1961 NCAA University Division football season
1961 NCAA University Division football season | ||
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Preseason AP No. 1 | Iowa[1] | |
Regular season | September 23 – December 2, 1961 | |
Number of bowls | 11 | |
Bowl games | December 9, 1961 – January 1, 1962 | |
Champion(s) | Alabama (AP, Coaches, NFF) Ohio State (FWAA) | |
Heisman | Ernie Davis (halfback, Syracuse) | |
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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" (
Conference and program changes
School | 1960 Conference | 1961 Conference |
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Arizona Wildcats | Border | Independent |
Denver Pioneers | Mountain States |
dropped program |
Marquette Golden Avalanche | Independent | dropped program |
Progress of No. 1
Week | No. 1 Team | Event |
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Preseason | IOWA | |
1 (Sep 23) | IOWA | Did not play |
2 (Sep 30) | IOWA | Iowa 28, California 7 |
3 (Oct 7) | IOWA | Iowa 35, USC 34 |
4 (Oct 14) | OLE MISS | Ole Miss 47, Houston 7 |
5 (Oct 21) | MICHIGAN STATE | MSU 17, Notre Dame 7 |
6 (Oct 28) | MICHIGAN STATE | MSU 35, Indiana 0 |
7 (Nov 4) | MICHIGAN STATE | Minnesota 13, MSU 0 |
8 (Nov 11) | TEXAS | Texas 33, Baylor 7 |
9 (Nov 18) | TEXAS | TCU 6, Texas 0 |
10 (Nov 25) | ALABAMA | (Idle) |
11 (Dec 2) | ALABAMA | Alabama 34, Auburn 0 |
September
In the preseason poll released on September 18, Iowa was No. 1, and its Big Ten rival Ohio State No. 2. SEC teams Alabama and LSU were third and fifth, and Texas was fourth. Rounding out the top ten were No. 6 Michigan State, No. 7 Penn State, No. 8 Kansas, No. 9 Mississippi, and No. 10 Syracuse.[2]
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 30. On September 23, No. 3 Alabama won 32–6 at Georgia and No. 4 Texas won at California 28–3. In Houston, No. 5 LSU fell to Rice 16–3. No. 9 Mississippi, which had shut out Arkansas 16–0, and No. 10 Syracuse, which had beaten Oregon State 19–8 in Portland, rose into the top five. In the poll that followed, Iowa remained No. 1, followed by No. 2 Mississippi, No. 3 Ohio State, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Syracuse. Texas dropped to sixth place.
September 30 California played a top-ranked team for the second straight week, losing at No. 1 Iowa 28–7. No. 2 Mississippi won 20–6 at Kentucky. Texas Christian University (TCU) tied No. 3 Ohio State 7–7 at Columbus. In a game at Mobile, No. 4 Alabama beat Tulane 9–0. No. 5 Syracuse defeated visiting West Virginia 29–14, but fell to seventh in the next ratings. No. 6 Texas, which beat Texas Tech at home, 42–14, returned to the Top Five, along with previously unranked Georgia Tech, which shut out Rice 24–0. In the poll that followed, Iowa remained No. 1, followed by No. 2 Mississippi, No. 3 Georgia Tech, No. 4 Alabama, and No. 5 Texas.
October
October 7
October 14
On October 21,
October 28 In a week of shutouts,
November
November 4
November 11
November 18 Texas Christian University had earlier tied Ohio State 6–6 in Columbus, and bested that with a win over No. 1 Texas in Austin, 6–0. After his team's loss, legendary Texas coach Darrell Royal uttered his immortal description of TCU: "They're like a bunch of cockroaches. It's not what they eat and tote off, it's what they fall into and mess up that hurts."
Post-Thanksgiving (November 25)
December 2,
The AP's final poll was a Top 20 ranking. With 26 of the 48 first place votes the Alabama Crimson Tide was awarded the AP Trophy, ahead of Ohio State (with 20 votes). The point total was even closer, with 16 points separating the Tide from the Buckeyes (452 to 436). The final poll was: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Ohio State, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 LSU, No. 5 Mississippi, No. 6 Minnesota, No. 7 Colorado, No. 8 Michigan State, No. 9 Arkansas, No. 10 Utah State, No. 11 Missouri, No. 12 Purdue, No. 13 Georgia Tech, No. 14 Syracuse, No. 15 Rutgers, and No. 16 UCLA. Arizona, Penn State and Rice were tied for 17th place, followed by No. 20 Duke. Unbeaten and tied only once, Ohio State University qualified for the Rose Bowl. In a move that stunned the sports world, however, the University's faculty council voted 28–25 on November 28 not to accept the invitation, declaring that the school's emphasis on sports over academics was excessive. The wire service commented that "A team of 57 Ohio State University faculty members handed the second ranked Buckeyes their only defeat of the season.".[3] The University of Minnesota took the Buckeyes' place at Pasadena, where they would play UCLA.
Conference standings
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Bowl games
Major bowls
Monday, January 1, 1962
Bowl | ||||
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SUGAR | No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide | 10 | No. 9 Arkansas Razorbacks | 3 |
COTTON | No. 3 Texas Longhorns | 12 | No. 5 Mississippi Rebels | 7 |
ORANGE | No. 4 LSU Tigers | 25 | No. 7 Colorado Buffaloes | 7 |
ROSE | No. 6 Minnesota Golden Gophers | 21 | No. 16 UCLA Bruins | 3 |
Other bowls
BOWL | Location | Date | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
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SUN | El Paso, TX | December 30 | Villanova | 17–9 | Wichita State |
GATOR | Jacksonville, FL | December 30 | No. 17 Penn State | 30–15 | No. 13 Georgia Tech |
TANGERINE | Orlando, FL | December 29 | Lamar | 21–14 | Middle Tennessee |
BLUEBONNET | Houston, TX | December 16 | Kansas | 33–7 | No. 17 Rice |
LIBERTY | Philadelphia, PA | December 16 | No. 14 Syracuse | 15–14 | Miami (FL) |
AVIATION | Dayton, OH | December 9 | New Mexico | 28–12 | W. Michigan |
GOTHAM | New York, NY | December 9 | Baylor | 24–9 | No. 10 Utah State |
MERCY | Los Angeles, CA | November 23 | Fresno State | 36–6 | Bowling Green |
- Prior to the 1975 season, the Big Ten and AAWU (later Pac-8) conferences allowed only one postseason participant each, for the Rose Bowl.
Heisman Trophy voting
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
Player | School | Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
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Ernie Davis | Syracuse | HB | 179 | 103 | 81 | 824 |
Bob Ferguson |
Ohio State | FB | 122 | 156 | 93 | 771 |
Jimmy Saxton | Texas | HB | 81 | 105 | 98 | 551 |
Sandy Stephens | Minnesota | QB | 104 | 78 | 68 | 543 |
Pat Trammell | Alabama | QB | 76 | 45 | 44 | 362 |
Joe Romig | Colorado | G | 55 | 40 | 34 | 279 |
John Hadl | Kansas | QB | 33 | 25 | 23 | 172 |
Gary Collins | Maryland | E | 28 | 31 | 21 | 167 |
Roman Gabriel | NC State | QB | 23 | 27 | 32 | 155 |
Merlin Olsen | Utah State | DT | 13 | 19 | 16 | 93 |
See also
References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Faculty Nips Ohio State Roses In Bud," The Fresno Bee-Republican November 29, 1961, pD-1
- ^ "1961 Atlantic Coast Conference Year Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 22, 2013.
- ^ "Ernie Davis wins Heisman football poll". Chicago Tribune. UPI. November 29, 1961. p. 2, sec. 4.
- ^ "Ernie Davis". Heisman Trophy. 1961. Retrieved January 26, 2017.