1944 Southeastern Conference football season

DurationSeptember 23, 1944 – January 1, 1945

Teams12

1944 Southeastern Conference football season
Sport	Football
Duration	September 23, 1944 – January 1, 1945 (1944-09-23 – 1945-01-01)
Teams	12
Champion	Georgia Tech
SEC seasons
← 1943 1945 →

1944 Southeastern Conference football standings
v t e	Conf.					Overall
Team		W		L			W		L
No. T–13 Georgia Tech $	4	–	0	–	0	8	–	3	–	0
No. 12 Tennessee	5	–	0	–	1	7	–	1	–	1
Georgia	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Alabama	3	–	1	–	2	5	–	2	–	2
Mississippi State	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	2	–	0
LSU	2	–	3	–	1	2	–	5	–	1
Ole Miss	2	–	3	–	0	2	–	6	–	0
Tulane	1	–	2	–	0	4	–	3	–	0
Kentucky	1	–	5	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Florida	0	–	3	–	0	4	–	3	–	0
Auburn	0	–	4	–	0	4	–	4	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	0	–	0	3	–	0	–	1

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

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	AP final	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^[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game^[1]

Schedule

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

Week Zero

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 23	Mayport NAS	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	W 36–6	6,000	^[2]
September 23	Ole Miss	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	KEN 7–27	11,000	^[3]

Week One

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
September 29	Howard (AL)	Auburn	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery AL	W 32–0	10,000	^[4]
September 29	Wake Forest	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	L 7–14	8,500	^[5]
September 30	Clemson	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	W 51–0	15,000	^[6]
September 30	Jackson Field	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	W 41–0	2,500	^[7]
September 30	Kentucky	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	TEN 26–13	15,000	^[8]
September 30	Ole Miss	Florida	Fairfield Stadium • Jacksonville, FL	OM 26–26	10,000	^[9]
September 30	Alabama	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	T 27–27	32,000	^[10]

Week Two

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 6	Presbyterian	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	W 67–0		^[11]
October 7	North Carolina	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	W 28–0	15,000	^[12]
October 7	Howard (AL)	Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	W 63–7	5,000	^[13]
October 7	Millsaps	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	W 56–0		^[14]
October 7	Jacksonville NAS	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	W 27–20	4,500	^[15]
October 7	Fourth Infantry	Auburn	Auburn Stadium • Auburn, AL	W 7–0	5,000	^[16]
October 7	Sewanee V-12	Vanderbilt	Hardee Field • Sewanee, TN (rivalry)	T 0–0		^[17]
October 7	LSU	Rice	Rice Field • Houston, TX	L 13–14	10,000	^[18]
October 7	Tulane	Notre Dame	Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN	L 0–26	45,000	^[19]
October 7	Michigan State	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	L 0–2	10,000	^[20]
October 7	Tennessee	Ole Miss	Crump Stadium • Memphis, TN	TEN 20–7	15,000	^[21]

Week Three

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 13	Kentucky	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	UGA 13–12	9,000	^[22]
October 14	Millsaps	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	W 55–0		^[23]
October 14	Arkansas A&M	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	W 49–20		^[24]
October 14	Rice	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 21–0	28,000	^[25]
October 14	Texas A&M	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	L 0–7	25,000	^[26]
October 14	Auburn	No. 10 Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	GT 27–7	20,000	^[27]
October 14	Florida	No. 15 Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	TEN 40–0	8,000	^[28]
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Four

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 20	Daniel Field	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	W 53–6	3,000	^[29]
October 20	VMI	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	W 26–2	8,000	^[30]
October 21	No. 9 Navy	No. 8 Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	W GT 17–15	35,000	^[31]
October 21	No. 13 Tulsa	Ole Miss	Crump Stadium • Memphis, TN	L 0–47	8,000	^[32]
October 21	Florida	No. 15 Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN (rivalry)	TEN 40–0	8,000	^[28]
October 21	Mississippi State	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	MSS 6–13	25,000	^[33]
October 21	Auburn	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (rivalry)	TUL 16–13	30,000	^[34]
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Five

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
October 27	Georgia Pre-Flight	No. 5 Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	W 13–7	15,000	^[35]
October 27	Kentucky	Alabama	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL	ALA 41–0	16,000	^[36]
October 28	SMU	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 27–7	22,000	^[37]
October 28	Maryland	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	W 14–6	7,000	^[38]
October 28	Tennessee Tech	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	W 19–7	5,000	^[39]
October 28	Arkansas	Ole Miss	Crump Stadium • Memphis, TN (rivalry)	W 18–26	10,000	^[40]
October 28	Clemson	No. 19 Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	W 26–7	11,000	^[41]
October 28	LSU	Georgia	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	LSU 15–7		^[42]
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Six

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 3	Florida	Miami (FL)	Burdine Stadium • Miami, FL (rivalry)	W 13–0	16,415	^[43]
November 4	Presbyterian	Auburn	Auburn Stadium • Auburn, AL	W 57–0	7,000	^[44]
November 4	Vanderbilt	Tennessee Tech	Overhill Field • Cookeville, TN	W 20–9		^[45]
November 4	No. 5 Georgia Tech	Duke	Duke Stadium • Durham, NC	L 13–19	30,000	^[46]
November 4	Jackson Field	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS	L 0–10	2,000	^[47]
November 4	No. 16 Tennessee	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	TEN 13–0	22,000	^[48]
November 4	Georgia	No. 19 Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL (rivalry)	UGA 14–7	22,000	^[49]
November 4	Kentucky	No. 18 Mississippi State	Crump Stadium • Memphis, TN	MSS 26–0	8,000	^[50]
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Seven

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 11	Sewanee V-12	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	W 28–7	5,000	^[51]
November 11	Tulane	No. 13 Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	GT 34–7	20,000	^[52]
November 11	Georgia	Florida	Fairfield Stadium • Jacksonville, FL (rivalry)	UGA 38–12	18,000	^[53]
November 11	Ole Miss	Alabama	Murphy High School Stadium • Mobile, AL (rivalry)	ALA 34–6	8,000	^[54]
November 11	No. 19 Mississippi State	Auburn	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	MSS 26–21	14,000	^[55]
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Eight

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 18	Temple	No. 17 Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	W 27–14	15,000	^[56]
November 18	Clemson	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 36–20	10,000	^[57]
November 18	West Virginia	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	W 40–9		^[58]
November 18	No. 9 Georgia Tech	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	GT 14–6	10,000	^[59]
November 18	Georgia	Auburn	Memorial Stadium • Columbus, GA (rivaley)	UGA 49–13	20,000	^[60]
November 18	No. 16 Mississippi State	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL (rivalry)	ALA 19–0	23,000	^[61]
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Nine

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
November 24	Miami (FL)	Auburn	Burdine Stadium • Miami, FL	W 38–19	13,000	^[62]
November 24	Clemson	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (rivalry)	W 21–7	3,500	^[63]
November 25	No. 18 Notre Dame	No. 10 Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	L 0–21	28,662	^[64]
November 25	No. 15 Tennessee	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	TEN 21–7		^[65]
November 25	Mississippi State	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS (rivalry)	OM 8–13	8,000	^[66]
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Week Ten

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
December 2	Georgia Tech	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA (rivalry)	GT 44–0	26,000	^[67]
December 2	Tulane	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA (rivalry)	LSU 25–6	30,000	^[68]
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

Postseason

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Ref.
January 1, 1945	Tulsa	No. 13 Georgia Tech	Burdine Stadium • Miami, FL (Orange Bowl)	L 12–26	29,426	^[69]
January 1, 1945	No. 12 Tennessee	No. 7 USC	Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	L 0–25	91,000	^[70]
January 1, 1945	Alabama	No. 11 Duke	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA (Sugar Bowl)	L 26–29	66,822	^[71]
^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game.

All-conference players

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])

All-Americans

One SEC player was a consensus first-team pick on the 1944 College Football All-America Team:^[72]

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)

Head coaches

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

1945 NFL draft

The following SEC players were selected in the 1945 NFL draft:^[73]

Round	Overall pick	Player name	School	Position	NFL team
1	1	Charley Trippi	Georgia	Halfback	Chicago Cardinals
1	2	Paul Duhart	Florida	Halfback	Pittsburgh Steelers
1	3	Joe Renfroe	Tulane	Back	Brooklyn Tigers
1	4	Eddie Prokop	Georgia Tech	Back	Boston Yanks
3	25	Alvin Dark	LSU	Back	Philadelphia Eagles
4	28	Bob Dobelstein	Tennessee	Guard	Chicago Cardinals
4	29	Roger Adams	Florida	Center	Pittsburgh Steelers
5	43	Joe Graham	Florida	End	Green Bay Packers
6	51	Johnny North	Vanderbilt	End	Washington Redskins
6	53	Barney Poole	Ole Miss	End	New York Giants
6	54	Don Wells	Georgia	Tackle	Green Bay Packers
7	61	John Steber	Georgia Tech	Guard	Washington Redskins
7	65	Casey Stephenson	Tennessee	Back	Green Bay Packers
8	70	Johnny August	Alabama	Back	Cleveland Rams
8	71	Art Porter	Tulane	End	Washington Redskins
9	78	Gene Meeks	Kentucky	Back	Chicago Cardinals
9	81	Dick Huffman	Tennessee	Tackle	Cleveland Rams
9	84	Curt Kuykendall	Auburn	Back	Washington Redskins
10	89	Art Brandau	Tennessee	Center	Pittsburgh Steelers
10	90	Roy Cross	Tennessee	End	Brooklyn Tigers
10	98	Hal Helscher	LSU	Back	Green Bay Packers
11	101	Halley Heard	LSU	Tackle	Chicago Cardinals
12	119	Billy Bevis	Tennessee	Back	New York Giants
13	125	Jack Aland	Alabama	Tackle	Cleveland Rams
13	127	Charlie Conerly	Ole Miss	Quarterback	Washington Redskins
14	133	Hal Self	Alabama	Back	Brooklyn Tigers
14	141	Stan Rhoades	Mississippi State	Back	New York Giants
15	151	Bill Montgomery	LSU	Back	Philadelphia Eagles
16	163	Jim Little	Kentucky	Tackle	New York Giants
17	170	Bob Jenkins	Alabama	Back	Washington Redskins
17	171	O. J. Key	Tulane	Back	Detroit Lions
18	181	Jim McWhorter	Alabama	Back	Detroit Lions
19	191	Eagle Matulich	Mississippi State	Back	Cleveland Rams
19	193	Jim Bradshaw	Auburn	Center	Washington Redskins
20	202	Bill Griffin	Kentucky	Tackle	Cleveland Rams
20	204	Mike Castronis	Florida	Guard	Detroit Lions
20	205	Broughton Williams	Florida	End	Chicago Bears
22	220	Fred Grant	Alabama	Back	Chicago Cardinals
23	231	Everett Hartwell	Auburn	End	Pittsburgh Steelers
23	233	Johnny Cook	Georgia	Back	Chicago Cardinals
23	237	Ray Olsen	Tulane	Back	Detroit Lions
23	239	Monk Mosley	Alabama	Back	Philadelphia Eagles
23	240	Jim Chadwell	Tennessee	Tackle	New York Giants
24	243	Ardie McClure	Georgia	Tackle	Chicago Cardinals
24	247	Russ Morrow	Tennessee	Center	Detroit Lions
25	258	Jack Green	Alabama	Guard	Chicago Bears
26	265	Felix Trapani	LSU	Guard	Brooklyn Tigers
26	266	Red Knight	LSU	Back	Chicago Cardinals
30	312	Charley Compton	Alabama	Tackle	Cleveland Rams
31	320	Bob Cummings	Vanderbilt	Center	Washington Redskins
31	322	Ken Reese	Alabama	Back	Philadelphia Eagles
32	329	John Staples	Alabama	Guard	New York Giants

v t e Southeastern Conference football
Current teams	Alabama Crimson Tide Arkansas Razorbacks Auburn Tigers Florida Gators Georgia Bulldogs Kentucky Wildcats LSU Tigers Mississippi State Bulldogs Missouri Tigers Oklahoma Sooners Ole Miss Rebels South Carolina Gamecocks Tennessee Volunteers Texas Longhorns Texas A&M Aggies Vanderbilt Commodores
Championships & awards	Conference champions All-time standings (1933–1991, 1992–present) Championship Game Individual awards SEC Football Legends
Seasons	1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026