Only 13 Tennessee football teams have won the SEC. See who they are | Mike Strange

Another SEC football championship is decided. Tennessee remains stuck on 13 titles for the 24th straight year.

The best Vol football season in years still points to an attractive bowl trip. Hope for more of the same next year is real.

But you wonder when – if? – Tennessee is going to win another SEC title. Since UT’s 1998 championship season, those 24 titles have been divided among five schools: Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Auburn and Florida.

And it’s not getting easier. Texas and Oklahoma are on the way.

Let’s raise a glass to those 13 champions.

Five belong to Robert Neyland, who also fielded five undefeated teams between 1927 and 1932, prior to the SEC’s formation in 1933.

Bowden Wyatt added one, Doug Dickey two, Johnny Majors three. Phillip Fulmer presided over the championship game era and added two crowns.

Odd footnote: Those 13 SEC title teams were only 5-8 in bowl games.

1938: The Vols went 11-0, including an Orange Bowl win over Oklahoma. They finished second in the AP poll behind TCU.

1939: UT (6-0) shared the title with Georgia Tech (6-0) and Tulane (5-0) in a regular season in which all 10 Vols’ opponents failed to score a single point. That ended in a 14-0 loss to Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl. Another runner-up AP finish behind Texas A&M.

1940: A third straight 10-0 regular season. Tennessee claimed the SEC crown at 5-0. Of five SEC foes, only Alabama scored. A Sugar Bowl loss to Boston College left a bad taste.

1946: Tennessee and Georgia shared the title at 5-0 in Neyland’s first season back from World War II duty. A 7-6 win over Vandy was the closest call.

1951: The Vols (5-0) shared the crown with Georgia Tech (7-0). Heisman runner-up Hank Lauricella led Tennessee to a 10-0 regular season and consensus national title. The Sugar Bowl loss to Maryland was after the polls.

1956: Wyatt’s second team essentially clinched the title with a 6-0 win over Georgia Tech on Nov. 10. The Vols, led by another Heisman runner-up, Johnny Majors, finished 6-0 to Tech’s 7-1. Another 10-0 regular season was marred by a Sugar Bowl loss, to Baylor.

1967: Dickey’s fourth team lost its opener to UCLA but went 6-0 in SEC play to win the crown. A 24-13 victory over Alabama (5-1) decided things. An Orange Bowl loss to Oklahoma left the Vols 9-2.

1969: A 38-0 no-show against Archie Manning and Ole Miss, the only regular season loss, reeks of this year’s South Carolina debacle. But Ole Miss also beat LSU, handing the SEC title to Tennessee at 5-1. Then the Vols lost to Florida in the Gator Bowl and lost Dickey to the Gators afterward.

1985: Tennessee and Florida finished 5-1. The Gators beat the Vols in Gainesville. But Florida was on NCAA probation. Tennessee claimed the title – ending a 16-year drought – and then romped over Miami in the Sugar Bowl.

1989: Tennessee, Alabama and Auburn finished 6-1. The Vols lost to Alabama, the Tide lost to Auburn and the Tigers lost to Tennessee. Hence, a three-way share.

1990: A depressing loss to Alabama and a disappointing tie with Auburn left Tennessee 5-1-1. It was still good enough for the outright title, the third for Majors.

1997: Peyton Manning didn’t beat Florida, but LSU and Georgia did, putting 7-1 Tennessee in its first SEC championship game. A 30-29 win over Auburn was a thriller.

1998: The 24-14 win over Mississippi State in the title game wasn’t easy. But as in so many other tests that perfect season, the Vols found a way.

Mike Strange is a former writer for the News Sentinel. He currently writes a weekly sports column for Shopper News.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Mike Strange Only 13 Tennessee football teams have won the SEC