1946 Tennessee Volunteers football team

The 1946 Tennessee Volunteers (variously Tennessee, UT, or the Vols) represented the University of Tennessee in the 1946 college football season. Playing as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the team was led by head coach Robert Neyland, in his 15th season (his first since the 1940 season, following his service in World War II), and played their home games at Shields–Watkins Field in Knoxville, Tennessee. They finished the season with a record of nine wins and two losses (9–2 overall, 5–0 in the SEC). They concluded the season as SEC champions and with a loss against Rice in the 1947 Orange Bowl.

1946 Tennessee Volunteers football
SEC co-champion
Orange Bowl, L 0–8 vs. Rice
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 7
Record	9–2 (5–0 SEC)
Head coach	Robert Neyland (15th season)
Offensive scheme	Single-wing
Home stadium	Shields–Watkins Field
Seasons ← 1945 1947 →

1946 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Georgia +	5	–	0	–	0			11	–	0	–	0
No. 7 Tennessee +	5	–	0	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
No. 8 LSU	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	1
No. 11 Georgia Tech	4	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Mississippi State	3	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Alabama	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Vanderbilt	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Kentucky	2	–	3	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Tulane	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Auburn	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Ole Miss	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Florida	0	–	5	–	0			0	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 28	Georgia Tech		Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	W 13–9	36,000	^[1]
October 5	at Duke*		Duke Stadium Durham, NC	W 12–7	42,000	^[2]
October 12	Chattanooga*	No. 8	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	W 47–7	22,000	^[3]
October 19	No. 7 Alabama	No. 9	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN (Third Saturday in October)	W 12–0	40,000	^[4]
October 26	Wake Forest*	No. 4	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	L 6–19	25,000	^[5]
November 2	No. 9 North Carolina*	No. 10	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN	W 20–14	35,000	^[6]
November 9	vs. Ole Miss	No. 7	Crump Stadium Memphis, TN (rivalry)	W 18–14	25,000	^[7]
November 16	at Boston College*	No. 8	Braves Field Boston, MA	W 33–13	38,000	^[8]
November 23	Kentucky	No. 7	Shields–Watkins Field Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	W 7–0	35,000	^[9]
November 30	at Vanderbilt	No. 8	Dudley Field Nashville, TN (rivalry)	W 7–6	21,000	^[10]
January 1	vs. No. 10 Rice	No. 7	Burdine Stadium Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	L 0–8	36,152	^[11]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Rankings

See also: 1946 NCAA football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	8т	9	4 (6)	10	7	8	7	8 (1)	7

After the season

Main article: 1947 NFL Draft

The 1947 NFL Draft was held on December 16, 1946. The following Volunteers were selected.^[12]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
9	73	Max Partin	Back	Los Angeles Rams
15	130	Denny Crawford	Tackle	Green Bay Packers
16	139	Billy Gold	Back	Washington Redskins
27	246	Bill Hillman	Back	Detroit Lions

References

1. "Tennessee noses out Georgia Tech". The Huntsville Times. September 29, 1946. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Vols decision Duke gridmen, 12–7". Poughkeepsie Journal. October 6, 1946. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "U-T Vols toy with Chattanooga in scoring 47-to-7 victory". The Knoxville News-Sentinel. October 13, 1946. Retrieved September 8, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Tennessee drops Crimson Tide from undefeated ranks, 12–0". The Montgomery Advertiser. October 20, 1946. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Wake Forest dumps Tennessee from ranks of unbeaten, untied teams by score of 19 to 6". Messenger-Inquirer. October 27, 1946. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Tennessee dumps Tar Heels from unbeaten ranks". The State. November 3, 1946. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "Vols nip Rebels, 18–14". The Commercial Appeal. November 10, 1946. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Tennessee trips Boston, 33–13". Evansville Press. November 17, 1946. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Grid victory to Tennessee". The Baltimore Sun. November 24, 1946. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
10. "Vols end season with 7–6 victory over Vandy". Kingsport Times-News. December 1, 1946. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
11. "Rice Owls win over Tennessee by 8–0 score". The Morning Call. January 2, 1947. Retrieved March 30, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "1947 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 29, 2020.