All for Tennessee
Fansided

Tennessee football’s top 10 years following unranked seasons

By Caleb Calhoun

Sep 18, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers cheerleaders cheer at the Vol Walk before a game against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 18, 2021; Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Tennessee Volunteers cheerleaders cheer at the Vol Walk before a game against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles at Neyland Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bryan Lynn-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 10
Next
Tennessee football is one of the top 10 college teams of the 1930s and 40s under coach Robert Neyland, right, at the College Football Hall of Fame.1strangeneylandhof
Tennessee football is one of the top 10 college teams of the 1930s and 40s under coach Robert Neyland, right, at the College Football Hall of Fame.1strangeneylandhof /

1937: 6-3-1 (4-3). 1938: Robert Neyland. 839. Scouting Report. Pick Analysis. 1. player. 11-0 (7-0)

National Championship; SEC Championship; No. 2 AP; W Orange Bowl

Related Story. Vols' 10 best seasons coming off a losing record. light

Probably the greatest season in Tennessee football history, this was part of the Golden Age of the Vols. Robert Neyland returned for his second stint in 1936 and finished in the top 20, the first year the AP Poll existed. The next year, though, he just missed it.

Entering 1938, the Vols were led by Bowden Wyatt, whose teams as a head coach have been named on this list already, and George Cafefgo. It’s safe to say they flat-out dominated everybody. UT started off beating the Sewanee Tigers 26-3 and the Clemson Tigers 20-7. After that, only one team would score on them all year, the LSU Tigers, who they beat 14-6.

Every non-Tiger team was shutout by the Vols. They went 10-0 in the regular season, the highlights being that win over Clemson and a win over Alabama. In the process, they captured their first SEC Championship in school history, and despite being No. 2 in the AP Poll, enough services declared them No. 1, over the TCU Horned Frogs, they they could claim a national title.

In addition to all of that, the Vols received their first invite ever to a bowl game, the Orange Bowl, and they face the No. 4 ranked Oklahoma Sooners, who were also 10-0. UT dominated 17-0 in what was the final game of the 1938 college football season to finish 11-0.

Next. Projecting Vols' two-deep depth chart for 2022. dark

This was just the third perfect season in Tennessee football history, and 1998 remains the only other one. The 1938 team, though, began a streak of three straight perfect regular seasons for the Vols and was part of a 23-game winning streak dating back to 1937 along with a 15-game streak going into 1939 of shutting out opponents.

Home/Vols Football