1962 NCAA University Division football season
| 1962 NCAA University Division football season | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preseason AP No. 1 | Ohio State[1] | |
| Regular season | September 22 – December 1, 1962 | |
| Number of bowls | 10 | |
| Bowl games | December 15, 1962 – January 1, 1963 | |
| Champion(s) | USC (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF) | |
| Heisman | Terry Baker (quarterback, Oregon State) | |
| ||
The 1962 NCAA University Division football season was played by American football teams representing 140 colleges and universities recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as major programs. The remaining 370 colleges and universities that were NCAA members and fielded football teams competed in the 1962 NCAA College Division football season.[2]
During the 20th century, the
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 1962 consisted of the votes of 52 sportswriters, each of whom would give their opinion of the ten best teams. Under a point system of 10 points for first place, 9 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 10. The top teams played on New Year's Day in the four major postseason bowl games: the Rose (near Los Angeles at Pasadena), Sugar (New Orleans), Orange (Miami) and Cotton (Dallas
).
Rule changes
- Reduced the penalty for illegal shift from 15 to five yards.
- Allows punts downed inside the 10 yard line to be spotted where the punt is downed. Previously these punts were returned to the 20 yard line (touchback).
- Increased to 15 yards the penalty for the defense kicking a forward pass or a placekick held by an opponent.
Conference and program changes
Conference changes
- Four conferences began play in 1962:
- College Athletic Conference – an active NCAA Division III conference that ended sponsorship of football after the 2017 season; known as the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conferenceafter the 1991 season
- Gateway Conference– active through the 1974 season
- Skyline Conference (BYU, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming). The remaining members of the Border (Hardin–Simmons, New Mexico State, Texas Western, and West Texas State) and the Skyline (Colorado State, Montana, and Utah State) became independents. The only exception was Denver, who dropped its football program entirely.
- One conference upgraded to the NCAA University Division in 1962:
- Mid-American Conference – moved up from the College Division to the University Division beginning in 1962.[citation needed] The conference had been considered among the best in the college division. The previous year two MAC schools, Western Michigan and Bowling Green, were invited to bowl games. The conference produced college division national champions Ohio in 1960 and Bowling Green in 1959. In addition, Miami of Ohio finished second in the final 1958 College Division poll and was ranked in the final major AP and UPI polls in 1955.
Membership changes
| School | 1961 Conference | 1962 Conference |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona Wildcats | Border |
WAC |
| Arizona State Sun Devils | Border |
WAC |
| Austin Peay Governors | VSAC | Ohio Valley |
BYU Cougars |
Skyline Eight |
WAC |
| Colorado State Rams | Skyline Eight |
Independent |
| Denver Pioneers | Skyline Eight |
dropped program |
| Hardin–Simmons Cowboys | Border |
Independent |
| Montana Grizzlies | Skyline Eight |
Independent |
| New Mexico Lobos | Skyline Eight |
WAC |
| New Mexico State Aggies | Border |
Independent |
Texas Western Miners |
Border |
Independent |
Utes |
Skyline Eight |
WAC |
| Utah State Aggies | Skyline Eight |
Independent |
| Washington State Cougars | Independent | AAWU |
| West Texas State Buffaloes | Border |
Independent |
| Wyoming Cowboys | Skyline Eight |
WAC |
September
In the preseason poll released on September 17,
Penn State, which had beaten Navy at home 41–7, rose from 9th to 4th, while LSU remained at No. 5. Also on the 22nd, the first games of the newly formed Western Athletic Conference took place as Arizona beat BYU, 27–21, and New Mexico beat Wyoming 25–21. All six of the charter members (including Arizona State and Utah) had withdrawn by 1999.[4]
The following Friday, No. 1 Alabama beat Tulane in New Orleans, 44–6. On September 29,
No. 4 Penn State hosted Air Force, winning 20–6. In Baton Rouge, No. 5 LSU played Rice to a 6–6 tie, enough to knock it from the Top Ten. In the poll that followed, Ohio State was again No. 1, followed by No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Texas, and No. 4 Penn State. No. 8 Georgia Tech
, which had blanked Florida in Gainesville, 17–0, rose to 5th.
October
On October 6,
No. 7 Mississippi
defeated Houston 40–7. The next poll was No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Penn State, No. 4 USC, and No. 5 Mississippi.
October 13
No. 5 Mississippi were both idle. No. 6 LSU
improved its record to 3–0–1 with a 17–3 win against the visiting Miami Hurricanes. Though Alabama got more first place votes than Texas in the poll (24 vs. 21) the Longhorns had more points overall, and were the new No. 1. The results were No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 USC, No. 4 LSU, and No. 5 Mississippi.
On October 20, all five of the top teams remained unbeaten.
No. 8 Northwestern and No. 10 Wisconsin
reached the Top 5. Northwestern had beaten No. 6 Ohio State 18–14 at Columbus, while Wisconsin thrashed Iowa 42–14. The rankings were No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Northwestern, No. 4 USC, and No. 5 Wisconsin.
In the first weekend after the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis, week 7's games were played on October 27. 45 days after President Kennedy asked "Why does
No. 3 Northwestern defeated Notre Dame 35–6 at home. No. 4 USC won 28–16 over Illinois at Champaign, and No. 5 Wisconsin lost to Ohio State at Columbus, 14–7. The No. 6 LSU Tigers
shut out Florida 23–0 at home. The Northwestern Wildcats were voted into first place, followed by No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 USC, No. 4 LSU, and No. 5 Texas.
November
November 3
No. 7 Mississippi, which had been 0–2–1 against LSU and 27–0 against all other opponents in the last three regular seasons. No. 5 Texas
got past SMU at home, 6–0. The next poll was No. 1 Northwestern, No. 2 USC, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Mississippi, and No. 5 Texas.
November 10
No. 4 Mississippi defeated UT-Chattanooga 52–7, and No. 5 Texas
won at Baylor, 27–12. With the return of Wisconsin to the Top 5 and Northwestern dropping out, the poll was No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 USC, No. 3 Mississippi, No. 4 Wisconsin, and No. 5 Texas.
November 17
No. 8 Minnesota
defeated Purdue 7–6. The last two unbeaten and untied teams, USC and Mississippi, were first and second in the next poll, followed by No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Texas, and No. 5 Minnesota.
On Thanksgiving Day (the 22nd),
No. 5 Minnesota
, both 5–1–0 in Big Ten conference play. They met at Madison and the Badgers won on their home field, 14–9, to take the Big Ten title and the trip to the Rose Bowl. In the penultimate poll, USC retained the No. 1 spot, and Wisconsin was 2nd with an 8–1–0 record. Despite being unbeaten and untied, Mississippi placed third in the voting, followed by No. 4 Texas and No. 5 Alabama. The stage was set for a meeting of No. 1 and No. 2 at the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day, the first time in the 26-year history of the AP Poll that the top two teams would face off against each other in a bowl game.
December 1,
No. 5 Alabama beat Auburn 38–0 in the season-ender at Birmingham to close their season at 10–1–0 and second place. The Tide accepted a bid to face the Big 8 champions, No. 8 Oklahoma, in the Orange Bowl
. No. 7 LSU, the SEC's third-place finisher, filled the final major bowl slot by accepting a bid to the Cotton Bowl against Texas. The final AP poll, which determined the unofficial national championship, was released on December 3. USC finished first, followed by No. 2 Wisconsin, No. 3 Mississippi, No. 4 Texas, and No. 5 Alabama. The NCAA Football Guide recognized the University of Southern California as the 1962 champion as number one in both the AP poll and the UPI poll.
Conference standings
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Bowl games
The 1962–1963 Bowl Season is notable for the
AP Poll and the UPI Poll
, both singly and jointly. However, neither poll published rankings after the bowl games at this time, so USC was already the season-ending No. 1 and would remain so, regardless of the outcome of the game.
Major bowls
Tuesday, January 1, 1963
| Bowl | Winner | Score | Runner-up | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROSE | No. 1 USC Trojans | 42 | No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers | 37 |
| SUGAR | No. 3 Mississippi Rebels | 17 | No. 6 Arkansas Razorbacks | 13 |
| COTTON | No. 7 LSU Tigers | 13 | No. 4 Texas Longhorns | 0 |
| ORANGE | No. 5 Alabama Crimson Tide | 17 | No. 8 Oklahoma Sooners | 0 |
Other bowls
Games played in December 1962, rankings from Coaches Poll
| Bowl | Date | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SUN | December 31 | West Texas State Buffaloes | 15–14 | Ohio Bobcats |
| GATOR | December 29 | Florida Gators | 17–7 | No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions |
| TANGERINE | December 22 | Houston Cougars | 49–21 | Miami (OH) Redskins |
| BLUEBONNET | December 22 | No. 12 Missouri Tigers | 14–10 | No. 11 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets |
| LIBERTY | December 15 | No. 16 Oregon State Beavers | 6–0 | Villanova Wildcats |
| GOTHAM | December 15 | Nebraska Cornhuskers | 36–34 | No. 18 Miami (FL) Hurricanes |
Heisman Trophy voting
The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player
| Player | School | Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terry Baker | Oregon State | QB | 172 | 74 | 43 | 707 |
| Jerry Stovall | LSU | HB | 112 | 100 | 82 | 618 |
| Bobby Bell | Minnesota | OT | 56 | 95 | 71 | 429 |
| Lee Roy Jordan | Alabama | C/LB | 70 | 35 | 41 | 321 |
| George Mira | Miami (FL) | QB | 41 | 53 | 55 | 284 |
| Pat Richter | Wisconsin | E | 55 | 40 | 31 | 276 |
| George Saimes | Michigan State | FB | 48 | 36 | 38 | 254 |
| Billy Lothridge | Georgia Tech | QB | 24 | 35 | 20 | 162 |
| Ron Vander Kelen | Wisconsin | QB | 23 | 22 | 26 | 139 |
| Eldon Fortie | BYU | HB | 25 | 22 | 17 | 136 |
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) - ^ Tommy Devine (December 12, 1962). "Bowl Survey May Lead to Tighter Code". The Miami News. p. 32.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ ESPN Sports Almanac (2000), p187
- ^ "Baker wins Heisman Trophy". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. November 28, 1962. p. 1, sec. 4.
- ^ "Terry Baker". Heisman Trophy. 1962. Retrieved January 25, 2017.