1933 Southeastern Conference football season

The 1933 Southeastern Conference football season was the first season of college football played by the member schools of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) and was a part of the 1933 college football season. Alabama compiled a 7–1–1 record, with a conference record of 5–0–1, and was the inaugural SEC champion. LSU finished in second place with an undefeated overall record of 7–0–3, and a conference record of 3–0–2.

1933 Southeastern Conference football season
Sport	Football
Duration	September 22 – December 9, 1933 (1933-09-22 – 1933-12-09)
Number of teams	13
Champion	Alabama

1933 Southeastern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Alabama $	5	–	0	–	1			7	–	1	–	1
LSU	3	–	0	–	2			7	–	0	–	3
Georgia	3	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Tennessee	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Tulane	4	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
Auburn	2	–	2	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Ole Miss	2	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	2
Vanderbilt	2	–	2	–	2			4	–	3	–	3
Florida	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	1
Kentucky	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Georgia Tech	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Mississippi State	1	–	5	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Sewanee	0	–	6	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion

Results and team statistics

Conf. rank	Team	Head coach	Overall record	Conf. record	PPG	PAG
1	Alabama	Frank Thomas	7–1–1 (.833)	5–0–1 (.917)	14.4	1.9
2	LSU	Biff Jones	7–0–3 (.850)	3–0–2 (.800)	17.6	2.7
3	Georgia	Harry Mehre	8–2–0 (.800)	3–1–0 (.750)	14.8	8.6
4	Tennessee	Robert Neyland	7–3–0 (.700)	5–2–0 (.714)	17.6	4.7
5	Tulane	Ted Cox	6–3–1 (.650)	4–2–1 (.643)	16.0	6.8
6	Auburn	Chet A. Wynne	5–5–0 (.500)	2–2–0 (.500)	13.3	10.4
7	Ole Miss	Ed Walker	6–3–2 (.636)	2–2–1 (.500)	15.2	7.2
8	Vanderbilt	Dan McGugin	4–3–3 (.550)	2–2–2 (.500)	12.6	10.7
9 (tie)	Florida	Dennis K. Stanley	5–3–1 (.611)	2–3–0 (.400)	12.7	5.9
9 (tie)	Kentucky	Harry Gamage	5–5–0 (.500)	2–3–0 (.400)	9.1	11.6
11	Georgia Tech	William Alexander	5–5–0 (.500)	2–5–0 (.286)	11.7	6.3
12	Mississippi State	Ross MacKechnie	3–6–1 (.350)	1–5–1 (.214)	6.9	14.9
13	Sewanee	Harry E. Clark	3–6–0 (.333)	0–6–0 (.000)	8.3	18.3

Key
PPG = Average of points scored per game^[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game^[1]

Schedules

Index to colors and formatting
Non-conference matchup; SEC member won
Non-conference matchup; SEC member lost
Non-conference matchup; tie
SEC teams in bold

Week One

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 22	Birmingham–Southern	Auburn	Cramton Bowl • Montgomery, AL	W 20–7	10,000	[2]
September 23	Ole Miss	Southwestern (TN)	Fargason Field • Memphis, TN	T 6–6	4,000	[3]
September 23	Cumberland (TN)	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	W 50–0	12,000	[4]
September 23	Maryville (TN)	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	W 46–2		[5]

Week Two

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
September 29	Auburn	Howard (AL)	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	W 18–7		[6]
September 30	Oglethorpe	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	W 34–0	12,000	[7]
September 30	Rice	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	W 13–0		[8]
September 30	NC State	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	W 20–10		[9]
September 30	VPI	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	W 27–0	15,000	[10]
September 30	Texas A&M	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	L 6–13	20,000	[11]
September 30	Mississippi State Teachers	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS	W 45–0		[12]
September 30	Vanderbilt	Oklahoma	Oklahoma Memorial Stadium • Norman, OK	T 0–0	18,000	[13]
September 30	Stetson	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	W 28–0	6,000	[14]
September 30	Sewanee	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	KEN 7–0	8,000	[15]
September 30	Clemson	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	W 39–2	12,000	[16]
September 30	Millsaps	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	W 12–0		[17]

Week Three

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 7	Ole Miss	Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	T 0–0	12,000	[18]
October 7	Millsaps	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	W 40–0		[19]
October 7	Tulane	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	UGA 26–13	12,000	[20]
October 7	Mississippi State	Tulane	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	TEN 20–0		[21]
October 7	North Carolina	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	W 20–13	6,000	[22]
October 7	Sewanee	Florida	Fairfield Stadium • Jacksonville, FL	FLA 31–0	7,500	[23]
October 7	Georgia Tech	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	KEN 7–6		[24]

Week Four

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 14	Mississippi State	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	ALA 18–0	5,000	[25]
October 14	Centenary	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	T 0–0	18,000	[26]
October 14	Georgia	North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC	W 30–0		[27]
October 14	Tennessee	Duke	Duke Stadium • Durham, NC	L 2–10	22,000	[28]
October 14	Maryland	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	W 20–0	10,000	[29]
October 14	Auburn	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	GT 16–6		[30]
October 14	Vanderbilt	Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	L 0–20	21,568	[31]
October 14	Florida	NC State	Riddick Stadium • Raleigh, NC	T 0–0		[32]
October 14	Kentucky	Cincinnati	Nippert Stadium • Cincinnati, OH	W 3–0		[33]
October 14	Sewanee	Southwestern (TN)	Fargason Field • Memphis, TN	W 12–7		[34]
October 14	Ole Miss	Marquette	Marquette Stadium • Milwaukee, WI	W 7–0	8,000	[35]

Week Five

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 20	Georgia	Mercer	Centennial Stadium • Macon, GA	W 13–12	12,000	[36]
October 21	Alabama	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	ALA 12–6	25,000	[37]
October 21	Arkansas	LSU	State Fair Stadium • Shreveport, LA	W 20–0	15,000	[38]
October 21	Tulane	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	TUL 7–0		[39]
October 21	Auburn	George Washington	Griffith Stadium • Washington, DC	L 6–19		[40]
October 21	Sewanee	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS	OM 41–0		[41]
October 21	Mississippi State	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	T 7–7	7,000	[42]
October 21	North Carolina	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	W 9–0	9,000	[43]
October 21	Kentucky	Washington & Lee	Maher Field • Roanoke, VA	L 0–7		[44]

Week Six

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
October 27	Southwestern (TN)	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	L 0–6		[45]
October 28	Alabama	Fordham	Polo Grounds • New York, NY	L 0–2	60,000	[46]
October 28	Vanderbilt	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	T 7–7	20,000	[47]
October 28	NYU	Georgia	Sanford Stadium • Athens, GA	W 25–0	25,000	[48]
October 28	Florida	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	TEN 13–6		[49]
October 28	Auburn	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	AUB 13–7	20,000	[50]
October 28	Clemson	Ole Miss	Greer Field • Meridian, MS	W 13–0		[51]
October 28	Duke	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	L 7–14	15,000	[52]
October 28	Georgia Tech	North Carolina	Kenan Memorial Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC	W 10–6		[53]
October 28	Cumberland (TN)	Sewanee	Hardee Field • Sewanee, TN	W 14–0		[54]

Week Seven

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 3	Mississippi College	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	W 18–0		[55]
November 4	Kentucky	Alabama	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	ALA 20–0	15,000	[56]
November 4	South Carolina	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	W 30–7		[57]
November 4	Georgia	Florida	Fairfield Stadium • Jacksonville, FL	UGA 14–0		[58]
November 4	Tennessee	George Washington	Griffith Stadium • Washington, DC	W 13–0	25,000	[59]
November 4	Tulane	Colgate	Yankee Stadium • Bronx, NY	W 7–0	20,000	[60]
November 4	Auburn	Duke	Duke Stadium • Durham, NC	L 7–13		[61]
November 4	Birmingham–Southern	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS	W 12–0		[62]
November 4	Vanderbilt	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	VAN 9–6		[63]
November 4	Tennessee Tech	Sewanee	Hardee Field • Sewanee, TN	W 13–0		[64]

Week Eight

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 11	VPI	Alabama	Denny Stadium • Tuscaloosa, AL	W 27–0	10,000	[65]
November 11	Georgia	Yale	Yale Bowl • New Haven, CT	W 7–0	35,000	[66]
November 11	Ole Miss	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	TEN 35–6	12,000	[67]
November 11	Mississippi State	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	TUL 33–0		[68]
November 11	Oglethorpe	Auburn	Drake Field • Auburn, AL	W 27–6	6,000	[69]
November 11	Sewanee	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	VAN 27–14		[70]
November 11	Florida	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	GT 19–7	10,000	[71]
November 11	VMI	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, KY	W 21–6		[72]

Week Nine

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 18	Alabama	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	ALA 12–9	18,000	[73]
November 18	Ole Miss	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	LSU 31–0	18,000	[74]
November 18	Auburn	Georgia	Memorial Stadium • Columbus, GA	AUB 14–6		[75]
November 18	Vanderbilt	Tennessee	Shields–Watkins Field • Knoxville, TN	TEN 33–6	20,000	[76]
November 18	Kentucky	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	TUL 34–0		[77]
November 18	Sewanee	Mississippi State	Scott Field • Starkville, MS	MSS 26–13	3,000	[78]

Week Ten

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 25	Mississippi State	LSU	Brown Field • Monroe, LA	LSU 21–6	6,000	[79]
November 25	Georgia	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	UGA 7–6	35,000	[80]
November 25	Sewanee	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	TUL 26–9	8,000	[81]
November 25	Auburn	Florida	Florida Field • Gainesville, FL	AUB 14–7	12,000	[82]
November 25	Centenary	Ole Miss	Municipal Stadium • Jackson, MS	L 6–7		[83]

Week Eleven

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
November 30	Alabama	Vanderbilt	Dudley Field • Nashville, TN	ALA 7–0	15,000	[84]
November 30	Tennessee	Kentucky	McLean Stadium • Lexington, TN	TEN 27–0		[85]
December 2	LSU	Tulane	Tulane Stadium • New Orleans, LA	T 7–7	31,000	[86]
December 2	Georgia	USC	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA	L 0–31	45,000	[87]
December 2	South Carolina	Auburn	Legion Field • Birmingham, AL	L 14–16	8,000	[88]
December 2	Mississippi State	Ole Miss	Hemingway Stadium • Oxford, MS	OM 31–0		[89]
December 2	Maryland	Florida	Plant Field • Tampa, FL	W 19–0	10,000	[90]
December 2	Duke	Georgia Tech	Grant Field • Atlanta, GA	W 6–0	16,000	[91]

Week Twelve

Date	Visiting team	Home team	Site	Result	Attendance	Reference
December 9	Tennessee	LSU	Tiger Stadium • Baton Rouge, LA	LSU 7–0	15,000	[92]

All-conference players

For the complete All-SEC selections, see 1933 All-SEC football team.

The following players were recognized as consensus first-team honors from the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) on the 1933 All-SEC football team:

• David Ariail, End, Auburn (AP-1, UP-1)
• Graham Batchelor, End, Georgia (AP-1, UP-1)
• Jack Torrance, Tackle, LSU (AP-1, UP-1)
• Leroy Moorehead, Guard, Georgia (AP-1, UP-1)
• Thomas Hupke, Guard, Alabama (AP-1, UP-1)
• Talmadge Maples, Center, Tennessee (AP-1, UP-1)
• Ripper Williams, Quarterback, Auburn (AP-1, UP-1)
• Beattie Feathers, Halfback, Tennessee (AP-1, UP-1)

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 1933 College Football All-America Team.

One SEC player was a consensus first-team pick on the 1933 College Football All-America Team:^[93]

• Beattie Feathers, Halfback, Tennessee (AAB, CO, FWAAA, INS, LIB, NANA, NEA)

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

• Thomas Hupke, Guard, Alabama (AP-2; CO-3; INS-3; NANA-3; NEA-2; UP-2; CP-1; WD-2)
• Tal Maples, Center, Tennessee (CP-3)
• Deke Brackett, Quarterback, Tennessee (CP-2)
• Dixie Howell, Halfback, Alabama (CP-3)
• Ralph Kercheval, Fullback, Kentucky (AP-3; CP-3)

Head coaches

Records through the completion of the 1933 season

Team	Head coach	Years at school	Overall record	Record at school	SEC record
Alabama	Frank Thomas	3	50–13–3 (.780)	24–4–1 (.845)	5–0–1 (.917)
Auburn	Chet A. Wynne	4	61–41–9 (.590)	25–15–2 (.619)	2–2–0 (.500)
Florida	Dennis K. Stanley	1	5–3–1 (.611)	5–3–1 (.611)	2–3–0 (.400)
Georgia	Harry Mehre	6	35–20–3 (.629)	35–20–3 (.629)	3–1–0 (.750)
Georgia Tech	William Alexander	14	75–46–10 (.611)	75–46–10 (.611)	2–5–0 (.286)
Kentucky	Harry Gamage	7	32–25–5 (.556)	32–25–5 (.556)	2–3–0 (.400)
LSU	Biff Jones	2	43–11–6 (.767)	13–3–4 (.750)	3–0–2 (.800)
Mississippi State	Ross MacKechnie	1	3–6–1 (.350)	3–6–1 (.350)	1–5–1 (.214)
Ole Miss	Ed Walker	4	16–20–4 (.450)	16–20–4 (.450)	2–2–1 (.500)
Sewanee	Harry E. Clark	3	11–16–2 (.414)	11–16–2 (.414)	0–6–0 (.000)
Tennessee	Robert Neyland	8	68–7–5 (.881)	68–7–5 (.881)	5–2–0 (.714)
Tulane	Ted Cox	2	23–6–3 (.766)	12–5–2 (.684)	4–2–1 (.643)
Vanderbilt	Dan McGugin	29	191–52–19 (.765)	191–52–19 (.765)	2–2–2 (.500)