Tennessee football’s Johnny Majors vs. Auburn’s Pat Dye: Ranking 11 games
839. Final. 37. 842. 14
2. 1983: Blowout win for No. 11 Auburn decides SEC champion
During the years Johnny Majors and Pat Dye faced each other, there were two games between them that determined the SEC Championship. The second was when Tennessee football and the Auburn Tigers tied in 1987. This one was the first game, and it was Dye’s greatest season as head coach of the program.
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Bo Jackson was entering his sophomore season, and UT was still an up and down program entering Majors’ seventh season. After losing to the Pitt Panthers, the Vols got to 1-1 by beating the New Mexico Lobos. Auburn, meanwhile, had just suffered a heartbreaking loss to the No. 3 ranked Texas Longhorns. So they were also 1-1, but they entered this game ranked No. 11.
In the process, the heavily favored Tigers won a blowout against the unranked Vols, dominating from start to finish to win 29-10. There wasn’t really anything special about the game itself, except it was the first time Auburn had won consecutive games against Rocky Top since winning three straight from 1976-1978. Why does it make the list, then?
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Well, UT shocked the world by winning all but one of their remaining games to finish 9-3 and 4-2 in the SEC. Auburn finished 11-1 and 6-1 in the league, winning a share of the national title. However, this game determined who won the SEC. If the Vols had pulled it out, they would have won it. That significance, retroactively, is enough to put it high on this list.