ESPN: 1940 Tennessee football top 25 team with no national title

ESPN named the 1940 Tennessee football Volunteers a top team with no national championship.

It’s no secret that Tennessee football has had some loaded teams in the past fail to win a national championship. In the Phillip Fulmer era alone, the 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2001 teams all could have come close.

Even before that, the 1989 and 1990 teams along with teams from the Doug Dickey and Bill Battle era could have won it. UT claims six national titles, although only two, 1951 and 1998 remain undisputed. However, nobody really debates the 1938 or 1950 teams claiming a share of the national title.

In Bill Connelly of ESPN’s list of top 25 teams to never win the national title, however, Tennessee football’s only team to make the list was the 1940 team, part of the dynasty era Robert Neyland orchestrated during his second stint with the program. They came in at No. 17.

Now, this decision is not without controversy. For starters, the Vols claim a share of that national title. the Dunkel and Williamson systems had them ranked No. 1, as they had just completed their third straight undefeated regular season, going 10-0, and won their third straight SEC title.

Taking that into account, it’s debatable if this team should even be on the list, although the only criteria for Connelly’s list was teams that failed to finish No. 1 in the AP or Coaches Poll. Still, that means Connelly could have put in the 1938 team, which went 11-0 and even won its bowl game, unlike the 1940 team, which lost the Sugar Bowl.

On top of that, he could have put in the 1939 team. Not only did it go undefeated, untied and unscored on, but it also had everybody from the 1940 team plus George Cafego. Had Cafego not gotten hurt, UT likely would have beaten the USC Trojans in the Rose Bowl to finish 11-0. Still, losing it doesn’t make that team any better than the 1940 team, which lost its Sugar Bowl.

Connelly did address that, to be fair, noting that while the 1939 team was more dominant defensively because of that, the 1940 team made up for it with a better offense. Here’s how he described the 1940 team.

"Powered by an absurd line — college football Hall of Famers Bob Suffridge and Ed Molinski lined up at guard, All-American Abe Shires at tackle — Tennessee ranked third in the nation in scoring offense and second in scoring defense, outscoring opponents 319-26 in a third consecutive 10-0 regular season. The Vols won every game by at least 13 points before slipping up in a bowl for the second straight year: Boston College, coached by Frank Leahy (who would soon leave for Notre Dame), scored late to defeat them 19-13 in the Sugar Bowl."

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If you prefer offense to defense, then this makes sense. However, after losing picks from the 1939 team to the NFL Draft, it’s really hard to say the 1940 team was better when all of its key players were on the 1939 team.

Then there’s the 1950 team. That team, to be fair, was lucky to win a share of the national title, and the number of systems that award it one beyond the AP may have made it harder for Connelly to include them. However, with superstars like Doug Atkins and Hank Lauricella, in terms of talent, it may have been better than 1940.

Finally, fast-forward to the modern era. What about the 1997 team that had a future NFL Hall-of-Fame quarterback and 2,000-yard rusher in its backfield along with two future Pro Bowl linebackers? You could also look at 2001, which had two future Pro Bowl defensive tackles starting together along with a future Hall-of-Fame tight end.

Those two would be the closest in the modern era. Either way, the 1940 team was probably the worst of the three Tennessee football teams during Neyland’s Golden Age, which was 1938 to 1940. As a result, it’s a bit shocking for ESPN to put 1940 on the list when the 1938 team and 1939 teams were better, and by Connelly’s own standards, all three would qualify.