1914 SIAA
CHAMPIONSHIP
UT 89; Carson-Newman 0
UT 55; King 0
UT 27; Clemson 0
UT 66; Louisville 0
UT 17; Alabama 7
UT 67; Chattanooga 0
UT 16; Vanderbilt 14
UT 14; Sewanee 7
UT 23, Kentucky State 6
COACH: Z.G. Clevenger
RECORD: 9-0
The 1914 Vols were the first Vol team ever that could proudly chant "we're number
one." The Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championship was the Vols'
first championship of any kind. The highlight of this season was the 16-14 win at
Vanderbilt on November 7. Unlike today, UT and Vandy were bitter rivals back then, and the
1914 win over the Commodores was UT's first ever win against their inner-state rivals.
1927 SC CHAMPIONSHIP
UT 33; Carson-Newman 0
UT 26; North Carolina 0
UT 7; Maryville 0
UT 21; Ole Miss 7
UT 57; Transylvania 0
UT 42; Virginia 0
UT 32; Sewanee 12
UT 7; Vanderbilt 7
UT 20; Kentucky 0
COACH: Robert Neyland
RECORD: 8-0-1
Just a year earlier, Robert Neyland had been named head coach. The goal set before him:
even the series with Vanderbilt. A tie isn't a win, but it was a far cry better than UT's
recent showings with the Commies. Tennessee's first Southern Conference Championship.
1932 SC CHAMPIONSHIP
UT 13, Chattanooga 0
UT 33, Ole Miss 7
UT 20, UNC 7
UT 7, Alabama 3
UT 60, Maryville 0
UT 16, Duke 13
UT 31, Miss A&M 0
UT 0, Vanderbilt 0
UT26, Kentucky 0
UT 32, Florida 13
COACH: Robert Neyland
RECORD: 9-0-1
As was the case when UT last won a conference championship, the pesky Commodores proved to
be the only blemish on an otherwise perfect season record. This was Tennessee's second
Southern Conference Championship.
1938 SEC Champions
UT 26, Sewanee 3
UT 20, Clemson 7
UT 7, Auburn 0
UT 13, Alabama 0
UT 44, The Citadel 6
UT 14, LSU 6
UT 45, Chattenooga 0
UT 14, Vanderbilt 0
UT 46, Kentucky 0
UT 47, Ole Miss 0
UT 17, Oklahoma 0
COACH: Robert Neyland
RECORD:11-0
October 9, 1938. Homecoming in Knoxville. Louisiana State was the opponent. The Tigers
scored a touchdown in the first half. The signifigance? Noone would score again on the
Vols until Alabama did it in 1940. After this season, no Vol team would go undefeated
again until 1998. Tennessee had joined the Southeastern Conference in 1933, and this was
their first SEC Championship.
1939 SEC Champions
UT 13, NC State 0
UT 40, Sewanee 0
UT 28, Chattanooga 0
UT 21, Alabama 0
UT 17, Mercer 0
UT 20, LSU 0
UT 34, The Citadel 0
UT 13, Vanderbilt 0
UT 19, Kentucky 0
UT 7, Auburn 0
UT 0, USC 14
COACH: Robert Neyland
RECORD: 10-1
What a season! This Vols team is the last NCAA team to EVER go unscored upon throughout a
regular season. Their impressive run ended with a 14-0 loss to Southern Cal in the Rose
Bowl, but this team ranks as one of the all-time great college teams nonetheless.
Tennessee's second-consecutive SEC Championship.
1940 SEC Champions
UT 49, Mercer 0
UT 13, Duke 0
UT 53, Chattanooga 0
UT 27, Alabama 12
UT 14, Florida 0
UT 28, LSU 0
UT 41, Southwestern 0
UT 41, Virginia 14
UT 33, Kentucky 0
UT 20, Vanderbilt 0
UT 13, Boston College 19
COACH: Robert Neyland
RECORD: 10-1
Once again, a bowl loss, this time to Boston College in the Sugar Bowl, ended an otherwise
perfect Tennessee season. A great season, nonetheless, as UT won their third consecutive
SEC Championship, and capped off one of the best three year periods in UT history, as the
Vols set an NCAA record by pitching 17 consecutive shutouts, and traveled to the Orange,
Sugar, and Rose Bowls.
1946 SEC Championship
UT 13, Georgia Tech 9
UT 12, Duke 7
UT 47, Chattanooga 7
UT 12, Alabama 0
UT 6, Wake Forest 19
UT 20, North Carolina 14
UT 18, Ole Miss 14
UT 33, Boston College 13
UT 7, Kentucky 0
UT 7, Vanderbilt 6
UT 0, Rice 8
COACH: Robert Neyland
RECORD: 9-2
After winning the 1940 SEC crown, Coach Neyland had been called away to serve his country
overseas in World War II. But he returned in 1946, and immediately won another SEC title.
But what was happening? The Vols only pitched two shutouts the
entire season. The game was changing, and offense was becoming more important. And when it
came to offense, few coaches of the time had a better system than General Neyland's single wing attack. The Vols had a
successful 9-1 regular season and won their fourth SEC Championship.
1951 National Championship
UT 14, Mississippi State 0
UT 26, Duke 0
UT 42, Chattanooga 13
UT 27, Alabama 13
UT 68, Tennessee Tech 0
UT 27, Alabama 0
UT 60, Washington & Lee 14
UT 46, Ole Miss 21
UT 28, Kentucky 0
UT 35, Vanderbilt 27
UT 13, Maryland 28
COACH: Robert Neyland
RECORD: 10-1
1951 marked the first time in UT history that the Vols were consensus national champions.
They wouldn't win another NC until 1998. The Sugar Bowl loss to Maryland ruined a perfect
season, but the final AP Poll was voted upon before the bowl game in those days. Hank
Lauricella finished runner-up to the Heisman Trophy. Interestingly enough, when Robert
Neyland had returned from Army duty in 1946, he had said "it will take us five years
to put Tennessee back on top." The General would resign from coaching a year later.
1956 SEC Champions
UT 35, Auburn 7
UT 33, Duke 20
UT 42, Chattanooga 20
UT 24, Alabama 0
UT 34, Maryland 7
UT 20, North Carolina 0
UT 6, Georgia Tech 0
UT 27, Ole Miss 7
UT 20, Kentucky 7
UT 27, Vanderbilt 7
UT 7, Baylor 13
COACH: Bowden Wyatt
RECORD: 10-1
Bowden Wyatt, who helped lead Tennessee to their 1938 SEC Championship, returend to
Tennessee in 1955 and it didn't take him long to win his first SEC crown. He was the first
Vol coach other than Robert Neyland to win the SEC title. W. H. Britton, John Barnhill, and
Harvey Robinson each tried but didn't succeed. Tennessee's sixth SEC championship. Johnny
Majors finished as the runner-up to the Heisman Trophy.
1967 SEC Championship
UT 15, UCLA 20
UT 27, Auburn 13
UT 24, Georgia Tech 13
UT 17, LSU 14
UT 38, Tampa 0
UT 35, Tulane 14
UT 20, Ole Miss 7
UT 17, Kentucky 7
UT 41, Vanderbilt 14
UT 24, Oklahoma 26
COACH: Doug Dickey
RECORD: 9-2
It had been eleven years since UT's last SEC championship. Doug Dickey, who had replaced
Jim McDonald as the head coach in 1964, won the SECC in his fourth year as head coach.
Tennessee's seventh SEC Championship.
1969 SEC Championship
UT 31, UT-Chattanooga 0
UT 45, Auburn 19
UT 55, Memphis State 19
UT 26, Georgia Tech 8
UT 41, Alabama 14
UT 17, Georgia 3
UT 29, South Carolina 14
UT 0, Ole Miss 38
UT 31, Kentucky 26
UT 40, Vanderbilt 27
UT 13, Florida 14
COACH: Doug Dickey
RECORD: 9-2
Archie Who? Archie Manning left his mark on Tennessee this season, as his Rebels crushed
UT 38-0. This would be Doug Dickey's last year as UT head coach. He would leave following
the season to coach the team who beat his Vols in the season-ending Gator Bowl: The
Florida Gators. Tennessee's eighth SEC Championship.
1985 SEC Championship
UT 26, UCLA 26
UT 38, Auburn 20
UT 31, Wake Forest 29
UT 10, Florida 17
UT 16, Alabama 14
UT 6, Georgia Tech 6
UT 40, Rutgers 0
UT 17, Memphis State 7
UT 34, Ole Miss 14
UT 42, Kentucky 0
UT 30, Vanderbilt 0
UT 35, Miami, Fl 7
COACH: Johnny Majors
RECORD: 9-1-2
A magical season for the Volunteers. This team lost standout quarterback Tony Robinson to
injury in the Alabama game, but Darryl Dickey stepped in to lead the Vols to an upset win
over the highly favored Miami Hurricanes. Johnny Majors' first SEC Championship and UT's
ninth.
1989 SEC Championship
UT 17, Colorado St 14
UT 24, UCLA 6
UT 28, Duke 6
UT 21, Auburn 14
UT 17, Georgia 14
UT 30, Alabama 47
UT 45, LSU 39
UT 52, Akron 9
UT 33, Ole Miss 21
UT 31, Kentucky 10
UT 17, Vanderbilt 10
UT 31, Arkansas 27
COACH: Johnny Majors
RECORD: 11-1
Who would have thought that a team coming off a 5-6 season could put together an 11-1
record and win the SEC Championship? We should have known something was up after UT won
their final five games of 1988. They were the NCAA's most improved team in '89. The
highlight of the season was a 24-6 victory at Pasadena. The victory over Arkansas in the
Cotton Bowl was Tennessee's 500th football victory. The Vols' tenth SEC Championship.
1990 SEC Championship
UT 31, Colorado 31
UT 55, Pacific 7
UT 40, Mississippi St 7
UT 56, Texas El-Paso 0
UT 26, Auburn 26
UT 45, Florida 3
UT 6, Alabama 9
UT 41, Temple 20
UT 29, Notre Dame 24
UT 22, Ole Miss 13
UT 42, Kentucky 28
UT 49, Vanderbilt 20
UT 23, Virginia 22
COACH: Johnny Majors
RECORD: 9-2-2
This exciting season included a season-opening tie of the eventual national champions, and
a 45-3 thumping of Florida. But it also included tough defeats that tested the mental
strength of UT field goal kicker Greg Burke. A chance to win the game at Auburn slipped
away when the Burke field goal fell short. A chance to beat Alabama slipped away when a
Burke field goal was blocked. Another tough defeat was the 29-24 loss to Notre Dame in
Neyland Stadium, when an Andy Kelly pass was picked off after the Vols had recovered an
onside kick. The season was capped by an exhilarating
comeback from a 16-0 deficit to
Virginia for a 23-22 Sugar Bowl win. UT's eleventh SEC Championship.
1997 SEC Championship
UT 52, Texas Tech 17
UT 30, UCLA 24
UT 20, Florida 33
UT 31, Ole Miss 14
UT 38, Georgia 13
UT 38, Alabama 21
UT 22, South Carolina 7
UT 44, Southern Miss 20
UT 30, Arkansas 22
UT 59, Kentucky 31
UT 17, Vanderbilt 10
UT 30, Auburn 29
UT 17, Nebraska 42
COACH: Phillip Fulmer
RECORD: 11-2
Tennessee appeared out of the SEC chase after yet another loss to the Florida Gators, but
with a little help from Georgia and LSU,
were able to bounce back. Tennessee's first trip to the SEC Championship game, which
premiered in 1992, saw the Vols fight from
behind in a thrilling victory over the Auburn Tigers of the SEC West. UT ended their
season with a disappointing loss to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. UT's 12th SEC
Championship.
1998 National Champions
UT 34, Syracuse 33
UT 20, Florida 17
UT 42, Houston 7
UT 17, Auburn 9
UT 22, Georgia 3
UT 35, Alabama 18
UT 49, South Carolina 14
UT 37, UAB 13
UT 28, Arkansas 24
UT 59, Kentucky 21
UT 41, Vanderbilt 0
UT 24, Mississippi State 14
UT 23, Florida State 16
COACH: Phillip Fulmer
RECORD: 13-0
A team of destiny? A gutsy comeback and field goal in the final seconds at Syracuse...the
first win over Florida in five years...a freak fumble and smash-mouth final drive vs.
Arkansas...a fourth quarter come-from-behind victory over MSU...and the win over FSU when
everyone said it couldn't be done. Many people think that this was indeed a season of
destiny. Tennessee's first undefeated season since 1938 and first national championship
since 1951. First Vol team to ever win more than 11 games in a season. Tennessee's second
national championship. Tennessee's 13th SEC championship.