1963 college football season 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 Football Guide , however , did note an " unofficial national champion " based on the top ranked teams in the " wire service " ( AP and UPI ) polls . The AP poll in 1963 consisted of the votes of 56 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 Bowl ( near Los Angeles at Pasadena ) , the Sugar Bowl ( New Orleans ) , the Orange Bowl ( Miami ) and the Cotton Bowl Classic ( Dallas ) . As the regular season progressed , a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend ' s games . The " writers ' poll " by Associated Press ( AP ) was the most popular , followed by the " coaches ' poll " by United Press International ( UPI ) . Both services issued their final polls at the close of the regular season , but before teams competed in bowl games . The Associated Press presented the " AP Trophy " to the winner . At the end of the 1963 season , the # 1 and # 2 teams ( Texas and Navy ) met in the Cotton Bowl Classic , with Texas winning 28 to 6 . In the preseason poll for 1963 , the University of Southern California Trojans ( USC ) , who had been the 1962 national champions , were # 1 with 484 points , followed by the University of Mississippi ( Ole Miss ) at # 2 with 389 points September . In the preseason poll released on September 16 , 1963 , the USC Trojans were # 1 , followed by Southeastern Conference ( SEC ) rivals , the Ole Miss Rebels ) and the Alabama Crimson Tide at # 2 and # 3 . The Oklahoma Sooners were # 4 and the Texas Longhorns were # 5 . On a Friday night game , # 5 Texas beat hapless Tulane 21 - 0 in New Orleans with the help of its " shoeless kicker " , Tony Crosby and halfback Phil Harris . September 21 , the next day # 1 USC shut out Colorado on a muddy field at Boulder , 14 - 0 , with the Trojans ' Pete Beathard running for two scores . # 2 Ole Miss was held to a scoreless tie at Memphis State , and the 0 - 0 result was enough to take the Rebels out of the poll . # 3 Alabama defeated Georgia at Athens 32 - 7 . After falling behind 14 - 0 at home , # 4 Oklahoma rallied to beat Clemson 31 - 14 . In the poll that followed , the results were 1 . USC 2 . Alabama 3 . Oklahoma 4 . Texas , with Navy moving from 9th to 5th on the strength of a 51 - 7 win at West Virginia . The following weekend would see the # 3 Sooners playing the # 1 Trojans at Los Angeles . On September 28 , # 1 USC was beaten at home at the Los Angeles Coliseum by # 3 Oklahoma , 17 - 12 , in a game played in 105° heat . Tulane , which had been shut out by Texas the weak before , went scoreless again in a 28 - 0 loss to # 2 Alabama . # 4 Texas defeated Texas Tech at home , 49 - 7 . # 5 Navy shut out William & Mary at Annapolis , 28 - 0 . In the poll , Oklahoma took over first place , Alabama stayed at second , Texas moved up to third . Big Ten rivals Northwestern ( winning 34 - 21 over Indiana ) and Wisconsin ( which beat Notre Dame 14 - 9 at South Bend ) moved into the 4th and 5th spots , respectively . October . Both # 1 Oklahoma and # 5 Wisconsin were idle on October 5 . # 3 Texas beat Oklahoma State at home , 34 - 7 . # 2 Alabama beat Vanderbilt in Nashville , 21 - 6 . # 4 Northwestern lost at Illinois , 10 - 9 , due to a missed extra point and a bad punt that went only five yards and set up the Illini ' s touchdown . Jim Plankenhorn connected on a point after and a field goal . When the poll was released the Sooners were # 1 and the Longhorns # 2 as the two teams prepared to meet in Dallas . Alabama fell to # 3 , Navy rose from 6th place to 4th and Wisconsin remained at # 5 . Three of the top five teams played at the Cotton Bowl stadium in Dallas the next weekend . In a Friday night game , # 5 Navy lost to Southern Methodist University ( SMU ) 32 - 28 . After Navy had gone ahead 28 - 26 in the final three minutes , a pass interference call set up the Mustangs ' touchdown . Roger Staubach drove his team to the 7 yard line with : 01 to play , but his pass attempt was batted down in the end zone by Tommy Caughren . Hours later on October 12 , at the same venue , the # 1 Oklahoma Sooners played against the # 2 Texas Longhorns before a crowd of 75 , 504 . Texas won the game 28 - 7 to take over the top ranking . Third - ranked Alabama lost on its home field to unranked Florida , 10 - 6 . Joe Namath scored for the Tide with 2 : 05 left , but tries for the 2 - point conversion and an onside kick both failed . # 5 Wisconsin hosted Purdue , winning 38 - 20 . A crowd of 101 , 450 watched Michigan and Michigan State play to a 7 - 7 tie in Ann Arbor . Texas and Wisconsin were ranked first and second in the next poll , followed by the University of Pittsburgh ( Pitt ) . Ohio State and Ole Miss , both with 2 - 0 - 1 records , were 4th and 5th . In Week Five ( October 19 , the top three teams managed narrow wins . Halfback Tommy Ford ran for two scores to help the # 1 Texas Longhorns beat Arkansas at Little Rock , 17 - 13 . # 2 Wisconsin won 10 - 7 at Iowa . Paul Krause of the Hawkeyes ' went for a win instead of a tie with 99 seconds left , and was stopped a foot short of a first down after a fake field goal attempt , and the # 3 Pitt Panthers came from behind to beat West Virginia , 13 - 10 . Previously unbeaten and # 4 Ohio State was crushed by USC at before 63 , 883 fans in Los Angeles , 32 - 3 . # 5 Ole Miss became the third Top Five team to shut out Tulane , 21 - 0 . Tulane would go scoreless in six games in 1963 and finish with a 1 - 8 - 1 record . Ohio State ' s Big Ten rival , Illinois ( which had beaten Minnesota 16 - 6 ) , replaced the Buckeyes at the # 4 spot in the next poll , which was 1 . Texas 2 . Wisconsin 3 . Pittsburgh 4 . Illinois 5 . Mississippi . Week Six began with a Friday night 18 - 12 come - from - behind win by # 4 Illinois over UCLA at Los Angeles . The next day , October 26 # 1 Texas beat Rice at home , 10 - 6 , as Tommy Nobis blocked an extra point , and shoeless Tony Crosby made a field goal . # 2 Wisconsin lost 13 - 10 to Ohio State at home , when Matt Snell drove over for a score with 2 : 13 left . Roger Staubach ' s passing and a defense that made four interceptions drove # 10 Navy to a 24 - 12 upset of # 3 Pittsburgh at Annapolis . # 5 Mississippi beat Vanderbilt 27 - 7 . Texas remained at # 1 in the next poll , followed by 2 . Illinois 3 . Mississippi 4 . Navy and , at the fifth spot , the Auburn Tigers . November . On November 2 , all of the top five teams won . # 1 Texas stayed unbeaten by defeating SMU at Dallas , 17 - 12 , as Crosby made his 21st consecutive point after . # 2 Illinois rolled over Purdue at home , 41 - 21 as Jim Grabowski scored three touchdowns and # 3 Mississippi overwhelmed LSU 37 - 3 at Baton Rouge . # 4 Navy handed Notre Dame its second straight loss on Staubach ' s passing , 35 - 14 in South Bend and # 5 Auburn won at home over Florida , 19 - 0 . The poll remained unchanged . November 9 , # 1 Texas won their eighth straight , 7 - 0 , by shutting down Baylor ' s passing game . Longhorns QB Duke Carlisle , playing on defense , intercepted Don Trull ' s end zone pass with 0 : 22 to play , then ran out the clock . Previously unbeaten , # 2 Illinois had an 8 - 7 lead with minutes left in a game at home against Michigan , when a fumble gave the Wolverines the ball 11 yards from goal , setting up Mel Anthony ' s winning score for a 14 - 8 upset . # 3 Mississippi shut out visiting Tampa , 41 - 0 , # 4 Navy mauled Maryland 42 - 7 at home , and # 5 Auburn fell 13 - 10 to Mississippi State at Jackson . Texas , the only major team to remain unbeaten , kept the # 1 spot , while the Navy Midshipmen rose to second , and Mississippi stayed at # 3 . Michigan State and Oklahoma were fourth and fifth . November 16 , # 1 Texas went to 9 - 0 - 0 , with a 17 - 0 home win over Texas Christian . # 2 Navy won 38 - 25 at Duke and # 3 Mississippi shutout Tennessee , 20 - 0 , at a game in Memphis . # 4 Michigan State was trailing Notre Dame 7 - 6 at home in the fourth quarter , but Sherm Lewis ran 85 yards from scrimmage to win the game , 12 - 7 . Both of the Spartan ' s 2 point attempts failed . # 5 Oklahoma won at Missouri 13 - 3 , but dropped out of the poll and were replaced by Pittsburgh ( which had trounced Army , 28 - 0 ) at the fifth spot . Texas , Navy , Ole Miss and Michigan State stayed at the top four spots . Most of the games that had been scheduled for November 23 , 1963 were postponed after the assassination of John F . Kennedy the day before . North Carolina State had played a night game against Wake Forest , winning 42 - 0 , on Friday the 22nd , and the Big Ten games were set to continue until Michigan Governor George Romney received a Saturday morning cancellation . The Pitt - Penn State game was postponed . The annual Oklahoma - Nebraska game , which would determine the Big Eight championship , was played as scheduled in Lincoln . Nebraska won 29 - 20 , finishing 7 - 0 in Big 8 play ahead of the 6 - 1 Sooners . The same day , Auburn beat Florida State 21 - 15 . The AP poll remained at 1 . Texas 2 . Navy 3 . Mississippi 4 . Michigan State and 5 . Pitt . On Thanksgiving Day , # 1 Texas traveled to College Station to face Texas A & M , and were down 13 - 9 with only minutes left in the game , when Tommy Wade ' s pass was picked off by A & M ' s John Bortheron . Bortheron fumbled , however , and Texas recovered on the 44 to continue the drive . Duke Carlisle scored the inning touchdown with 1 : 19 left , and the Longhorns won 15 - 13 to finish with a 10 - 0 - 0 record . # 4 Michigan State lost 13 - 0 at home to # 8 Illinois in a game that determined the Big Ten championship . The Illini , who had gone 0 - 9 - 0 two years earlier , finished 7 - 1 - 1 in 1963 . With a 5 - 1 - 1 record , Illinois earned a trip to the Rose Bowl , while the Spartans ' season ended with a 4 - 1 - 1 second place finish November 30 saw unbeaten # 3 Mississippi go for a field goal and a tie against Mississippi State , rather than to try for a touchdown from the 3 yard line on fourth down . Billy Carl Irwin ' s 20 yard field goal gave the Rebels a 10 - 10 result , sufficient to avoid embarrassment , an unbeaten 7 - 0 - 2 record , and the SEC championship . After the game , Ole Miss accepted an invitation to play against fellow SEC member Alabama in the Sugar Bowl . " Ole Miss . Ties Miss . State , " " The Post - Standard " ( Syracuse ) , Dec 1 , 1963 , p31 The # 5 Pittsburgh Panthers beat the Miami Hurricanes in Florida , 31 - 20 . In the subsequent poll Texas and Navy remained at # 1 and # 2 , Illinois was third , Pitt rose to fourth . The # 9 Auburn Tigers , who had beaten # 6 Alabama 10 - 8 at Birmingham , rose to fifth place . On December 7 , Pitt beat Penn State 22 - 21 . Also , # 2 Navy played in the annual Army – Navy Game in Philadelphia . American television viewers were introduced to instant replay after Army ' s quarterback Rollie Stichweh scored on a two yard run for the game ' s first score . CBS commentator Lindsey Nelson had to explain to the home audience that they were not watching Army score again , saying " Ladies and gentlemen , what you are seeing is a tape of Army ' s touchdown . This is not live . . . " . Staubach went on to lead Navy to a 21 - 15 win , after which the players then voted to accept an invitation to play # 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl Classic . In the final AP Poll , the top five remained unchanged , confirming a showdown between the # 1 and # 2 teams in Dallas . Conference standings . The following is an incomplete list of conference standings : Bowl games . Despite a 9 - 1 - 0 finish and a # 4 ranking , the Pitt Panthers were not invited to a post - season bowl game . The bowls , who feared inviting Pitt before their season finale against Penn State , signed other teams , leaving Pitt without a bowl invitation . The 1963 Panthers were perhaps the best team of the modern football era not to appear in a bowl . When they did beat Penn State , it was too late . The Sugar Bowl selected a second SEC team , 3rd place finisher Alabama , to face SEC champ Ole Miss , while 2nd place Auburn was picked by the Orange Bowl to meet Big 8 champion Nebraska . The Rose Bowl pitted Big Ten titlist Illinois against unranked Washington , which was 6 - 5 overall but which had won the AAWU crown by going 4 - 1 in conference play . In the Cotton Bowl Classic , the Longhorns ' Duke Carlisle guided Texas to a score six plays after kickoff and to a 21 - 0 lead by halftime . Navy ' s Roger Staubach saw a second defeat at Dallas ( after an earlier loss to SMU ) , but would go on to a remarkable career there in the NFL . Staubach ran two yards for a touchdown late in the game in the 28 - 6 loss . Navy Coach Wayne Hardin said after the game that there was " no team more deserving of being No . 1 than Texas . " Alabama won the Sugar Bowl 12 - 7 on four field goals by Tim Davis , including 46 and 48 yards . Auburn drove down to the 11 yard line with 90 seconds left , but Nebraska batted down Jimmy Sidle ' s 4th down pass attempt to preserve a 13 - 7 win . And after taking a 7 - 3 lead at halftime , on a touchdown by Dave Kopay , Washington fell to a comeback attempt led by Jim Grabowski and Dick Butkus in the Rose Bowl . Other bowls : Other champions . Many schools that are now in the NCAA ' s " Division I - A " or " Division I - AA " were ranked in the " small college poll " , taken by both the UPI ( coaches ) and AP ( a panel of writers ) . In 1963 , the UPI ranked the Blue Hens of the University of Delaware as # 1 . The N . I . U . Huskies of ( Northern Illinois University ) were # 2 in the UPI poll , and # 1 for the AP panel . In the NAIA championship game , the Camellia Bowl played in Sacramento on December 14 , the St . John ' s College ( of Minnesota ) Johnnies beat the Prairie View A & M University Panthers , 33 - 27 .