1998 Tennessee Volunteers football team

1998 Tennessee Volunteers football
Consensus national champion
SEC champion
SEC Eastern Division champion
Fiesta Bowl champion
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
DivisionEastern Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record13–0 (8–0 SEC)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorDavid Cutcliffe (7th as OC; 17th overall season)
Offensive schemePro-style
Defensive coordinatorJohn Chavis (4th as DC; 11th overall season)
Base defense4–3 multiple
Captains
Home stadiumNeyland Stadium
(Capacity: 102,854)[1]
Seasons
← 1997
1999 →
1998 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
Eastern Division
No. 1 Tennessee x$#   8 0     13 0  
No. 5 Florida  %   7 1     10 2  
No. 14 Georgia   6 2     9 3  
Kentucky   4 4     7 5  
Vanderbilt   1 7     2 9  
South Carolina   0 8     1 10  
Western Division
Mississippi State xy   6 2     8 5  
No. 16 Arkansas x   6 2     9 3  
Alabama   4 4     7 5  
Ole Miss   3 5     7 5  
LSU   2 6     4 7  
Auburn   1 7     3 8  
Championship: Tennessee 24, Mississippi State 14
  • # – BCS National Champion
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 Tennessee Volunteers football team represented the University of Tennessee in the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season. Tennessee entered the 1998 season coming off an 11–2 record (7–1 SEC) in 1997. The Volunteers were given a preseason ranking of No. 10 in the AP Poll.

The Vols won their second undisputed national title, and sixth overall, after defeating Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl, the first BCS National Championship Game. The '98 Vols beat eight bowl teams, including six January bowl teams, four top ten teams, and three BCS bowl-bound teams. The 1998 Tennessee Volunteers were ranked as the No. 3 college football team of all time by the Billingsley Report computer ratings.[2]

Tennessee was expected to have a slight fall-off after their conference championship the previous season. They had lost quarterback Peyton Manning, wide receiver Marcus Nash, and linebacker Leonard Little to the NFL. Manning was the first pick overall in the 1998 NFL Draft, selected before Ryan Leaf. Tennessee was also coming off a difficult 42–17 loss to Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, and were in the midst of a five-game losing streak to the rival Florida Gators. Nonetheless, the Volunteers ended their season in Tempe with the school's first undefeated season in sixty years. As of 2023, this season was the most recent conference championship for Tennessee.

  1. ^ "Neyland Stadium". utsports.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  2. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 28, 2010. Retrieved May 9, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search