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1944 Southeastern Conference football season

1944 Southeastern Conference football season
Football
September 23, 1944 – January 1, 1945 (1944-09-23 – 1945-01-01)
12
Georgia Tech

The 1944 Southeastern Conference football season was the twelfth season of college football played by the member schools of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and was a part of the 1944 college football season. Georgia Tech compiled an 8–3 overall record, with a conference record of 4–0, and was SEC champion.

Conf. rank	Team	Head coach	Overall record	Conf. record	APfinal	PPG	PAG
1	Georgia Tech	William Alexander	8–3–0 (.727)	4–0–0 (1.000)	No. T–13	23.0	9.2
2	Tennessee	John Barnhill	7–1–1 (.833)	5–0–1 (.917)	No. 12	19.2	8.1
3	Georgia	Wally Butts	7–3–0 (.700)	4–2–0 (.667)		27.3	13.0
4	Alabama	Frank Thomas	5–2–2 (.667)	3–1–2 (.667)		30.2	9.2
5	Mississippi State	Allyn McKeen	6–2–0 (.750)	3–2–0 (.600)		27.4	9.9
6	LSU	Bernie Moore	2–5–1 (.313)	2–3–1 (.417)		11.5	12.6
7	Ole Miss	Harry Mehre	2–6–0 (.250)	2–3–0 (.400)		9.6	22.3
8	Tulane	Claude Simons Jr.	4–3–0 (.571)	1–2–0 (.333)		16.1	17.9
9	Kentucky	Albert D. Kirwan	3–6–0 (.333)	1–5–0 (.167)		13.9	16.3
10	Florida	Tom Lieb	4–3–0 (.571)	0–3–0 (.000)		15.4	19.4
11	Auburn	Carl M. Voyles	4–4–0 (.500)	0–4–0 (.000)		22.6	17.1
12	Vanderbilt	Doby Bartling	3–0–1 (.875)	0–0–0 (–)		16.8	5.8

Key

AP final = Rankings from AP sports writers. See 1944 college football rankings

PPG = Average of points scored per game

PAG = Average of points allowed per game

Index to colors and formatting
SEC member won
SEC member lost
SEC member tie
SEC teams in bold

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
September 23	Mayport NAS	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	W 36–6	6,000
September 23	Ole Miss	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	KEN 7–27	11,000

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
September 29	Howard (AL)	Auburn	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery AL	W 32–0	10,000
September 29	Wake Forest	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	L 7–14	8,500
September 30	Clemson	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	W 51–0	15,000
September 30	Jackson Field	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	W 41–0	2,500
September 30	Kentucky	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	TEN 26–13	15,000
September 30	Ole Miss	Florida	Fairfield Stadium • Jacksonville, FL	OM 26–26	10,000
September 30	Alabama	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	T 27–27	32,000

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
October 6	Presbyterian	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	W 67–0
October 7	North Carolina	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	W 28–0	15,000
October 7	Howard (AL)	Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	W 63–7	5,000
October 7	Millsaps	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	W 56–0
October 7	Jacksonville NAS	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	W 27–20	4,500
October 7	Fourth Infantry	Auburn	Auburn Stadium • Auburn, AL	W 7–0	5,000
October 7	Sewanee V-12	Vanderbilt	Hardee Field • Sewanee, TN (rivalry)	T 0–0
October 7	LSU	Rice	Rice Field • Houston, TX	L 13–14	10,000
October 7	Tulane	Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN	L 0–26	45,000
October 7	Michigan State	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	L 0–2	10,000
October 7	Tennessee	Ole Miss	Crump Stadium • Memphis, TN	TEN 20–7	15,000

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
October 13	Kentucky	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	UGA 13–12	9,000
October 14	Millsaps	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	W 55–0
October 14	Arkansas A&M	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	W 49–20
October 14	Rice	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 21–0	28,000
October 14	Texas A&M	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	L 0–7	25,000
October 14	Auburn	No. 10 Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	GT 27–7	20,000
October 14	Florida	No. 15 Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	TEN 40–0	8,000
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
October 20	Daniel Field	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	W 53–6	3,000
October 20	VMI	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	W 26–2	8,000
October 21	No. 9 Navy	No. 8 Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	W GT 17–15	35,000
October 21	No. 13 Tulsa	Ole Miss	Crump Stadium • Memphis, TN	L 0–47	8,000
October 21	Florida	No. 15 Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	TEN 40–0	8,000
October 21	Mississippi State	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	MSS 6–13	25,000
October 21	Auburn	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (rivalry)	TUL 16–13	30,000
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
October 27	Georgia Pre-Flight	No. 5 Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	W 13–7	15,000
October 27	Kentucky	Alabama	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL	ALA 41–0	16,000
October 28	SMU	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 27–7	22,000
October 28	Maryland	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	W 14–6	7,000
October 28	Tennessee Tech	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	W 19–7	5,000
October 28	Arkansas	Ole Miss	Crump Stadium • Memphis, TN (rivalry)	W 18–26	10,000
October 28	Clemson	No. 19 Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	W 26–7	11,000
October 28	LSU	Georgia	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	LSU 15–7
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
November 3	Florida	Miami (FL)	Burdine Stadium • Miami, FL (rivalry)	W 13–0	16,415
November 4	Presbyterian	Auburn	Auburn Stadium • Auburn, AL	W 57–0	7,000
November 4	Vanderbilt	Tennessee Tech	Overhill Field • Cookeville, TN	W 20–9
November 4	No. 5 Georgia Tech	Duke	Duke Stadium • Durham, NC	L 13–19	30,000
November 4	Jackson Field	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS	L 0–10	2,000
November 4	No. 16 Tennessee	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	TEN 13–0	22,000
November 4	Georgia	No. 19 Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	UGA 14–7	22,000
November 4	Kentucky	No. 18 Mississippi State	Crump Stadium • Memphis, TN	MSS 26–0	8,000
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
November 11	Sewanee V-12	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	W 28–7	5,000
November 11	Tulane	No. 13 Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	GT 34–7	20,000
November 11	Georgia	Florida	Fairfield Stadium • Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	UGA 38–12	18,000
November 11	Ole Miss	Alabama	Murphy High School Stadium • Mobile, AL (rivalry)	ALA 34–6	8,000
November 11	No. 19 Mississippi State	Auburn	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	MSS 26–21	14,000
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
November 18	Temple	No. 17 Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	W 27–14	15,000
November 18	Clemson	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 36–20	10,000
November 18	West Virginia	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	W 40–9
November 18	No. 9 Georgia Tech	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	GT 14–6	10,000
November 18	Georgia	Auburn	Memorial Stadium • Columbus, GA (rivaley)	UGA 49–13	20,000
November 18	No. 16 Mississippi State	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	ALA 19–0	23,000
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
November 24	Miami (FL)	Auburn	Burdine Stadium • Miami, FL	W 38–19	13,000
November 24	Clemson	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (rivalry)	W 21–7	3,500
November 25	No. 18 Notre Dame	No. 10 Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	L 0–21	28,662
November 25	No. 15 Tennessee	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	TEN 21–7
November 25	Mississippi State	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS (rivalry)	OM 8–13	8,000
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
December 2	Georgia Tech	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (rivalry)	GT 44–0	26,000
December 2	Tulane	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	LSU 25–6	30,000
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance
January 1, 1945	Tulsa	No. 13 Georgia Tech	Burdine Stadium • Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	L 12–26	29,426
January 1, 1945	No. 12 Tennessee	No. 7 USC	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	L 0–25	91,000
January 1, 1945	Alabama	No. 11 Duke	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	L 26–29	66,822
#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

The following players were recognized as consensus first-team honors from the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) on the 1944 All-SEC football team:

Phil Tinsley, End, Georgia Tech (AP-1, UP-1)
Wash Serini, Tackle, Kentucky (AP-1, UP-1)
Bob Dobelstein, Guard, Tennessee (AP-1, UP-1)
Tex Warrington, Center, Auburn (AP-1, UP-1)
Shorty McWilliams, Quarterback, Mississippi State (AP-1, UP-1)
Dub Jones, Halfback, Tulane (AP-1, UP-1)
Frank Broyles, Fullback, Georgia Tech (AP-1, UP-1 [as hb])

One SEC player was a consensus first-team pick on the 1944 College Football All-America Team:

Phil Tinsley, End, Georgia Tech (AAB, AP, COL, FN, INS, LK, NEA, SN)

Other SEC players receiving All-American honors from at least one selector were:

Bob Dobelstein, Guard, Tennessee (AP-3)
Caleb Warrington, Center, Auburn (AAB; AP-1; COL; FWAA-2; INS-2; NEA; SN; UP-3; WC)
Frank Broyles, Quarterback, Georgia Tech (FWAA-2)
Shorty McWilliams, Halfback, Mississippi State (AP-2; UP-2)

Records through the completion of the 1944 season

Team	Head coach	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school
Frank Thomas	14	124–29–8 (.795)	98–20–7 (.812)	49–13–6 (.765)
Carl M. Voyles	1	47–22–3 (.674)	4–4–0 (.500)	0–4–0 (.000)
Tom Lieb	4	63–54–4 (.537)	16–21–0 (.432)	4–12–0 (.250)
Wally Butts	6	43–19–2 (.688)	43–19–2 (.688)	15–10–2 (.593)
William Alexander	25	134–95–15 (.580)	134–95–15 (.580)	33–31–5 (.514)
Albert D. Kirwan	6	24–28–4 (.464)	24–28–4 (.464)	4–22–3 (.190)
Bernie Moore	10	74–45–7 (.615)	62–33–4 (.646)	31–22–3 (.580)
Allyn McKeen	5	53–13–2 (.794)	40–7–2 (.837)	19–6–2 (.741)
Harry Mehre	6	94–55–7 (.625)	35–21–1 (.623)	24–26–3 (.481)
John Barnhill	3	24–4–2 (.833)	24–4–2 (.833)	12–2–1 (.833)
Claude Simons Jr.	3	22–23–1 (.489)	11–11–0 (.500)	3–7–0 (.300)
Doby Bartling	1	3–0–1 (.875)	3–0–1 (.875)	0–0–0 (–)

The following SEC players were selected in the 1945 NFL draft:

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