1960 NCAA University Division football season

The 1960 NCAA University Division football season marked the last time that the University of Minnesota was a national champion on the gridiron. Murray Warmath's Minnesota Gophers were not in the Top 20 in preseason polling, but received the AP Trophy at the end of the regular season while Ole Miss received the FWAA trophy.

During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as Division I-A. The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of "wire service" (AP and UPI) polls. The extent of that recognition came in the form of acknowledgment in the annual NCAA Football Guide of the "unofficial" national champions. The AP poll in 1960 consisted of the votes of 48 sportswriters; the year before, more than 200 voters had split first place votes between Syracuse, Mississippi, LSU, Texas, Georgia, Wisconsin and Alabama.[2] The Associated Press relied thereafter on a "special panel representing all sections of the country".[3] Though not all the panelists voted in every poll, each would give their opinion of the twenty best teams. Under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined. Although the rankings were based on the collective opinion of the representative sportswriters, the teams that remained "unbeaten and untied" were generally ranked higher than those that had not. A defeat, even against a strong opponent, tended to cause a team to drop in the rankings, and a team with two or more defeats was unlikely to remain in the Top 20.

The top teams played in the four major postseason bowl games: the Rose (near Los Angeles at Pasadena), Sugar (New Orleans), Orange (Miami) and Cotton (Dallas). These bowls were contested on January 2, as New Year's Day fell on a Sunday.

Conference and program changes

Conference changes

  • One conference changed its name prior to the 1960 season:
    • After the Big Seven Conference, still officially known as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association, added Oklahoma State, the conference's unofficial name became the Big Eight Conference. This name would remain until the league's dissolution in 1995.

Membership changes

School1959 Conference1960 Conference
Houston CougarsMissouri ValleyIndependent
Oklahoma State CowboysIndependentBig Eight
Texas Tech Red RaidersIndependentSouthwest

September

In the preseason poll released on September 12, the defending champion Syracuse Orangemen and 1959's second-place finisher, the Mississippi Rebels were No. 1 and No. 2, with 26 and 21 first place votes respectively. They were followed by the No. 3 Washington Huskies from Seattle, the No. 4 Texas Longhorns and the No. 5 Illinois Fighting Illini.[4] As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.

The Big Ten schools would not kick off until September 24. On September 17, No. 2 Mississippi beat the Houston Cougars in Houston, 42–0. No. 3 Washington crushed the visiting College of the Pacific, 55–6 (the school became the University of the Pacific in 1961). No. 4 Texas opened its season with a loss at home to Nebraska, falling 14–13.

Ole Miss was voted No. 1, followed by Syracuse, Washington, Illinois, and previously unranked Alabama, which had beaten No. 13 Georgia 21–6 in Birmingham.

September 24 No. 1 Mississippi beat Kentucky in Memphis, 21–6. No. 2 Syracuse opened its season with a 55–7 win over Boston University. No. 3 Washington won at home again, beating the University of Idaho Vandals 41–12. No. 4 Illinois beat Indiana 17–6. In Lincoln, Minnesota beat No. 12 Nebraska 26–14. No. 5 Alabama was tied 6–6 by Tulane in New Orleans.

The poll remained 1. Mississippi, 2. Syracuse, 3. Washington, 4. Illinois, but 5. Kansas, which had crushed Kansas State 41–0 on the road, rose from 7th to 5th. Minnesota entered the poll at the No. 18 spot.

October

October 1 No. 1 Mississippi played its second straight game in Memphis, Tennessee, beating Memphis State 31–20. No. 2 Syracuse defeated No. 5 Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, 14–7, to reclaim the top spot. No. 3 Washington narrowly lost 15–14 at home to the No. 17 Navy Midshipmen. No. 4 Illinois beat West Virginia 33–0. No. 18 Minnesota beat Indiana 42–0. In the following poll, Syracuse and Ole Miss were No. 1 and No. 2, followed at 3, 4 and 5 by Big Ten teams Iowa, Illinois and Ohio State. Purdue was 7th, Michigan State 13th, and Minnesota 14th. Iowa had beaten Northwestern 42–0 on the road, while Ohio State had shut out visiting USC.

October 8 No. 1 Syracuse struggled to beat Holy Cross 15–6 in Worcestor, Mass. No. 2 Mississippi won in their third consecutive trip to Tennessee, beating Vanderbilt 26–0 in Nashville. No. 3 Iowa beat No. 13 Michigan State in East Lansing, 27–15. No. 4 Illinois lost in Champaign, Ill., to No. 5 Ohio State, 34–7. No. 6 Navy, which had beaten SMU 26–7 at a game in the naval port of Norfolk, Virginia, came in at fifth. No. 14 Minnesota beat Northwestern 7–0. The next poll was: 1.Mississippi 2.Iowa 3.Ohio State 4.Syracuse 5.Navy. Minnesota reached the Top Ten at No. 10

On October 15, No. 1 Mississippi beat Tulane in New Orleans 26–13, and No. 2 Iowa beat No. 12 Wisconsin at home, 28–21. No. 3 Ohio State lost a close one at Purdue 24–21. No. 4 Syracuse beat No. 20 Penn State 21–15, and No. 5 Navy beat the Air Force Academy 35–3 in Baltimore. No. 10 Minnesota beat Illinois 21–10. The Iowa Hawkeyes narrowly topped the next poll, with 23 first place votes to 22 for Ole Miss, and only two points to separate No. 1 and No. 2 (442–440) They were followed by 3.Syracuse 4.Navy and newcomer 5.Missouri, which was 5–0 after a 45–0 win over Kansas State at Manhattan, KS. Minnesota rose from 10th to 6th.

October 22 No. 1 Iowa beat No. 10 Purdue 21–14 and No. 2 Mississippi edged No. 14 Arkansas 10–7 in Little Rock. No. 3 Syracuse won at West Virginia 45–0, while No. 4 Navy beat the Ivy League's Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, 27–0. No. 5 Missouri, which had held its opponents to single digits, continued winning with a 34–8 thrashing of Iowa State. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, No. 6 Minnesota beat Michigan 10–0. Iowa tightened its hold on No. 1 in the next poll, with 34 of the 48 votes for first place. The next week's Top 20 had only nineteen teams, with Kansas at No. 19 with 2 points. The top five remained the same with 1.Iowa 2.Mississippi 3.Syracuse 4.Navy and 5.Missouri.

October 29 No. 1 Iowa beat No. 19 Kansas 21–7. No. 2 Mississippi played its 7th game of the season, but its first at home in Oxford, and was tied 6–6 by the LSU Tigers. No. 3 Syracuse lost to Pitt 10–0. In Philadelphia, No. 4 Navy beat Notre Dame 14–7. No. 5 Missouri crushed Nebraska in Lincoln, 28–0, to go 7–0–0. At this time, they had outscored their opponents 210–31. No. 6 Minnesota beat Kansas State 48–7.

Iowa stayed No. 1, Missouri rose to No. 2. No. 6 Minnesota rose to No. 3 after posting its sixth win, a 48–7 routing of Kansas State, and Ohio State returned to the top five at No. 5 after beating Michigan State in East Lansing, 21–10. With three Big Ten teams, the top five was 1.Iowa 2.Missouri 3.Minnesota 4.Navy and 5.Ohio State.

November

November 5 The battle between the Big Ten's two 6–0–0 teams, No. 1 against No. 3, took place in Minneapolis, where No. 1 Iowa lost to No. 3 Minnesota, 27–10. No. 4 Navy lost in Durham, North Carolina, to No. 13 Duke 19–10 No. 2 Missouri beat No. 18 Colorado at home 16–6. No. 5 Ohio State handled Indiana 36–7. Having dethroned the No. 1 team, the Minnesota Gophers took the top spot in the poll released on November 7, 1960, with 40 of the 47 voters voting them as No. 1. Mississippi, still unbeaten, returned to the Top Five after a 45–0 win over Tennessee-Chattanooga. The top five was 1.Minnesota 2.Missouri 3.Ohio State 4.Mississippi and 5.Iowa.

November 12 No. 1 Minnesota lost to Purdue, 23–14. No. 2 Missouri gave up more than a touchdown for the first time, but still won 41–19 at Oklahoma. No. 3 Ohio State lost at No. 5 Iowa, 35–12. No. 4 Mississippi, following its win against UT-Chattanooga, beat the parent No. 14 University of Tennessee in Knoxville, 24–3. Washington, which had beaten California 27–7, returned to the Top Five. The Missouri Tigers captured No. 1 in the next poll, which was 1.Missouri 2.Iowa 3.Mississippi 4.Minnesota and 5. Washington

November 19 Unbeaten No. 1 Missouri, with only a home game left between it and the national championship, lost to visiting Kansas, 23–7, but the game was later forfeited to Missouri. No. 2 Iowa defeated Notre Dame in South Bend, 28–0. No. 3 Mississippi finished its season unbeaten (9–0–1) with a 35–9 win at home over Mississippi State. No. 4 Minnesota closed its season with a 26–7 win at Wisconsin. No. 5 Washington played its season ender against 4–4–1 Washington State in Spokane, winning only by a 2–point conversion, 8–7. In the penultimate poll, released November 21, Minnesota, Iowa and Mississippi had 13½, 17½ and 13 first place votes respectively (voters were allowed to split their choices for No. 1), and Minnesota was again No. 1. The following Saturday,

November 26 No. 3 Mississippi finished its season unbeaten (9–0–1) with a 35–9 win at home over Mississippi State.

With both the AP and UPI finishing their voting before the bowl games, the championship was determined in December. The AP writers divided among Minnesota (8–1), Mississippi (9–0–1) and Iowa (8–1), and some voters split their choices. As such, the Minnesota Gophers received 17½ votes for No. 1, Mississippi got 16, and Iowa 12½. Minnesota had 433½ poll points, ahead of 411 for Ole Miss and 407½ for Iowa. Minnesota was also the No. 1 choice in the UPI coaches poll.

Because the final Associated Press and United Press International polls were conducted after the final game of the regular season, Minnesota is the AP and UPI national champion for 1960. It's of note that the MAC Ohio Bobcats were also crowned the world small college football champions in 1960, after an undefeated season. The postseason poll conducted by the Helms Athletic Foundation recognizes Washington as national champions, while the Football Writers Association of America crowned Mississippi as national champion. Had the polls been taken after the bowl games, the Missouri Tigers would likely also have been a contender for the national championship, as they beat Navy in the Orange Bowl and possessed an unbeaten and untied record (11–0) after their forfeit victory over Kansas.

Conference standings

1960 Athletic Association of Western Universities football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 6 Washington $ 4 0 0  10 1 0
USC 3 1 0  4 6 0
UCLA 2 2 0  7 2 1
California 1 3 0  2 7 1
Stanford 0 4 0  0 10 0
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1960 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 10 Duke $ 5 1 0  8 3 0
NC State 4 1 1  6 3 1
Maryland 5 2 0  6 4 0
Clemson 4 2 0  6 4 0
South Carolina 3 3 1  3 6 1
North Carolina 2 5 0  3 7 0
Wake Forest 2 5 0  2 8 0
Virginia 0 6 0  0 10 0
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll[5]
1960 Big Eight Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 5 Missouri $ 7 0 0  11 0 0
Colorado 5 2 0  6 4 0
No. 11 Kansas 4 2 1  7 2 1
Iowa State 4 3 0  7 3 0
Oklahoma 2 4 1  3 6 1
Nebraska 2 5 0  4 6 0
Oklahoma State 2 5 0  3 7 0
Kansas State 0 7 0  1 9 0
  • $ Conference champion
  • Conference standings vacate Kansas' on-field victories against Colorado and Missouri. Kansas and the NCAA continue to recognize Kansas' victories.
Rankings from AP Poll
1960 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Minnesota + 6 1 0  8 2 0
No. 3 Iowa + 5 1 0  8 1 0
No. 8 Ohio State 5 2 0  7 2 0
No. 15 Michigan State 4 2 0  6 2 1
Illinois 3 4 0  5 4 0
Michigan 3 4 0  5 4 0
Northwestern 3 4 0  5 4 0
No. 19 Purdue 3 4 0  4 4 1
Wisconsin 2 5 0  4 5 0
Indiana 0 7 0  1 8 0
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1960 Border Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 17 New Mexico State $ 4 0 0  11 0 0
Arizona 3 0 0  7 3 0
Arizona State 3 2 0  7 3 0
Texas Western 2 3 0  4 5 1
West Texas State 1 4 0  3 7 0
Hardin–Simmons 0 4 0  0 10 0
Rankings from AP Poll
1960 Ivy League football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 14 Yale $ 7 0 0  9 0 0
Princeton 6 1 0  7 2 0
Dartmouth 4 3 0  5 4 0
Harvard 4 3 0  5 4 0
Columbia 3 4 0  3 6 0
Penn 2 5 0  3 6 0
Brown 1 6 0  3 6 0
Cornell 1 6 0  2 7 0
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1960 Middle Atlantic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
University
Rutgers x 4 0 0  8 1 0
Bucknell 5 1 0  7 2 0
Lehigh 3 2 0  4 5 0
Lafayette 4 3 0  5 4 0
Gettysburg 2 3 0  3 6 0
Delaware 1 4 0  2 6 1
Temple 0 5 0  2 7 0
Muhlenberg * 1 2 0  6 3 0
College–Northern
Albright x 6 0 0  9 0 0
Wagner x 6 0 0  9 0 0
Lebanon Valley 6 1 0  7 2 0
Susquehanna 5 1 0  7 1 0
Juniata 4 1 0  5 2 0
Scranton 3 3 0  4 4 0
Upsala 1 3 1  1 5 2
Wilkes 2 7 0  2 7 0
Moravian 1 5 1  1 6 1
Hofstra * 2 0 0  7 1 1
Lycoming * 1 3 0  3 5 0
College–Southern
Johns Hopkins x 5 1 0  5 2 1
Pennsylvania Military 5 3 0  5 4 0
Western Maryland 3 2 0  6 3 0
Ursinus 3 3 0  3 4 0
Swarthmore 2 3 0  2 5 0
Dickinson 1 6 0  1 7 0
Drexel 0 6 0  0 7 1
Haverford 0 7 0  0 7 0
Franklin & Marshall * 1 2 0  2 6 0
No. 5 West Chester * 0 0 0  9 0 0
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • * – Ineligible for championship due to insufficient conference games
Rankings from AP Poll
1960 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Wichita $ 3 0 0  8 2 0
Tulsa 2 1 0  5 5 0
Cincinnati 1 2 0  4 6 0
North Texas State 0 3 0  2 6 1
  • $ Conference champion
1960 Skyline Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Utah State + 6 1 0  9 2 0
Wyoming + 6 1 0  8 2 0
Utah 5 1 0  7 3 0
New Mexico 4 2 0  5 5 0
Montana 2 5 0  5 5 0
BYU 2 5 0  3 8 0
Denver 1 6 0  3 7 0
Colorado State 1 6 0  2 8 0
  • + Conference co-champions
1960 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 2 Ole Miss $ 5 0 1  10 0 1
No. 18 Florida 5 1 0  9 2 0
No. 9 Alabama 5 1 1  8 1 2
No. 13 Auburn 5 2 0  8 2 0
Tennessee 3 2 2  6 2 2
Georgia 4 3 0  6 4 0
Georgia Tech 4 4 0  5 5 0
LSU 2 3 1  5 4 1
Kentucky 2 4 1  5 4 1
Tulane 1 4 1  3 6 1
Mississippi State 0 5 1  2 6 1
Vanderbilt 0 7 0  3 7 0
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1960 Southern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
VMI $ 4 1 0  7 2 1
The Citadel 4 2 0  8 2 1
George Washington 4 2 0  5 3 1
VPI 4 2 0  6 4 0
Furman 2 2 0  5 4 1
Richmond 3 4 1  3 6 1
Davidson 1 3 0  3 5 0
William & Mary 1 5 0  2 8 0
West Virginia 0 2 1  0 8 2
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1960 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 7 Arkansas $ 6 1 0  8 3 0
No. 12 Baylor 5 2 0  8 3 0
Texas 5 2 0  7 3 1
Rice 5 2 0  7 4 0
TCU 3 3 1  4 4 2
Texas Tech 1 5 1  3 6 1
Texas A&M 0 4 3  1 6 3
SMU 0 6 1  0 9 1
  • $ Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1960 NCAA University Division independents football records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Rutgers      8 1 0
No. 4 Navy      9 2 0
Memphis State      8 2 0
Detroit      7 2 0
No. 19 Syracuse      7 2 0
No. 16 Penn State      7 3 0
Oregon      7 3 1
Army      6 3 1
Oregon State      6 3 1
Holy Cross      6 4 0
Houston      6 4 0
Miami (FL)      6 4 0
San Jose State      5 4 0
Pittsburgh      4 3 3
Xavier      5 5 0
Washington State      4 5 1
Air Force      4 6 0
Boston University      3 5 2
Pacific (CA)      4 6 0
Boston College      3 6 1
Florida State      3 6 1
Marquette      3 6 0
Colgate      2 7 0
Notre Dame      2 8 0
Villanova      2 8 0
Dayton      1 9 0
Idaho      1 9 0
Rankings from AP Poll

Bowl games

Because the final polls came out in November, the outcome of the post-season bowl games had no effect on the championship, giving the bowls the status of exhibitions. As winner of the Big Ten title, No. 1 Minnesota went to the Rose Bowl to face Washington, which had the best record of the five teams in the AAWU (today's Pac-12). No. 2 Mississippi, as winner of the SEC, was invited to the Sugar Bowl to face unranked Rice University. The Big Ten did not allow its teams to play in a postseason game other than the Rose Bowl, so No. 3 Iowa stayed home. Although Washington upset Minnesota 17–7 in Pasadena, the post-season loss did not affect the Gophers' championship as determined by the AP and UPI.

Major bowls

Monday, January 2, 1961

Bowl
ROSE No. 6 Washington Huskies 17 No. 1 Minnesota Golden Gophers 7
SUGAR No. 2 Mississippi Rebels 14 Rice Owls 6
ORANGE No. 5 Missouri Tigers 21 No. 4 Navy Midshipmen 14
COTTON No. 10 Duke Blue Devils 7 No. 7 Arkansas Razorbacks 6

Other bowls

Bowl Location Date Winner Score Runner-up
SUN El Paso, TX December 31 No. 17 New Mexico State 20–13 Utah State
GATOR Jacksonville, FL December 31 No. 18 Florida 13–12 No. 12 Baylor
TANGERINE Orlando, FL December 30 The Citadel 27–0 Tennessee Tech
BLUEBONNET Houston, TX December 17 No. 9 Alabama  3–3 Texas
LIBERTY Philadelphia, PA December 17 No. 16 Penn State 41–12 Oregon

Heisman Trophy

  1. Joe Bellino, HB - Navy, 1,793 points
  2. Tom Brown, G - Minnesota, 731
  3. Jake Gibbs, QB - Mississippi, 453
  4. Ed Dyas, FB - Auburn, 319
  5. Billy Kilmer, HB - UCLA, 280
  6. Mike Ditka, TE - Pittsburgh, 223
  7. Tom Matte, QB - Ohio State, 165
  8. Danny LaRose, DE - Missouri, 136
  9. Pervis Atkins, HB - New Mexico State, 124
  10. E. J. Holub, C-LB - Texas Tech, 117

Source:[6][7]

See also

References

  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2009-01-07.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "UCLA Threat To Syracuse's Title Hopes," Oakland Tribune, December 1, 1959, p44
  3. "Ole Miss Retains Slim Lead in Poll," The Independent (Long Beach, Cal.), September 27, 1960, pC-1
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2009-01-11.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "1960 Atlantic Coast Conference Year Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
  6. "Bellino Heisman winner". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. November 30, 1960. p. 2, sec. 4.
  7. "Joe Bellino". Heisman Trophy. 1960. Retrieved January 26, 2017.
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