1972 Tennessee State Tigers football team

The 1972 Tennessee State Tigers football team represented Tennessee State University as an independent during the 1972 NCAA College Division football season. In their tenth season under head coach John Merritt, the Tigers compiled an 11–1 record, defeated Drake in the Pioneer Bowl (the Midwest region final of the NCAA College Division), and outscored all opponents by a total of 431 to 107.

1972 Tennessee State Tigers football
Pioneer Bowl, W 29–7 vs. Drake
Conference	Independent
Record	11–1
Head coach	John Merritt (10th season)
Home stadium	Hale Stadium
Seasons ← 1971 1973 →

1972 NCAA College Division independents football records

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Ashland			–					11	–	0	–	0
Bridgeport			–					11	–	0	–	0
No. 1 Delaware			–					10	–	0	–	0
No. 5 Tennessee State			–					11	–	1	–	0
Colorado College			–					8	–	1	–	0
Tampa			–					10	–	2	–	0
Trinity (TX)			–					8	–	2	–	0
Western Carolina			–					7	–	2	–	1
Hawaii			–					8	–	3	–	0
Indiana State			–					7	–	3	–	0
Northeastern			–					6	–	2	–	0
Bucknell			–					6	–	3	–	0
Cortland			–					6	–	3	–	0
San Diego			–					6	–	3	–	1
Arkansas–Pine Bluff			–					4	–	2	–	1
Eastern Michigan			–					6	–	4	–	0
Milwaukee			–					6	–	4	–	0
Samford			–					5	–	3	–	2
Ball State			–					5	–	4	–	1
Lake Forest			–					4	–	3	–	1
Nevada			–					6	–	5	–	0
Central Michigan			–					5	–	5	–	1
Rose-Hulman			–					5	–	5	–	0
Santa Clara			–					4	–	4	–	1
Akron			–					3	–	4	–	2
St. Norbert			–					4	–	5	–	0
Saint Mary's			–					3	–	4	–	0
Kentucky State			–					4	–	6	–	0
Drexel			–					3	–	6	–	0
Northeast Louisiana			–					3	–	7	–	0
Portland State			–					3	–	8	–	0
Wayne State (MI)			–					2	–	5	–	1
Boston University			–					2	–	8	–	0
Northern Michigan			–					2	–	8	–	0
Saint Peter's			–					2	–	8	–	0
Chattanooga			–					2	–	9	–	0
Southern Illinois			–					1	–	8	–	1
Eastern Illinois			–					1	–	9	–	0
Madison			–					0	–	4	–	1
UNLV			–					1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP small college poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	vs. Norfolk State		Memphis Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	W 56–6	9,208	[1]
September 15	vs. Morgan State		Atlanta Stadium Atlanta, GA (Atlanta Gridiron Festival)	W 14–0	10,093	[2]
September 23	vs. Alcorn A&M	No. 4	Soldier Field Chicago, IL (Urban League Classic)	W 40–13	34,208–48,000	[3][4]
September 30	Texas Southern	No. 2	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	W 38–15	14,224–16,000	[5][6]
October 7	at Grambling	No. 3	Grambling Stadium Grambling, LA	L 18–27	9,620–12,035	[7]
October 14	Virginia State	No. 9	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	W 49–0	9,000	[8]
October 21	Florida A&M	No. 8	Bragg Memorial Stadium Tallahassee, FL	W 44–25	16,500	[9]
October 28	Southern	No. 4	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	W 35–0	9,200–11,023	[10][11]
November 4	Morris Brown	No. 4	Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	W 24–14	15,000	[12]
November 11	at Central State (OH)	No. 4	McPherson Stadium Wilberforce, OH	W 41–0	8,000	[13]
November 23	at Alabama State	No. 5	Cramton Bowl Montgomery, AL	W 43–0	15,000	[14]
December 9	vs. Drake	No. 5	Memorial Stadium Wichita Falls, TX (Pioneer Bowl)	W 29–7	9,200	[15]
Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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