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1996 Vanderbilt

2–⁠9 (0–⁠8 Southeastern Conference), coached by Ron Dowhower.

Schedule and results

Vanderbilt in 1996, game by game: lost vs. No. 6 Notre Dame 7–14; lost at No. 13 Alabama 26–36; lost vs. Ole Miss 9–20; lost at No. 14 LSU 0–35; won at North Texas 19–7; lost at Georgia 2–13; lost vs. South Carolina 0–27; won vs. UAB 31–15; lost vs. No. 1 Florida 21–28; lost at Kentucky 0–25; lost vs. No. 9 Tennessee 7–14+16−35Lost 7–14 vs. No. 6 Notre Dame-7No. 6 Notre DameLost 26–36 at No. 13 Alabama-10No. 13 AlabamaLost 9–20 vs. Ole Miss-11Ole MissLost 0–35 at No. 14 LSU-35No. 14 LSUWon 19–7 at North Texas+12North TexasLost 2–13 at Georgia-11GeorgiaLost 0–27 vs. South Carolina-27South CarolinaWon 31–15 vs. UAB+16UABLost 21–28 vs. No. 1 Florida-7No. 1 FloridaLost 0–25 at Kentucky-25KentuckyLost 7–14 vs. No. 9 Tennessee-7No. 9 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vs6Notre DameL 7–⁠1428%
Sep 14at13AlabamaL 26–⁠3615%
Sep 21vsOle MissL 9–⁠2044%
Oct 5at14LSUL 0–⁠3517%
Oct 12atNorth TexasW 19–⁠751%
Oct 19atGeorgiaL 2–⁠1327%
Oct 26vsSouth CarolinaL 0–⁠2741%
Nov 2vsUABW 31–⁠1556%
Nov 9vs1FloridaL 21–⁠2811%
Nov 16atKentuckyL 0–⁠2539%
Nov 30vs9TennesseeL 7–⁠1413%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 14–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 12th in the Southeastern Conference.

In program history: The 105th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 124 on file).

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
2–⁠9
Conference
0–⁠8 12th in Southeastern Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
122–⁠234
Coach
Ron Dowhower
Elo
1348 −72 this season
SP+ rating
-6.2 No. 74 of 111; offense No. 109, defense No. 24
SRS
−6.4 No. 76 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Woody Widenhofer

All-SEC

2 first team

First 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.