1971 Tennessee State Tigers football team

The 1971 Tennessee State Tigers football team represented Tennessee State University as an independent during the 1971 NCAA College Division football season. In their 12th season under head coach John Merritt, the Tigers compiled a 9–1 record, defeated McNeese State in the Grantland Rice Bowl, and outscored all opponents by a total of 403 to 151. The team was also recognized as the 1971 black college national champion and was ranked No. 5 in the final 1971 NCAA College Division football rankings issued by the Associated Press and No. 14 in the final poll issued by the United Press International.[1]

1971 Tennessee State Tigers football
Black college football national champion
Grantland Rice Bowl, W 26–23 vs. McNeese State
Conference	Independent
1971 record	9–1
Head coach	John Merritt (12th season)
Home stadium	W.J. Hale Stadium

1971 NCAA College Division independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Delaware			–					10	–	1	–	0
No. 5 Tennessee State			–					9	–	1	–	0
Colorado College			–					7	–	1	–	0
No. 8 Akron			–					8	–	2	–	0
Samford			–					8	–	2	–	0
No. 3 Eastern Michigan			–					7	–	1	–	2
Northern Michigan			–					7	–	3	–	0
Hawaii			–					7	–	4	–	0
Santa Clara			–					6	–	4	–	0
Southern Illinois			–					6	–	4	–	0
Tampa			–					6	–	5	–	0
UNLV			–					5	–	4	–	1
Bucknell			–					5	–	5	–	0
Central Michigan			–					5	–	5	–	0
Milwaukee			–					5	–	5	–	0
Nevada			–					5	–	5	–	0
Wayne State (MI)			–					4	–	4	–	0
Hofstra			–					5	–	6	–	0
Cortland			–					4	–	5	–	0
Northeastern			–					4	–	5	–	0
Portland State			–					4	–	5	–	0
Northeast Louisiana			–					4	–	6	–	1
Indiana State			–					4	–	6	–	0
Saint Mary's			–					3	–	5	–	0
Rose-Hulman			–					3	–	6	–	0
Drexel			–					2	–	6	–	0
Chattanooga			–					2	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	Alcorn A&M	W.J. Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	W 18–7
October 2	at Texas Southern	Houston, TX	L 23–28
October 9	Grambling	W.J. Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	W 41–35
October 16	vs. Prairie View	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX	W 42–20
October 23	Florida A&M	W.J. Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	W 50–8
October 30	at Southern	Baton Rouge, LA	W 27–16
November 6	at Morris Brown	Herndon Stadium Atlanta, GA	W 61–7	14,000
November 13	Wisconsin–Superior	W.J. Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	W 54–7
November 20	Central State	W.J. Hale Stadium Nashville, TN	W 61–0
December 11	at McNeese State	Baton Rouge, LA (Grantland Rice Bowl	W 26–23

References

1. "Tennessee State Yearly Results (1970-1974)". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2019.