
Elo
1765 +77 this season
SP+ rating
21.4 No. 13 of 111; offense No. 17, defense No. 21
SRS
18.7 No. 12 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
David Cutcliffe
Defensive coordinator
John Chavis
Captains
Raymond Austin and Jay Graham
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 2Joey Kent WRTennessee Oilers
Rd 3Jay Graham RBBaltimore Ravens
Rd 5Raymond Austin DBNew York Jets

All-SEC

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1996 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1996 Southeastern Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Florida8–⁠012–⁠11
Tennessee7–⁠110–⁠29
LSU6–⁠210–⁠212
Alabama6–⁠210–⁠311
Auburn4–⁠48–⁠424
South Carolina4–⁠46–⁠5
Georgia3–⁠55–⁠6
Mississippi State3–⁠55–⁠6
Kentucky3–⁠54–⁠7
Ole Miss2–⁠65–⁠6
Arkansas2–⁠64–⁠7
Vanderbilt0–⁠82–⁠9

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