1958 college football season The 1958 college football season was the first to feature the two point conversion . On January 13 , 1958 , the 11 - man NCAA Rules Committee unanimously approved a resolution to allow teams to choose between kicking an extra point after a touchdown , or running or passing from the 3 yard line for 2 points . University of Michigan athletic director Fritz Crisler said at the meeting in Fort Lauderdale , " It ' s a progressive step which will make football more interesting for the spectators , " adding that the rule " will add drama to what has been the dullest , most stupid play in the game , " . Louisiana State University ( LSU ) , with a record of 10 - 0 - 0 , was crowned the national champion at the end of the regular season by both major polls . The Iowa Hawkeyes were crowned national champions by the Football Writers ' Association of America after the bowl games were played . During the 20th century , the NCAA had no playoff for the college football teams that would later be described 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 1958 consisted of the votes of as many as 203 sportswriters . Though not all writers voted in every poll , each would give their opinion of the twenty best teams . Under a point system of 20 points for first place , 19 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 20 . The top teams played on New Year ' s Day in the four major postseason bowl games : the Rose Bowl ( near Los Angeles at Pasadena ) , the Sugar Bowl ( New Orleans ) , the Orange Bowl ( Miami ) , and the Cotton Bowl ( Dallas ) . September . In the preseason poll released on September 15 , 1958 , the Buckeyes of Ohio State University were the first place choice for 46 of 99 writers casting votes , followed by Oklahoma , Notre Dame , Michigan State and 1957 ' s champion , Auburn . As the regular season progressed , a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend ' s games . Most teams did not begin play until September 27 . On September 13 , Kentucky beat Hawaii 51 - 0 in a game in Louisville , and attempted the 2 - point conversion , but without success One of the first successful 2 - point conversions in an NCAA game happened when Iowa State Teachers College hosted Bradley University at Cedar Falls , Iowa on September 13 . Max Huffman carried the ball over twice on conversion attempts to give the Panthers of Iowa Teachers a 29 - 12 win over the Braves . On September 20 , # 6 Mississippi and # 8 Texas Christian were among the winners , beating Memphis State ( 17 - 0 ) and Kansas ( 42 - 0 ) respectively , but the Top Five schools had not yet started play . The poll for the five 0 - 0 teams was 1 . Ohio State 2 . Oklahoma 3 . Auburn 4 . Michigan State and 5 . Notre Dame . September 27 # 1 Ohio State narrowly beat SMU at home , 23 - 20 , and fell to third in the next poll . # 2 Oklahoma , on the other hand , rolled over visiting West Virginia 47 - 14 , and rose to first place . # 3 Auburn beat Tennessee in Birmingham , 13 - 0 , and # 4 Michigan State beat California 32 - 12 . # 5 Notre Dame beat Indiana 18 - 0 , but fell to 7th , while # 8 Army , which beat South Carolina 45 - 8 , took the place of the Irish . The poll : 1 . Oklahoma 2 . Auburn 3 . Ohio State 4 . Michigan State 5 . Army October . October 4 # 1 Oklahoma got past visiting Oregon , 6 - 0 , and dropped to second . # 2 Auburn , which beat UT - Chattanooga 30 - 8 at home , moved up to the top spot . # 3 Ohio State beat Washington at home , 12 - 7 . # 4 Michigan State played Michigan to a 12 - 12 tie , and fell to 9th . # 5 Army beat Penn State 26 - 0 . # 7 Notre Dame , which beat SMU in Dallas , 14 - 6 , returned to the Top Five . Poll : 1 . Auburn 2 . Oklahoma 3 . Army 4 . Notre Dame 5 . Ohio State October 11 # 5 Ohio State won at Illinois , 19 - 13 # 1 Auburn won at Kentucky , 8 - 0 . # 2 Oklahoma sustained a 15 - 14 loss at Dallas in their annual meeting with the Texas Longhorns . In South Bend , Indiana , the visiting # 3 Army Cadets ( or Black Knights ) beat # 4 Notre Dame , 14 - 2 , and were voted # 1 in the next poll . # 6 Wisconsin , which beat Purdue 31 - 6 , and # 9 Michigan State , which beat Pittsburgh 22 - 8 , rose in the polls , to put Big Ten schools at # 3 , # 4 and # 5 . The poll : Poll : 1 . Army 2 . Auburn 3 . Ohio State 4 . Wisconsin 5 . Michigan State On October 18 at West Point , New York , # 1 Army beat Virginia 35 - 6 . # 2 Auburn tied with Georgia Tech 7 - 7 in Atlanta and fell in the polls . # 3 Ohio State beat Indiana 49 - 8 . # 4 Wisconsin lost to Iowa at home , 20 - 9 , and # 5 Michigan State began a five game losing streak with a 14 - 6 defeat at Purdue . The Spartans would finish the season with a 3 - 5 - 1 record after starting 2 - 0 - 1 . # 7 Texas ( 24 - 6 over Arkansas ) and # 9 LSU ( 32 - 7 over Kentucky ) rose in the polls . Poll : 1 . Army 2 . Ohio State 3 . LSU 4 . Texas 5 . Auburn October 25 For the top - ranked teams , a tie was only slightly better than a loss . # 1 Army played to a 14 - 14 tie against the Panthers at Pittsburgh , and # 2 Ohio State tied with Wisconsin at home 7 - 7 . # 3 LSU beat Florida 10 - 7 , and the win was enough to propel it to first place . # 4 Texas lost to the Rice Owls in Houston , 34 - 7 . # 5 Auburn beat Maryland at home , 20 - 7 . # 7 Iowa , which beat Northwestern 26 - 20 , rose to 2nd in the next poll . Poll : 1 . LSU 2 . Iowa 3 . Army 4 . Auburn 5 . Ohio State November . November 1 # 1 LSU beat Ole Miss 14 - 0 # 2 Iowa won at Michigan , 37 - 14 . # 3 Army crushed Colgate , 68 - 6 . # 4 Auburn won 6 - 5 at Florida . In Columbus , # 5 Ohio State was upset by visiting # 11 Northwestern , 21 - 0 . The next poll was : 1 . LSU 2 . Iowa 3 . Army 4 . Northwestern 5 . Auburn November 8 # 1 LSU beat Duke 50 - 18 . # 2 Iowa won at Minnesota 28 - 6 . # 3 Army beat the Rice Owls in Houston , 14 - 7 . # 4 Northwestern lost at Madison to # 7 Wisconsin , 17 - 13 . # 5 Auburn beat Mississippi State 33 - 14 at home . The next poll was : 1 . LSU 2 . Iowa 3 . Army 4 . Auburn 5 . Wisconsin November 15 # 1 LSU beat Mississippi State at Jackson 7 - 6 . # 2 Iowa lost at home to Ohio State 38 - 28 . # 3 Army beat Villanova 26 - 0 . # 4 Auburn met the Georgia Bulldogs halfway in Columbus , Georgia , and won 21 - 6 . # 5 Wisconsin . # 6 Oklahoma , which beat Missouri 39 - 0 , rose to 4th . The poll was : 1 . LSU 2 . Auburn 3 . Army 4 . Oklahoma 5 . Wisconsin November 22 In New Orleans , the # 1 LSU Tigers crushed Tulane 62 - 0 , to close their season with a 10 - 0 - 0 record . They would face the Clemson Tigers in the Sugar Bowl . Behind them , were the # 2 Auburn Tigers , who beat Wake Forest at home 21 - 7 . # 3 Army was idle as it prepared for the annual Army - Navy game . # 4 Oklahoma crushed Nebraska 40 - 7 . # 5 Wisconsin beat Minnesota to close its season at 6 - 1 - 1 . # 6 Iowa , which beat Notre Dame 31 - 21 , returned to the Top 5 . 1 . LSU 2 . Auburn 3 . Oklahoma 4 . Iowa 5 . Army On November 29 # 2 Auburn defeated Alabama 14 - 8 in Birmingham to finish its season at 9 - 0 - 1 . # 3 Oklahoma won at Oklahoma State 7 - 0 . In Philadelphia , # 5 Army beat Navy , 22 - 6 , to finish its season 8 - 0 - 1 . The final AP Poll was released on December 1 , and the # 1 LSU Tigers , at 10 - 0 - 0 , won the AP Trophy with 130 of the first place votes . The other 73 votes were spread among 12 schools , including Rose Bowl bound # 2 Iowa ( 17 ) , # 3 Army ( 13 ) , # 4 Auburn ( 9 ) , # 5 Oklahoma ( 10 ) , # 6 Air Force ( 2 ) , # 7 Wisconsin ( 13 ) , # 8 Ohio State ( 3 ) , and # 9 Syracuse Orangemen . The United States Air Force Academy football team , nicknamed the Falcons , had a 9 - 0 - 1 record in only their second year of playing college football , and accepted a bid to face Texas Christian University in the Cotton Bowl . Conference standings . The following is an incomplete list of conference standings : Bowl games . Other bowls : Notably , the Tangerine Bowl initially extended a bid to Buffalo . However , when the bowl organizers told the school that its two black players would not be allowed to play , the team unanimously voted to turn down the bid . The Bulls would not appear in a bowl game until the 2008 season . Final AP Poll . Final Poll Released on 12 / 2 / 58 Final Coaches Poll . Final Poll Released on 12 / 2 / 58 Other Champions . The UPI conducted a " small college " coaches ' poll . In 1958 , the first year for the poll , Mississippi Southern ( now USM ) , which had beaten N . C . State and Virginia Tech en route to a 9 - 0 - 0 record , was # 1 from start to finish , followed by # 2 Miami University ( Oxford , Ohio ) , # 3 Arizona State College ( Flagstaff ) , # 4 Northeastern ( Oklahoma ) , and # 5 East Texas State . . The third annual NAIA championship game , held in St . Petersburg , Florida , and called the " Holiday Bowl " , pitted the # 4 Northeastern State Redmen against the Lumberjacks of # 3 Arizona State College ( Flagstaff ) ( now Northern Arizona University ) . Northeastern won , 19 - 13 .