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Message: [QUOTE="SWC75, post: 4233691, member: 289"] 1965 [URL unfurl="true"]http://www.tiptop25.com/champ1965.html[/URL] [URL unfurl="true"]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1965_NCAA_University_Division_football_rankings[/URL] [URL unfurl="true"]http://www.tiptop25.com/fixing1965.html[/URL] Michigan State is my second most favorite college football program. Syracuse’s entire coaching staff moved over there after the 1946 season. Biggie Munn, who had bene an assistant under Ossie Solem before the war, wanted a serious upgrade in the SU program and didn’t get what he wanted. The Spartans agreed to upgrade their program and Munn and his staff, including SU grad Duffy Daugherty. Taking advantage of the administration support, Munn built the Spartans into a national power, winning 28 games in a row and the 1952 national championship and, after finally getting full membership in the Big 10, the 1954 Rose Bowl. Munn then retired to the athletic director’s chair and Duffy took over for him, winning the 1956 Rose Bowl and going 8-1 in 1957 and 7-2 in 1961 after being ranked #1 for several weeks. But overall, his results were up and down. in 1964, the Spartans, with a very young team, went 4-5. The next year they grew up with a vengeance, going 19-1-1 over the next two years, out-scoring their opponents by 556-175. Four more points and it could have been 21-0: Michigan State Football - Duffy's Giants (1965-1966): [MEDIA=youtube]EOrezWS7owQ[/MEDIA] Not only were the Spartans, as Vautravers points out, ahead of the curve in the integration of the game but it’s of special interest to current Syracuse fans that they were also out front in recruiting pacific islanders to come to some not very tropical locations to play football. The Spartans had taken a trip to Hawaii in the late 40s to play the local team and Munn and Daugherty had forged friendships with local coaches. It resulted in a recruiting pipeline that produced fullback Bob Apisa, kicker Dick Kenny and wideout Charlie Wedemeyer for the 1965-66 teams. The Spartans demonstrated their power by crushing Penn State 23-0, Michigan 24-7, Ohio State 32-7 and Notre Dame 12-3. Incredibly, the out-rushed Woody Hayes’ Buckeyes by an amazing 387 to -22. They also held Notre Dame’s second ranked rushing attack to 12- yards rushing and 12 total yards. In a scenario that would be duplicated a decade later but with Ohio State and UCLA, they beat the bruins 13-3 in their opening game but lost to them 12-14 in the Rose Bowl when a two-point conversion was stopped just in front of the goal line. They’d out-gained the Bruins 314-212 but had 5 turnovers and we stopped on fourth down three other times in Bruin territory. That’s football. But they’d beaten every team they’d played and no one else could say that in 1965. Two teams that came close were Arkansas and Nebraska. The Razorbacks had gone 11-0 in 1964 and are the proper team to view as the national champions that season. They kept rolling in 1965 and extended their winning streak to 22 straight games including 10-0 and 324-104 until they were upset by a 7-3 LSU team, 14-7, in the Cotton Bowl. I watched both that and the Rose Bowl and was rooting for Arkansas, (my Mom came from there), and the Spartans so it was a very frustrating day. Nebraska had rolled through the Big Eight, going 10-0, 321-90. Meanwhile Alabama had overcome two early disappointments, a 17-18 loss to Georgia on a controversial, (and bad) no call and a 7-7 tie to Tennessee to gain some momentum down the stretch, beating LSU 31-7, South Carolina 35-14 and Auburn 30-3. They kept that moment tum going against the Cornhusker sin the orange Bowl, taking a 24-7 halftime lead and building it up to 32-13 going into the fourth quarter before some late scores made it the final look like a shoot-out at 39-28. They outgained Nebraska 516-377, an absurd amount of yardage in a game between highly ranked teams in those days. ‘Bama was 9-1-1 but three points away from 11-0. To the coaches, (UPI), the national championship had already been decided. They still didn’t hold a poll after the bowls so Michigan State was already in the books as their national champion. But the AP decided, (as they had every right to do, since the national championship was ‘mythical’ anyway), decided for the first time to do a full-scale poll after the bowls. That poll voted Alabama #1, with Michigan State #2, Arkansas #3, 8-2-1 UCLA #4 and 10-1 Nebraska #5. I remember being surprised that there was a such a poll and that a 9-1-1 team got voted #1 over three 10-1 teams. Vautravers sort of agrees, although he downgrades Arkansas and Nebraska due to weak schedules. But the Spartans didn’t have a weaker schedule and performed more consistently well than Alabama so he has them at #1. Cotton Bowl: no highlight film available Rose Bowl: no highlight film available Orange Bowl: [URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS24hAX4biA&t=1s"]1966 Orange Bowl, #3 Nebraska vs #4 Alabama (Crimson Classics)[/URL] Reading Vautraver’s articles on this season, the inferiority of parsing schedules and margins of victory compared to settling things on the field in a playoff. The obvious one here is a four-teamer, with Michigan State being paired with Nebraska and Arkansas taking on Alabama. Michigan State vs. Nebraska Michigan State beat UCLA 13-3 who tied Missouri 14-14 who lost to Nebraska 14-16 = +8 for Michigan State Michigan State lost to UCLA 12-14 who lost to Tennessee 34-37 who tied Alabama 7-7 who beat Nebraska 39-28 = +6 for Michigan State Michigan State beat Purdue 14-10 who tied Southern Methodist 14-14 who lost to Texas Christian 7-10 who lost to Nebraska 14-34 = +19 for Nebraska Michigan State beat Notre Dame 12-3 who beat California 48-6 who beat Kansas 17-0 who lost to Iowa State 7-21 who lost to Nebraska 0-44 = +10 for Michigan State Michigan State beat Ohio State 32-7 who beat Wisconsin 20-10 who tied Colorado 0-0 who lost to Nebraska 13-38 = +10 for Michigan State Result: +15/5 = Michigan State wins by 3. Arkansas vs. Alabama Arkansas lost to Louisiana State 7-14 who lost to Alabama 7-31 = +31 for Alabama Arkansas beat Tulsa 20-12 who lost to Tennessee 6-27 who tied Alabama 7-7 = +13 for Alabama Arkansas beat Texas Tech 42-24 who lost to Georgia Tech 21-31 who lost o Georgia 7-17 who beat Alabama 18-17 = +1 for Alabama Arkansas beat Texas 27-24 who beat Tulane 31-0 who lost to Mississippi 7-24 who lost to Alabama 16-17 = +16 for Arkansas Arkansas beat Texas Christian 28-0 who lost to Nebraska 14-34 who lost to Alabama 28-39 = +3 for Alabama Result: +32/5 = Alabama wins by 6. Michigan State vs Alabama Michigan State beat UCLA 13-3 who tied Missouri 14-14 who lost to Nebraska 14-16 who lost to Alabama 28-39 = +3 for Alabama Michigan State lost to UCLA 12-14 who lost to Tennessee 34-37 who tied Alabama 7-7 = +5 for Alabama Michigan State beat Purdue 14-10 who beat Minnesota 35-0 who lost to Missouri 6-17 who lost to Kentucky 0-7 who beat Mississippi 16-7 who lost to Alabama 16-17 = +32 for Michigan State Michigan State beat Notre Dame 12-3 who tied U of Miami 0-0 who lost to Louisiana State 27-34 who lost to Alabama 7-31 = +21 for Alabama Michigan State beat Ohio State 32-7 who beat Michigan 9-7 who lost to Georgia 7-15 who beat Alabama 18-17 = +20 for Michigan State Result: +23/5 = Michigan State wins the national championship by 5 points. [/QUOTE]

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