1965 college football season

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 "writers' poll" by Associated Press (AP) was the most popular, followed by the "coaches' poll" by United Press International) (UPI). Prior to 1965, both services issued their final polls at the close of the regular season, but before teams competed in bowl games. For the 1965 season, the AP took its final poll after the postseason games, an arrangement made permanent in 1968. The Associated Press presented the "AP Trophy" to the winner.

The AP poll in 1965 consisted of the votes of 55 sportswriters, each of whom would give their opinion of the ten best teams. Under a point system of ten points for first place, nine for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined. In the preseason poll for 1965, the writers cast first place votes for nine different teams, and the range of points between the highest six finishers ranged from 252 to 311 points. Nebraska was first, followed by Texas, Notre Dame, Michigan, Alabama, and Arkansas.^[2] As the regular season progressed, new polls were issued weekly on Mondays.

At season's end, Michigan State, Arkansas, and Nebraska were all unbeaten at 10–0. As champions of their respective conferences (Big Ten, Southwest, and Big Eight), they played in three separate bowl games (Rose, Cotton, and Orange) on New Year's Day. Arkansas and Michigan State lost during the day, and Alabama defeated Nebraska at night in Miami. In the final poll, taken after the bowls, Alabama was crowned the national champion by the Associated Press. The Crimson Tide had been first in both final polls at the end of the 1964 regular season and crowned as national champions, but lost the Orange Bowl.

In addition to 1964 and 1965, the UPI national champions in 1970 and 1973 also lost their respective bowl games. Beginning with the 1974 season, the UPI released its final poll after the bowls.

Rule changes

• Free substitution is now permitted only on changes of possession, which brought back the two-platoon system to college football.
• A two-inch (5 cm) kicking tee was allowed for kickoffs; this was reduced to one-inch (2½ cm) in 2006.

Conference and program changes

• The New England Football Conference, now a Division III conference, began football play in 1965.

The AP Regular Season Poll

In the preseason poll released on September 13, the top five teams were from different conferences. First place was the Nebraska Cornhuskers (Big 8) followed by Texas (Southwest), independent Notre Dame, Michigan of the Big Ten and Alabama from the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Arkansas, the SWC rival to Texas, was #6, followed by USC from the AAWU (later Pacific-8, Pac-10, and now Pac-12).

September

In Week One (September 18) Alabama and USC both fell out of the Top Ten. USC played Minnesota to a 20–20 tie on a Friday night game in Los Angeles while #5 Alabama narrowly lost to Georgia, 18–17. #1 Nebraska beat Texas Christian (TCU) at home, 34–14. #2 Texas shut out Tulane 31–0 in a game which was shifted from New Orleans to Austin due to the devastation of Hurricane Betsy across the Crescent City. #3 Notre Dame crushed California 48–6 at Berkeley, and #4 Michigan won 31–24 at North Carolina. Following the 48–6 win, Notre Dame rose to #1 in the next poll, Nebraska and Texas fell to 2nd and 3rd, Michigan stayed at fourth and Arkansas (which had beaten Oklahoma State 28–14) was fifth. Michigan State defeated UCLA 13–3 at East Lansing and was seventh.

On September 25, #1 Notre Dame stayed in Indiana as it lost to #6 Purdue 25–21 at West Lafayette. #2 Nebraska won 27–17 over Air Force in Colorado Springs, and #3 Texas beat Texas Tech 33–7. #4 Michigan barely won over unranked California 10–7 and #5 Arkansas 20–12 defeated Tulsa. In next poll, Texas, Purdue and Nebraska had had 15, 14 and 13 first place votes in a tight race for #1, #2 and #3. Arkansas rose to fourth, while the LSU Tigers, coming from a 42–14 win over Rice, placed fifth. Michigan State rose to sixth, while Michigan and Notre Dame fell to seventh and eighth place respectively.

October

October 2, #1 Texas hosted Indiana and won 27–12; Purdue played SMU to a 14–14 tie in Dallas. #3 Nebraska shut out Iowa State 44–0, while #4 Arkansas blanked TCU 28–0. In an SEC matchup at Gainesville, visiting #5 LSU fell to the Florida Gators 14–7. #10 Georgia beat #7 Michigan 15–7 in Ann Arbor and climbed into the top five, while Michigan State beat Illinois at home, 22–12. The next poll was 1.Texas 2.Nebraska 3.Arkansas 4.Georgia and 5.Michigan State

In October 9 play, all five of the top teams remained unbeaten. #1 Texas shut out Oklahoma, 19–0 at Dallas. #2 Nebraska held visiting Wisconsin scoreless 37–0. #3 Arkansas won at Baylor 38–7 and #4 Georgia beat Clemson at home, 23–9. #5 Michigan State followed Georgia's visit to Ann Arbor with one of its own, beating Michigan 24–7. The Spartans and Bulldogs traded places in the next poll, which was 1.Texas 2.Nebraska 3.Arkansas 4.Michigan State 5.Georgia

On October 16 the #1 Texas met the #3 Arkansas at Fayetteville in a Southwest Conference matchup between the two 4–0 teams and Arkansas won, 27–24. Meanwhile, #2 Nebraska recorded its third straight shutout, a 41–0 win at Kansas State. In a game that ultimately decided the Big Ten title, #4 Michigan State beat Ohio State 32–7, and #5 Georgia lost 10–3 to Florida State at Tallahassee. Arkansas was the new #1 in the poll that followed, followed by Michigan State and Nebraska. The USC Trojans, who had beaten Stanford 14–0 and remained unbeaten (4–0–1) were #4 while Texas dropped from first to fifth.

October 23: The #1 Arkansas defeated North Texas State 55–20 at Little Rock, #2 Michigan State won 14–10 at Purdue, and #3 Nebraska beat Colorado 38-13. #4 USC fell 28–7 to #7 Notre Dame at South Bend, and #5 Texas lost its second straight game, falling 20–17 to Rice. After its 4–0 start, the Longhorns finished the season at 6–4. In the next poll, Michigan State received fewer first place votes than Arkansas, but had seven more points overall, 473–466, while Nebraska was third. The three teams were the last to remain unbeaten, all with 6–0 records. Notre Dame was fourth, and LSU, 5–1 after beating South Carolina 21–7, rose from ninth to fifth.

October 30 #1 Michigan State overwhelmed Northwestern 49–7 at home in East Lansing. Playing in Little Rock, #2 Arkansas shut out Texas A&M 31–0. #3 Nebraska won a close one, 16–14, at Missouri and #4 Notre Dame won 29–3 over Navy. #5 LSU was shut out at home by Mississippi, 23–0. Meanwhile, #10 Alabama beat Mississippi State 10–7 at Jackson to take LSU's place at #5. The top four stayed the same: 1.Michigan State 2.Arkansas 3.Nebraska 4.Notre Dame 5.Alabama.

November

On November 6, #1 Michigan State won 35–0 win at Iowa, #2 Arkansas won 31–0 at Rice, and #3 Nebraska won 42–6 over Kansas. All three remained unbeaten, with 8–0 records. #4 Notre Dame rolled over host Pittsburgh 69–13, and #5 Alabama won 31–7 at LSU to take the SEC title.

November 13 The top three extended their records to 9–0. #1 Michigan State beat Indiana 27–13 to guarantee itself the Big Ten title and the trip to Pasadena. #2 Arkansas beat SMU 24–3 at Dallas, with only one game left in SWC play, a match against second place Texas Tech. #3 Nebraska had a surprisingly difficult game against 1–6 Oklahoma State, winning 21–17 at Stillwater. #4 Notre Dame shut out visiting North Carolina, 17–0, and #5 Alabama beat South Carolina 35–14 at home.

November 20: With its Big Ten title assured, #1 Michigan State visited its most difficult opponent yet, #4 Notre Dame, with hopes of finishing its season unbeaten. The Spartans won, 12–3. Though unbeaten, #2 Arkansas was only a game ahead of SWC rival Texas Tech (6–0 vs. 5–1) in conference play. The two met at Arkansas, and the Razorbacks beat the Red Raiders 42–24 to get a spot in the Cotton Bowl. In Los Angeles, #7 UCLA beat #6 USC 20–16 to win the AAWU (Pac-8) title and the right to meet Michigan State in the Rose Bowl. Unranked LSU destroyed Tulane 62–0 (the third time in the past eight meetings the Tigers defeated the Green Wave by that score) and earned the berth in the Cotton Bowl opposite Arkansas.

Thanksgiving Day, #3 Nebraska beat Oklahoma at home in Lincoln, 21–9 to gain the Big 8 title and the Orange Bowl spot. #5 Alabama and Auburn University both met in their annual season closer at Birmingham on Saturday and the Crimson Tide beat the Tigers 30–3.

On the following December 4 #4 UCLA lost to Tennessee 37–34 in a game marred by a questionable pass interference call and the clock stopping for no apparent reason during Tennessee's last minute drive. The next AP poll was 1.Michigan State 2.Arkansas 3.Nebraska 4.Alabama and 5.Tennessee. For the first time, the Associated Press made plans to take its final poll after the bowl games, as its top six teams were all playing on New Year's Day.

Conference standings

Bowl games

Heisman Trophy

1. Mike Garrett, RB - USC, 926 points
2. Howard Twilley, WR - Tulsa, 528
3. Jim Grabowski, RB - Illinois, 481
4. Donny Anderson, RB-P - Texas Tech, 408
5. Floyd Little, RB - Syracuse, 287
6. Steve Juday, QB - Michigan State, 281
7. Tommy Nobis, LB - Texas, 205
8. Bob Griese, QB - Purdue, 193
9. Steve Spurrier, QB - Florida, 93
10. Steve Sloan, QB - Alabama, 92

• Little, Griese, and Spurrier were juniors

Source:^[9][10]

Other champions

College Division

Prior to 1973, the NCAA was divided into two divisions, University and College. College Division teams (also referred to as "small college") were ranked in polls by the AP (a panel of writers) and by UPI (coaches). The national champion(s) for each season were determined by the final poll rankings, published at or near the end of the regular season, before any bowl games were played.

College Division final polls

In 1965, both services ranked the North Dakota State Bison (10–0) first; the UPI coaches' poll had Los Angeles State (8–1) second, while the AP poll had Middle Tennessee State (9–0) as the number two team.^[11] North Dakota State later beat Grambling, 20–7 in the Pecan Bowl in Abilene, Texas.^[12][13]

Associated Press (writers) final poll Published on November 26[14] Rank School Record No. 1 votes Total points 1 North Dakota State 10–0 4 84 2 Middle Tennessee St. 9–0 2 68 3 Sul Ross 10–0 1 43 4 Los Angeles State 8–1 35 5 Tennessee State 8–0 32 6 Northern Illinois 9–0 30 7 Maine 8–1 30 8 East Carolina 8–1 1 27 9 St. John's (Minn.) 9–0 20 10 East Stroudsburg 9–0 19 Denotes team won a game after AP poll, hence record differs in UPI poll

United Press International (coaches) final poll Published on December 5[15] Rank School Record No. 1 votes Total points 1 North Dakota State 10–0 21 301 2 Los Angeles State 8–1 2 224 3 Middle Tennessee St. 10–0 3 209 4 East Carolina 8–1 1 187 5 Weber State 8–1 3 117 6 Maine 8–1 116 7 Northern Illinois 9–0 104 8 North Dakota 8–1 1 97 9 Long Beach State 9–1 76 10 Sul Ross 10–0 73

College Division bowls

The postseason consisted of four bowls as regional finals, played on December 11.

Bowl	Region	Location	Winning team		Losing team		Ref
Tangerine	East	Orlando, FL	East Carolina	31	Maine	0	[16]
Grantland Rice	Mideast	Murfreesboro, TN	Tennessee State 14, Ball State (IN) 14				[17]
Pecan	Midwest	Abilene, TX	North Dakota State	20	Grambling (LA)	7	[18]
Camellia	West	Sacramento, CA	Los Angeles State	18	UC Santa Barbara	10	[19]

Conference standings

1965 Big Sky football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Weber State + 3 – 1 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Idaho + 3 – 1 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Montana 2 – 2 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Idaho State 1 – 3 – 0     3 – 5 – 1 Montana State 1 – 3 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 + – Conference co-champions No Big Sky teams advanced to postseason	1965 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #4 AP / #2 UPI Cal St Los Angeles $ 5 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 #9 UPI Cal State Long Beach 4 – 1 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 San Diego State 3 – 2 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Fresno State 1 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Cal Poly 1 – 4 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 Valley State 0 – 4 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from College Division poll	1965 Far Western Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T San Francisco St. $ 5 – 0 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Nevada 4 – 1 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 UC Davis 3 – 2 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Humboldt State 2 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Sacramento State 1 – 4 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Chico State 0 – 5 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Cal State Hayward 0 – 0 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion Games vs. Cal State Hayward did not count as conference games in 1965 Rankings from College Division poll
1965 Ohio Valley football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #2 AP / #3 UPI Middle Tennessee State $ 7 – 0 – 0     10 – 0 – 0 Austin Peay 6 – 1 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Eastern Kentucky 4 – 2 – 1     4 – 4 – 1 Morehead State 3 – 4 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Tennessee Tech 3 – 4 – 0     3 – 7 – 0 Murray State 1 – 4 – 2     2 – 6 – 2 Western Kentucky 1 – 5 – 1     2 – 6 – 2 East Tennessee State 1 – 6 – 0     2 – 6 – 1 $ – Conference champion Rankings from College Division poll	1965 SWAC football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #13 UPI Grambling $^ 6 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Southern 4 – 2 – 1     5 – 4 – 1 Texas Southern 4 – 2 – 1     5 – 4 – 1 Jackson State 3 – 3 – 1     5 – 3 – 1 Prairie View A&M 3 – 3 – 1     5 – 3 – 1 Arkansas AM&N 3 – 3 – 1     3 – 5 – 1 Alcorn A&M 2 – 4 – 1     3 – 5 – 1 Wiley 0 – 7 – 0     1 – 7 – 0 $ – Conference champion ^ – College Division playoff participant Rankings from College Division poll

See also

• 1965 NCAA University Division football rankings
• 1965 College Football All-America Team

References