This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.
The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/stayclassypeople on 2024-07-20 13:10:38+00:00.
There is no official standard because there is no official national champion. It all depends on the standard the school wishes to utilize. The national champion is in the eye of the beholder."
— Kent Stephens, historian
1969
This is the 20th post in a series covering the 1950-1973 seasons. Each year I will cover the big games the shaped the race for #1 and how they performed in the bowls. Season by season you’ll see the gradual evolution of how college football went from a regular season only sport into a game into a sport where bowls would become national championship events. This is my amateur attempt at understanding college football’s bizarre journey in declaring who is #1.
Master Post (check out prior seasons here)
A Brief History of the bowls and Polls
https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/1dkhvs5/a_brief_history_of_the_bowls_and_polls/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button
News & Notes
- College football celebrates it’s 100th anniversary!
- The PCAA (a Big West precursor) was formed. It included current day FBS schools Fresno St, Marshall, and San Jose St, with the rest being present day FCS or defunct programs.
- Four new teams joined the University division (in this era, there was the University Division and the College division for smaller schools. The new schools were Northern Ill, San Diego St, Idaho, and Pacific.
- Notre Dame ended their ~40 year policy on not playing in bowl games this season.
- Bowl Tie-ins
- Rose: PAC 8 and Big 10 champs
- Cotton: SWC Champ
- Orange: Big 8 champ
- Sugar: an SEC team (unofficially)
- Preseason No. 1: Ohio St
Big Games
- Sept 22: Penn St jumps Arkansas for No 2 in the polls after both teams started 1-0.
- Oct 6th: Texas jumps to No. 2 in the polls. Penn St falls all the way to 5 despite being 3-0.
- Oct 11th
- No. 5 Penn St (3-0) beat it’s only ranked opponent, West Virginia, 20-0.
- No 7 Missouri beat No. 20 Nebraska 17-7 in a game that would prove to be a de facto Big 8 title.
- Oct 18th
- No 3 USC (4-0), once again tied Notre Dame, this time at 14 apiece. The loss would drop them out of the top 5.
- Oct 25th
- No. 5 Mizzou (5-0) dropped their only regular season game to Colorado 24-31.
- Nov 15th
- No. 3 Tennessee moved to 7-0 after big wins over ranked Auburn, Alabama, and Georgia. However, Ole Miss absolutely dog walked them on this Saturday, 38-0.
- Nov 22
- No. 1 Ohio St (8-0) vs No. 12 Michigan (7-2): Ohio St entered ‘The Game’ riding a 22 game win streak and a 2nd consectutive national title in their grasp as a win here would likely give them a No.1 ranking in the Coaches poll. However, Michigan, wasn’t a fan of that happening. The Buckeyes scored in the first to make it 6-0. After a 2nd quarter UM TD, they again countered to make it 12-7. After this, the Wolverines took over, scoring 17 unanswered in the 2nd to take a 24-12 lead into half time. Both defenses pitched a 2nd half shutout. Ohio St’s season was not only over, but with Arkansas, Texas, and Penn St remaining unbeaten, their national title hopes were dead. The 10 year war was born!
- No. 5 USC (8-0-1) vs No. 6 UCLA (8-0-1): This epic battle for the Victory Bell matched up two unbeaten LA schools with a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line. The winner would also bet in decent shape to at least have a shot for a national title depending on how the bowls played out. Trailing 6-7 in the 4th, UCLA took a late lead to go up 12-7. USC was able to drive down the field thanks to a phantom PI call on a 4th and 10. They would then take the lead with under 2 minutes to go on a TD reception where the receiver appeared to be out of bounds. As it was, USC moved to 9-0-1 and punched a ticket to Pasadena.
- After Ohio State’s stunning defeat, Texas moved to No. 1 in the polls, followed Arkansas, their next week opponent. Penn St moved to 3rd.
- Nov 29th
- No. 3 Penn St got a break in the polls thanks to Michigan’s upset of No 1. Ohio St. Only problem is they were still boxed out of race for No.1 in the Coaches poll thanks to Texas and Arkansas’ upcoming battle. The controlled what they could with a 33-8 win over Syracuse to finish the regular season 10-0.
- Dec 6th
- No. 1 Texas (9-0) vs No.2 Arkansas (9-0) "The Game of the Century"
- President Richard Nixon and future president HW Bush were in attendance and planned to give a presidential plaque to the winner declaring them No. 1. He wasn’t over stepping either, as the AP and Coaches would most certainly have the winner No. 1 in next weeks poll. The Razorback scored on their opening drive via a 1 yard Bill Burnett plunge to go up 7-0. A 29 yard Bill Montgomery pass in the 3rd, doubled the lead to 14-0. The Horns didn’t give up. James Street galloped into the end zone on a 49 yard run and added a 2-point conversion run, making it 14-8. With less than 5 minutes left, Texas QB James Street tossed a 44 yard pass on 4th down to get into the Razorback redzone. The Horns punched it in 2 plays later to take a 15-14 lead. A No.1 ranking in the final Coaches poll and a presidential plaque saying they were No. 1 was in the bag. The AP crown would have to wait til after the Cotton Bowl.
| Team | Record | AP | final Coaches | Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 10-0 | 1 (22) | 1 (28) | Cotton |
| Penn St | 10-0 | 2 (5) | 2 (4) | Orange |
| Arkansas | 9-1 | 3 | 3 | Sugar |
| Ohio St | 8-1 | 4 | 5 | none |
| USC | 9-0-1 | 5 | 4 | Rose |
| Missouri | 9-1 | 6 | 6 | Orange |
| Michigan | 8-2 | 7 | 8 | Rose |
- Toledo went 10-0 and was invited to the Tangerine Bowl, where they would beat Davidson 56-33. They would not finish ranked in either poll. This season was a part of what would be a 35 game win streak
- No. 18 San Diego St finished a perfect 10-0 and was invited to the Pasadena Bowl.
- No. 15 Tennessee and No. 10 LSU both finished tied for first in SEC play with one conference loss each.
After their epic comedown over the Razorbacks, Texas was the clear choice for No. 1 in both polls. They were of course, already secured a spot in the Cotton Bowl, where they would try lock up a consensus national title. Their bowl opponent was playing in their postseason game for the first time in 45 years. That’s right, Notre Dame ended it’s longstanding policy of not playing in bowl games. This was due to them needing that sweet, sweet bowl money to pay for scholarships. Not glorified exhibition games now, are they?! Anyway, this caused a ripple affect for the major bowl match ups. Remember how I’ve noted that the SEC’s relationship with the Sugar bowl was unofficial? Well, LSU had an open offer to play in the game but chose to try and secure a match up with Texas or Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. However, Notre Dame stole their date in New Orleans instead. The Sugar bowl, triggered by LSU two-timing them, chose Ole Miss instead. LSU was now out of a Bowl date entirely.
Meanwhile, No. 2 Penn St was off to the Orange bowl to take on Big 8 champ, No. 6 Missouri. They were boxed out of the national title in 1968 because of a No. 1 vs No. 2 Rose Bowl. This year there was a path. If they could take care of Mizzou, preferable in convincing fashion, and have Notre Dame knock of the Horns in the Sugar Bowl, they would have a very real shot at finishing No. 1. Even No. 3 Arkansas wasn’t out of it. If Penn St and Texas both lost, they might move to no. 1. And don’t completely count out idle No. 4 Ohio St and No. 5 USC. If Texas, Penn St, and Arkansas all lose, one of them might gain the voters affections as the best team in the land. As the opening line of this series says “The national champion is in the eye of the beholder.” Look at how much postseason drama was on the line just by the AP waiting one more month to release their final poll? God college footbal is weird, I love it!
Picture this! Four bowl games! Some played simultaneously or at least with overlapping times. All with national title implications depending on what happened in the other game. Inject that into your veins!!!
Rose bowl: No. 5 USC (9-0-1) vs No. 7 Michigan (8-2)
Don’t get me wrong, the 4 team playoff was a much more equitable way to declare No. 1, but in the old ‘polls and bowls’ era, a No. 5 team had a chance to move to no. 1. The odds were slim, but a path was there nonetheless. Their odds were boosted as Michigan’s Bo Schembechler was out of the game due to a mild heart attack. Each team traded field goals in the first and second quarter making it 3 all at the half. The Trojans used a 33 yard TD pass to take a 10-3 lead. Their defense did the rest of the work, holding on for a 10-3 win.
Sugar Bowl: No. 3 Arkansas (9-1) vs No. 13 Ole Miss (7-3)
**Arkansas was a made 2-point conversion away from controlling their own destiny for a consensus title, instead they’d have to win and pray for it on New Years day. Led by Archie Manning and his 4 time sup…
Content cut off. Read original on old.reddit.com/r/…/bowls_polls_the_1969_season/