1961 College football season - wikipedia 1961 College football season 1961 NCAA University Division football season Preseason AP # 1 Iowa Hawkeyes Regular season September 23 -- December 2, 1961 Number of bowls 11 Bowl games December 9, 1961 -- January 1, 1962 Champion Alabama Crimson Tide ( AP, Coaches, NFF ) Ohio State Buckeyes ( FWAA ) Heisman Ernie Davis, Syracuse HB ← 1960 College football seasons 1962 → 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 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 1961 consisted of the votes of 45 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 ). Contents 1 Conference and program changes 2 Progress of # 1 3 September 4 October 5 November 6 Conference standings 7 Bowl games 7.1 Major bowls 7.2 Other bowls 8 Heisman Trophy 9 Other champions 9.1 Small college poll 9.1. 1 Conference standings 9.2 NAIA 9.3 Minor conference champions 10 See also 11 References Conference and program changes School 1960 Conference 1961 Conference Denver Pioneers Mountain States dropped program Marquette Golden Avalanche Independent dropped program Progress of # 1 Week # 1 Team Event 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 the # 1, and its Big Ten rival Ohio State # 2. SEC teams Alabama and LSU were third and fifth, and Texas was fourth. Rounding out the top ten were 6. Michigan State 7. Penn State 8. Kansas 9. Mississippi and 10. Syracuse. 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, # 3 Alabama won 32 - 6 at Georgia and # 4 Texas won at California 28 - 3. In Houston, # 5 LSU fell to Rice 16 - 3. # 10 Syracuse, which had beaten Oregon State 19 - 8 in Portland, rose to fifth. In the poll that followed, Iowa remained # 1, followed by 2. Mississippi 3. Ohio State 4. Alabama and 5. Syracuse. Texas dropped to sixth place. September 30 California played a top - ranked team for the second straight week, losing at # 1 Iowa 28 - 7. # 2 Mississippi won 20 - 6 at Kentucky. Texas Christian University ( TCU ) tied # 3 Ohio State 7 - 7 at Columbus. In a game at Mobile, # 4 Alabama beat Tulane 9 - 0. # 5 Syracuse defeated visiting West Virginia 29 - 14, but fell out of the poll. # 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 # 1, followed by 2. Mississippi 3. Georgia Tech 4. Alabama and 5. Texas October October 7 # 1 Iowa won 35 - 34 at USC # 2 Mississippi won 33 - 0 against Florida State # 3 Georgia Tech lost to LSU 10 - 0 # 4 Alabama won 35 - 6 at Vanderbilt # 5 Texas routed Washington State 41 - 8 # 6 Michigan State # 7 Syracuse lost 22 - 21 to Maryland # 8 Ohio State beat UCLA 13 - 3 In the poll that followed, Mississippi took over first place from Iowa, which dropped to second. These were followed by 3. Alabama and 4. Texas and 5. Michigan State ( had beaten Stanford 31 - 3 ) October 14 # 1 Mississippi met the Houston Cougars at Memphis and won 47 - 7. # 2 Iowa beat Indiana 27 - 8 at home. # 3 Alabama beat North Carolina State 26 - 7 at Birmingham, and # 4 Texas played its annual game against Oklahoma at Dallas, winning 28 - 7. # 5 Michigan State won at Michigan, shutting out the Wolverines 28 - 0. On the next poll, Michigan State took the # 1 spot from Ole Miss by a margin of only two points ( 431 to 429 ), though the Rebels had more first place votes than the Spartans ( 21 vs. 16 ). They were followed by 3. Texas 4. Iowa and 5. Alabama. On October 21, # 1 Michigan State got by Notre Dame 17 - 7 at home, and # 2 Mississippi shut out Tulane in a game at Jackson, 41 - 0. # 3 Texas won at Arkansas, 33 - 7, # 4 Iowa hosted Wisconsin, winning 47 - 15, and # 5 Alabama defeated Tennessee at Birmingham, 34 - 3. The top three ( Michigan State, Ole Miss and Texas ) were unchanged, while Alabama and Iowa traded places at 4th and 5th. October 28 In a week of shutouts, # 1 Michigan State beat Indiana 35 - 0, and # 2 Mississippi had an even bigger blowout, 47 - 0, against Vanderbilt. # 3 Texas beat the visiting Rice Owls, 34 - 7, while # 4 Alabama won at Houston over the Cougars, 17 - 0. # 5 Iowa was on the wrong side of scoreless, losing 9 - 0 at Purdue. The top 4 stayed the same, while # 6 Ohio State, which had won at Wisconsin 30 - 21, took fifth place from Iowa, whom they would play the following Saturday. November November 4 # 1 Michigan State fell to unranked Minnesota, 13 - 0. At the same time, # 2 Mississippi lost to # 6 LSU 10 - 7 at Baton Rouge. The # 3 Texas Longhorns beat the SMU Mustangs at Dallas, 27 - 0. # 4 Alabama shut out Mississippi State 24 - 0. At Columbus, # 5 Ohio State beat # 9 Iowa 29 - 13. Texas, Alabama and Ohio State moved up from 3, 4 and 5 to 1st, 2nd and 3rd, and giant - killers LSU and Minnesota were 4th and 5th. Michigan State and Ole Miss fell to 6 and 7. November 11 # 1 Texas beat Baylor, 33 - 7. # 2 Alabama crushed the visiting Richmond Spiders ( which would be I - AA later ) 66 - 0 at home. # 3 Ohio State won 16 - 7 at Indiana, # 4 LSU won 30 - 0 at North Carolina, and # 5 Minnesota handed formerly first place Iowa its second straight loss, at home, 16 - 9. # 6 Michigan State, too, lost its second straight, falling 7 - 6 at Purdue. The Top Five remained unchanged. November 18 Texas Christian University had earlier tied Ohio State 6 - 6 in Columbus, and bested that with a win over # 1 Texas in Austin, 6 - 0. After the 6 - 0 loss, legendary Texas coach Darrell Royal uttered his immortal description of TCU : `` They 're like a bunch of cockroaches, '' Royal said. `` It 's not what they eat and tote off, it 's what they fall into and mess up that hurts. '' # 2 Alabama beat Georgia Tech in Birmingham, 10 - 0. # 3 Ohio State defeated visiting Oregon, 22 - 12, and # 4 LSU hosted Mississippi State and won 14 - 6 # 5 Minnesota defeated # 7 Purdue, 10 - 7, at home. Alabama ( 9 - 0 - 0 ) rose to # 1, with Ohio State ( 7 - 0 - 1 ) at # 2. Minnesota rose to # 3, LSU stayed at # 4 and Texas ( 8 - 1 - 0 ) fell from # 1 to # 5. Post-Thanksgiving ( November 25 ) # 1 Alabama was idle. # 2 Ohio State won at Michigan, 50 - 20. # 3 Minnesota narrowly lost to Wisconsin 23 - 21. # 4 LSU crushed visiting Tulane, 62 - 0, and # 5 Texas 25 - 0 over Texas A & M. Ole Miss, which was idle, returned to the Top Five. December 2, # 1 Alabama won its annual Birmingham game against the Auburn Tigers, 34 - 0, to close the season with a 10 - 0 - 0 record. # 5 Mississippi closed its season at 9 - 1 - 0 with a 37 - 7 win against Mississippi State. 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 separated the Tide from the Buckeyes ( 452 to 436 ). The final poll was : 1. Alabama 2. Ohio State 3. Texas 4. LSU 5. Mississippi 6. Minnesota 7. Colorado 8. Michigan State 9. Arkansas 10. Utah State 11. Missouri 12. Purdue 13. Georgia Tech 14. Syracuse 15. Rutgers 16. UCLA. Arizona, Penn State and Rice were tied for 17th place, followed by 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. ''. The University of Minnesota took the Buckeyes ' place at Pasadena. Conference standings 1961 AAWU football standings Conf Overall Team No. 16 UCLA $ -- -- 0 7 -- -- 0 USC -- -- -- 5 -- Washington -- -- 5 -- -- Stanford -- -- 0 -- 6 -- 0 California -- -- 0 -- 8 -- $ -- Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll 1961 ACC football standings Conf Overall Team No. 20 Duke $ 5 -- 7 -- North Carolina -- 5 -- 5 Maryland -- 7 -- Clemson -- 5 -- 5 NC State -- -- 6 South Carolina -- -- 6 Wake Forest -- -- 6 Virginia -- -- 6 $ -- Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll 1961 Big 8 football standings Conf Overall Team No. 7 Colorado $ 7 -- 0 -- 0 9 -- -- 0 No. 11 Missouri 5 -- -- 0 7 -- -- Kansas 5 -- -- 0 7 -- -- Oklahoma -- -- 0 5 -- 5 -- 0 Iowa State -- -- 0 5 -- 5 -- 0 Oklahoma State -- 5 -- 0 -- 6 -- 0 Nebraska -- 5 -- 0 -- 6 -- Kansas State 0 -- 7 -- 0 -- 8 -- 0 $ -- Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll 1961 Big Ten football standings Conf Overall Team No. 2 Ohio State $ 6 -- 0 -- 0 8 -- 0 -- No. 6 Minnesota 6 -- -- 0 8 -- -- 0 No. 8 Michigan State 5 -- -- 0 7 -- -- 0 No. 12 Purdue -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 Wisconsin -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 Michigan -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 Iowa -- -- 0 5 -- -- 0 Northwestern -- -- 0 -- 5 -- 0 Indiana 0 -- 6 -- 0 -- 7 -- 0 Illinois 0 -- 7 -- 0 0 -- 9 -- 0 $ -- Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll 1961 Border Conference football standings Conf Overall Team Arizona State § -- 0 -- 0 7 -- -- 0 West Texas State -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 New Mexico State -- -- 0 5 -- -- Texas Western -- -- 0 -- 7 -- 0 Hardin -- Simmons 0 -- -- 0 0 -- 10 -- 0 $ -- Conference champion 1961 IIAC football standings Conf Overall Team Southern Illinois $ 5 -- -- 0 7 -- -- 0 Northern Illinois State -- -- -- -- Central Michigan -- 5 -- 0 -- 8 -- 0 $ -- Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll 1961 NCAA University Division independents football records Conf Overall Team No. 15 Rutgers -- 9 -- 0 -- 0 No. 17 Arizona -- 8 -- -- Memphis State -- 8 -- -- 0 Mississippi Southern -- 8 -- -- 0 Villanova -- 8 -- -- 0 No. 17 Penn State -- 8 -- -- 0 No. 14 Syracuse -- 8 -- -- 0 Holy Cross -- 7 -- -- 0 Navy -- 7 -- -- 0 Miami ( FL ) -- 7 -- -- 0 Army -- 6 -- -- 0 San Jose State -- 6 -- -- 0 Xavier -- 6 -- -- 0 Colgate -- 5 -- -- 0 Detroit -- 5 -- -- 0 Pacific -- 5 -- -- 0 Houston -- 5 -- -- Notre Dame -- 5 -- 5 -- 0 Oregon State -- 5 -- 5 -- 0 Florida State -- -- 5 -- Boston University -- -- 5 -- 0 Boston College -- -- 6 -- 0 Oregon -- -- 6 -- 0 Air Force -- -- 7 -- 0 Pittsburgh -- -- 7 -- 0 Washington State -- -- 7 -- 0 Idaho -- -- 7 -- 0 Dayton -- -- 8 -- 0 Rankings from AP Poll 1961 Ivy League football standings Conf Overall Team Columbia + 6 -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 Harvard + 6 -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 Dartmouth 5 -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 Princeton 5 -- -- 0 5 -- -- 0 Yale -- -- 0 -- 5 -- 0 Cornell -- 5 -- 0 -- 6 -- 0 Penn -- 6 -- 0 -- 7 -- 0 Brown 0 -- 7 -- 0 0 -- 9 -- 0 + -- Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll 1961 Missouri Valley Conference football standings Conf Overall Team Wichita $ -- 0 -- 0 8 -- -- 0 North Texas State -- -- 0 5 -- -- Cincinnati -- -- 0 -- 7 -- 0 Tulsa -- -- 0 -- 8 -- 0 $ -- Conference champion 1961 MSC football standings Conf Overall Team Utah State + 5 -- 0 -- 9 -- -- Wyoming + 5 -- 0 -- 6 -- -- Utah -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 New Mexico -- -- 0 7 -- -- 0 Montana -- -- 0 -- 6 -- 0 BYU -- -- 0 -- 8 -- 0 Colorado State 0 -- 6 -- 0 0 -- 10 -- 0 + -- Conference co-champions Final season for conference Rankings from AP Poll 1961 SEC football standings Conf Overall Team No. 1 Alabama + 7 -- 0 -- 0 11 -- 0 -- 0 No. 4 LSU + 6 -- 0 -- 0 10 -- -- 0 No. 5 Ole Miss 5 -- -- 0 9 -- -- 0 No. 13 Georgia Tech -- -- 0 7 -- -- 0 Tennessee -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 Florida -- -- 0 -- 5 -- Auburn -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 Kentucky -- -- 0 5 -- 5 -- 0 Georgia -- 5 -- 0 -- 7 -- 0 Mississippi State -- 5 -- 0 5 -- 5 -- 0 Tulane -- 5 -- 0 -- 8 -- 0 Vanderbilt -- 6 -- 0 -- 8 -- 0 + -- Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll 1961 Southern Conference football standings Conf Overall Team The Citadel $ 5 -- -- 0 7 -- -- 0 Richmond 5 -- -- 0 5 -- 5 -- 0 VMI -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 West Virginia -- -- 0 -- 6 -- 0 Furman -- -- 0 7 -- -- 0 George Washington -- -- 0 -- 6 -- 0 VPI -- -- 0 -- 5 -- 0 Davidson -- -- 0 -- -- 0 William & Mary -- 6 -- 0 -- 9 -- 0 $ -- Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll 1961 Southwest Conference football standings Conf Overall Team No. 3 Texas + 6 -- -- 0 10 -- -- 0 No. 9 Arkansas + 6 -- -- 0 8 -- -- 0 No. 17 Rice 5 -- -- 0 7 -- -- 0 Texas A&M -- -- 0 -- 5 -- TCU -- -- -- 5 -- Baylor -- 5 -- 0 6 -- 5 -- 0 Texas Tech -- 5 -- 0 -- 6 -- 0 SMU -- 5 -- -- 7 -- + -- Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll Bowl games Major bowls Monday, January 1, 1962 Bowl SUGAR # 1 Alabama Crimson Tide 10 # 9 Arkansas Razorbacks COTTON # 3 Texas Longhorns 12 # 5 Mississippi Rebels 7 ORANGE # 4 LSU Tigers 25 # 7 Colorado Buffaloes 7 ROSE # 6 Minnesota Golden Gophers 21 # 16 UCLA Bruins Other bowls BOWL Location Date Winner Score Runner - up SUN El Paso, TX December 30 Villanova 17 -- 9 Wichita State GATOR Jacksonville, FL December 30 # 17 Penn State 30 -- 15 # 13 Georgia Tech TANGERINE Orlando, FL December 29 Lamar 21 -- 14 Middle Tennessee BLUEBONNET Houston, TX December 16 Kansas 33 -- 7 # 17 Rice LIBERTY Philadelphia, PA December 16 # 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 # 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. Ernie Davis, HB - Syracuse, 824 points Bob Ferguson, FB - Ohio State, 771 Jimmy Saxton, HB - Texas, 551 Sandy Stephens, QB - Minnesota, 543 Pat Trammell, QB - Alabama, 362 Joe Romig, G - Colorado, 279 John Hadl, QB - Kansas, 172 Gary Collins, WR - Maryland, 167 Roman Gabriel, QB - North Carolina State, 155 Merlin Olsen, DT - Utah State, 93 Source : Other champions Small College poll In 1961, both United Press International ( UPI ) and the Associated Press ( AP ) conducted `` small college '' polls. The number one selection of both wire services was the Pittsburg State Gorillas, who compiled a regular season record of 9 -- 0 while outscoring opponents 299 -- 25 and registering seven shutouts. The Gorillas would go on to win two NAIA postseason games and finished 11 -- 0 for the season. United Press International ( coaches ) final poll Published on November 22 Rank School Record No. 1 votes Total points Pittsburg State ( KS ) 9 -- 0 14 250 Baldwin Wallace 8 -- 0 179 Mississippi Southern 7 -- 2 163 Southeastern Louisiana 9 -- 1 148 5 Fresno State 9 -- 0 8 147 6 Florida A&M 8 -- 0 82 7 Wheaton 8 -- 0 68 8 Whittier 9 -- 0 59 9 Butler 9 -- 0 56 10 Northern Michigan 6 -- 2 55 Baldwin Wallace actually 9 -- 0 when the poll was taken. Associated Press ( writers ) final poll Published on November 22 Rank School Record No. 1 votes Total points Pittsburg State ( KS ) 9 -- 0 5 70 Baldwin Wallace 9 -- 0 60 Fresno State 9 -- 0 46 Florida A&M 8 -- 0 42 T5 Whittier 9 -- 0 34 T5 Lehigh 7 -- 2 34 7 Linfield 9 -- 0 26 8 Southeastern Louisiana 9 -- 1 21 9 Lenoir -- Rhyne 7 -- 1 -- 1 16 T10 Butler 9 -- 0 13 T10 Mississippi Southern 7 -- 2 13 Conference standings 1961 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf Overall Team # 3 AP / # 5 UPI Fresno State $ 5 -- 0 -- 0 10 -- 0 -- 0 Cal Poly -- -- 0 5 -- -- 0 San Diego State -- -- 7 -- -- Los Angeles State -- -- -- -- Long Beach State -- -- 0 5 -- 5 -- 0 UC Santa Barbara 0 -- 5 -- 0 -- 8 -- 0 $ -- Conference champion Rankings from College Division poll 1961 Far Western Conference football standings Conf Overall Team # 16 UPI Humboldt State + -- -- 0 8 -- -- 0 San Francisco St. + -- -- 0 8 -- -- 0 UC Davis -- -- 0 5 -- -- 0 Nevada -- -- 0 5 -- -- 0 Sacramento State -- -- 0 -- 5 -- 0 Chico State 0 -- 5 -- 0 -- 6 -- 0 + -- Conference co-champions Rankings from College Division poll 1961 Ohio Valley football standings Conf Overall Team Tennessee Tech $ 6 -- 0 -- 0 7 -- -- 0 Middle Tennessee State 5 -- -- 0 7 -- -- 0 Western Kentucky -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 Eastern Kentucky -- -- 0 -- 5 -- 0 Murray State -- -- 0 -- 6 -- 0 East Tennessee State -- 5 -- 0 -- 7 -- 0 Morehead State 0 -- 6 -- 0 -- 6 -- $ -- Conference champion Rankings from College Division poll 1961 SWAC football standings Conf Overall Team Jackson State $ 6 -- -- 0 9 -- -- 0 Grambling 5 -- -- 0 8 -- -- 0 Southern 5 -- -- 0 7 -- -- 0 Texas Southern 5 -- -- 0 6 -- -- 0 Prairie View A&M -- -- 0 5 -- -- Wiley -- -- -- -- Arkansas AM&N -- 5 -- -- 6 -- Texas College 0 -- 7 -- 0 0 -- 9 -- 0 $ -- Conference champion Rankings from College Division poll NAIA Main article : 1961 NAIA football season The Pittsburg State Gorillas competed in the NAIA playoffs, reached the Camellia Bowl championship game, and defeated Linfield College of Oregon, 12 -- 7. Minor conference champions This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. ( October 2016 ) Conference Champion ( s ) Record Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Albion 5 -- 0 -- 0 See also 1961 NCAA University Division football rankings 1961 College Football All - America Team References Jump up ^ http://www.appollarchive.com/football/ap/seasons.cfm?appollid=248 Jump up ^ `` Archived copy ''. Archived from the original on 2011 - 10 - 02. Retrieved 2009 - 01 - 11. Jump up ^ `` Faculty Nips Ohio State Roses In Bud, '' The Fresno Bee - Republican November 29, 1961, pD - 1 Jump up ^ `` 1961 Atlantic Coast Conference Year Summary ''. sports-reference.com. Retrieved January 22, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Ernie Davis wins Heisman football poll ''. Chicago Tribune. UPI. November 29, 1961. p. 2, sec. 4. Jump up ^ `` Ernie Davis ''. Heisman Trophy. 1961. Retrieved January 26, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Kansas Team Ranked First, '' Holland Evening Sentinel, November 24, 1961, p13 Jump up ^ `` Pittsburg Best in AP Poll, Too '' The Lima News, Nov. 22, 1961, p15 Jump up ^ http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/active/p/pittsburg_state/1960-1964_yearly_results.php Jump up ^ UPI ( November 22, 1961 ). `` Butler 9th Best Small College ''. The Indianapolis Star. Retrieved February 27, 2017 -- via newspapers.com. Jump up ^ AP ( November 19, 1961 ). `` Go, You Baldwin ''. Detroit Free Press. Retrieved February 27, 2017 -- via newspapers.com. Jump up ^ AP ( November 22, 1961 ). `` Pittsburg 1st in Final AP Small College Poll ''. Corpus Christi Caller - Times. Corpus Christi, Texas. Retrieved February 27, 2017 -- via newspapers.com. NCAA football seasons Pre-regulation 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 IAAUS / NCAA 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 NCAA University Division / Division I 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1976 1977 NCAA Division I-A / FBS 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 NCAA Division I - AA / FCS 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 NCAA Division II 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 NCAA Division III 1973 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1984 1985 1986 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1961_college_football_season&oldid=830462303 '' Categories : 1961 NCAA University Division football season Hidden categories : Articles to be expanded from October 2016 All articles to be expanded Articles using small message boxes Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 14 March 2018, at 23 : 56. 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Question: who won the 1961 college football national championship
Answer: ALABAMA