10 Worst Bowl Losses in Tennessee Football History

Nov 14, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; General view of the Rose Bowl exterior before the NCAA football game between the UCLA Bruins and the Washington State Cougars. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

2. 1940 Rose Bowl: Tennessee Loses to USC Trojans 14-0

If bowl games counted at the time, this would be the most sickening bowl loss any team could have ever suffered, on par with what the New England Patriots suffered in 2007.

But regardless of that, the loss ruined the chance for the 1939 Tennessee Vols to call themselves the greatest college football team in history.

This was the last team to go undefeated, untied, and unscored upon throughout an entire regular season. That’s right.

The Vols shut out every one of their opponents in the regular season en route to a 10-0 record, and despite starting the season unranked, they finished No. 2 in the country. And quite honestly, they were robbed of the No. 1 spot considering they were there for four weeks and dropped after pitching two straight shutouts, inexplicably by the way.

However, all talk of the greatest team ever died in a matter of minutes. With the Vols playing without superstar tailback George Cafego due to a knee injury, they had trouble finding any scoring opportunities.

With no offense to control the clock, the Trojans established their dominant running game in the second half. They scored the first points on the Vols all season in the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead. And as they dominated the game, they took control with a fourth quarter touchdown to secure the victory.

It is a low point in Tennessee history because of the fact that just a couple of plays kept them from being the greatest team of all time. And to this day, you have to take the 1939 team with a grain of salt and have no leg to stand on to retroactively claim them national champions.

Next: #1: 1998 Orange Bowl