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Tennessee football: Vols 10 greatest seasons without top 25 finish

By Caleb Calhoun

JACKSONVILLE, FL - JANUARY 02: Eric Gray #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after a 16-yard touchdown run to give his team the lead in the fourth quarter of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against the Indiana Hoosiers at TIAA Bank Field on January 2, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. Tennessee defeated Indiana 23-22. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
JACKSONVILLE, FL - JANUARY 02: Eric Gray #3 of the Tennessee Volunteers celebrates after a 16-yard touchdown run to give his team the lead in the fourth quarter of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl against the Indiana Hoosiers at TIAA Bank Field on January 2, 2020 in Jacksonville, Florida. Tennessee defeated Indiana 23-22. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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9. 1961

6-4 (4-3)

*No bowl game

We go to another Robert Neyland protege, a guy Neyland hired himself to replace Robinson as Tennessee football’s head coach and one of his former players in Bowden Wyatt. Early on, Wyatt had major success. Things started to falter in the late 1950s, but he had a rebound year by going 6-2-2 and finishing No. 19 in the Coaches Poll in 1960.

This year, there was hope to build on that. However, things started off bad immediately with a heartbreaking 24-21 loss to the Auburn Tigers. Three games later, UT would lose to the eventual national champions, the Alabama Crimson Tide, in a 34-3 blowout. A 22-21 loss at the North Carolina Tar Heels and 24-10 loss against the Ole Miss Rebels, who would finish No. 5, also hit.

However, there were still some positive moments for Rocky Top. Included in those moments was a 10-6 win over the No. 9 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The Vols also beat the Vanderbilt Commodores and Kentucky Wildcats, and they did finish with a winning record. Losing to Alabama and Ole Miss was nothing to be ashamed of, and they almost beat Auburn and UNC.

We have this team ranked ahead of the 1953 team because it was more modern but also because the schedule was much tougher, and the Vols did secure a top 25 win in this one. This would be Wyatt’s last winning season, though, as he would go 4-6 in 1962, his last year on Rocky Top.

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