1964 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 cites national champions based on the final results of ' " wire service ' " ( AP and UPI ) polls . The AP poll in 1964 consisted of the votes of 55 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 . In the preseason poll for 1964 , Ole Miss ( University of Mississippi ) was # 1 with 425 points and the Oklahoma Sooners second with 400 points . 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 . The Associated Press presented the AP Trophy to the Alabama Crimson Tide due to their 10 - 0 - 0 regular season record and their # 1 finish in the AP poll . The University of Arkansas also had a 10 - 0 - 0 regular season in 1964 , but finished # 2 in the final AP poll . On New Year ' s Day , the Crimson Tide lost to the # 5 ranked Texas Longhorns in the Orange Bowl , to finish the season with a 10 - 1 record , and the Arkansas Razorbacks defeated the 7th ranked University of Nebraska 10 - 7 in the Cotton Bowl Classic . Since there were no further polls , Alabama ' s national championship was unaffected , despite Arkansas ' undefeated , untied season . The Arkansas Razorbacks also did not win the UPI Poll in 1964 because it too named its national champion before the bowl games were played . After a one - year trial run in 1965 , the AP Poll in 1968 began the still on - going practice of naming their national champion at the conclusion of the bowl games . The UPI Poll followed suit in 1974 . September . In the preseason poll released on September 14 , 1964 , Mississippi ( Ole Miss ) was ranked first and Oklahoma second . Big Ten rivals Illinois and Ohio State were ranked # 3 and # 5 respectively , while 1963 champion Texas was # 4 . On September 19 , # 1 Mississippi beat Memphis State 30 - 0 at home , while # 2 Oklahoma beat Maryland 13 - 3 on the road at College Park . # 4 Texas defeated Tulane 31 - 0 at home . The following week ( September 26 ) , # 1 Mississippi was upset by a late Kentucky touchdown at Jackson , losing 27 - 21 . # 2 Oklahoma was crushed by Southern California ( USC ) , 40 - 14 , before a record home crowd . # 3 Illinois beat California at Berkeley 20 - 14 , and # 4 Texas defeated Texas Tech 23 - 0 . # 5 Ohio State defeated Southern Methodist ( SMU ) at home , 27 - 8 . In the poll that followed , the Texas were the new # 1 and USC # 2 , followed by 3 . Illinois 4 . Alabama and 5 . Ohio State . October . On October 3 , # 1 Texas beat Army 17 - 6 at home . Meanwhile , # 2 USC lost at Michigan State , 17 - 7 and # 3 Illinois won 17 - 6 over Northwestern . # 3 Alabama beat Tulane in a neutral site game at Mobile , 36 - 6 . # 5 Ohio State beat Indiana at home , 17 - 9 . Previously unranked Kentucky earned a spot in the next poll after beating Auburn 20 - 0 in Birmingham . The top 5 were 1 . Texas 2 . Illinois 3 . Alabama 4 . Ohio State and 5 . Kentucky . Top - ranked Texas beat Oklahoma 28 - 7 at Dallas on October 10 . In a Big 10 showdown at Champaign , Illinois , # 4 Ohio State beat the # 2 Illini 26 - 0 . # 3 Alabama beat North Carolina State 21 - 0 . # 5 Kentucky , previously 3 - 0 , was beaten 48 - 6 by Florida State . This began a four - game losing streak for Kentucky , en route to a 5 - 5 - 0 season . # 8 Michigan won at Michigan State 17 - 10 . The top 5 were 1 . Texas 2 . Ohio State 3 . Alabama 4 . Notre Dame and 5 . Michigan . On October 17 , # 8 Arkansas beat the # 1 Longhorns at Austin , 14 - 13 . # 2 Ohio State beat the USC Trojans in Columbus , 17 - 0 . # 3 Alabama and # 4 Notre Dame remained unbeaten , defeating Tennessee ( 19 - 8 ) and UCLA ( 24 - 0 ) respectively . # 5 Michigan lost to Purdue 21 - 20 . Ohio State was the new # 1 . The # 6 Nebraska , which had beaten Kansas State 47 - 0 ( and outscored its opponents 171 - 34 in five wins ) , took over 5th place . The rankings were 1 . Ohio State 2 . Notre Dame 3 . Alabama 4 . Arkansas 5 . Nebraska . October 24 had # 1 Ohio State over Wisconsin at home , 28 - 3 . # 2 Notre Dame beat Stanford 26 - 7 , # 3 Alabama beat Florida 17 - 14 . # 4 Arkansas beat Wichita State 17 - 0 , and # 5 Nebraska beat Colorado 21 - 3 . The top five remained the same in the next poll . October 31 , # 1 Ohio State beat Iowa 21 - 19 , while # 2 Notre Dame defeated Navy 40 - 0 . In the next poll , the Fighting Irish rose to # 1 . # 3 Alabama ( 23 - 6 over Ole Miss ) , # 4 Arkansas ( 17 - 0 over Texas A & M ) and # 5 Nebraska ( 9 - 0 over Missouri ) remained unbeaten . November . November 7 , # 1 Notre Dame beat the Pitt Panthers at Pittsburgh 17 - 15 . Meanwhile , # 2 Ohio State ' s suffered its first loss to unranked ( 3 - 4 - 0 ) Penn State , 27 - 0 . # 3 Alabama ( 17 - 9 over LSU ) , # 4 Arkansas ( 21 - 0 vs . Rice ) and # 5 Nebraska ( 14 - 7 over Kansas ) stayed unbeaten , and moved up to 2 , 3 and 4 in the poll . Texas ( 7 - 1 ) , whose lone loss had been to Arkansas , was fifth after its 20 - 14 win at Baylor . November 14 , # 1 Notre Dame hosted Michigan State and beat them 34 - 7 . # 2 Alabama beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta , 14 - 7 , to stay unbeaten , as did # 3 Arkansas ( 44 - 0 over SMU ) and # 4 Nebraska ( 27 - 14 vs . Oklahoma State ) . # 5 Texas won 28 - 13 over TCU . The poll remained unchanged ( 1 . Notre Dame 2 . Alabama 3 . Arkansas 4 . Nebraska 5 . Texas ) November 21 , # 1 Notre Dame beat Iowa in South Bend , 28 - 0 . # 3 Arkansas beat Texas Tech 17 - 0 to close its regular season unbeaten ( 10 - 0 - 0 ) . # 4 Nebraska suffered its first loss , at Oklahoma , 17 - 7 . Michigan defeated Ohio State 10 - 7 to win the Big 10 Title and a berth in the Rose Bowl . In the November 23 AP poll , unbeaten Notre Dame , Alabama and Arkansas were first , second and third , followed by Texas and Michigan . Thanksgiving Day saw # 2 Alabama finish the regular season unbeaten ( 10 - 0 - 0 ) with a 21 - 14 win over Auburn in Birmingham . # 5 Texas beat Texas A & M 26 - 7 to finish 10 - 1 . On November 28 , # 1 Notre Dame led 17 - 0 at halftime but lost , 20 - 17 , to USC at Los Angeles . With only Alabama and Arkansas remaining unbeaten , both with records of 10 - 0 - 0 , the final AP poll was taken on November 30 . Alabama took over the # 1 spot and recognition as the NCAA national champion . Arkansas was ranked # 2 , while Texas rose to 3rd . Notre Dame dropped to 4th and Michigan was 5th . Alabama won the SEC championship , but a " no repeat rule " prevented them from playing in the Sugar Bowl for a second straight year . The Orange Bowl invited Alabama and Texas on November 21 . The Cotton Bowl Classic had invited then - unbeaten Nebraska on November 15 to play unbeaten Southwestern Conference champion Arkansas . As such , there would be no # 1 vs . # 2 matchup in the Cotton Bowl Classic . Notre Dame declined to play in a bowl game . The Irish would not play in any bowl games until the 1969 season . Conference standings . The following is an incomplete list of conference standings : Bowl games . In the Orange Bowl , # 1 Alabama , led by quarterback Joe Namath , fell to # 5 Texas 21 - 17 . In the final minutes , down by four and facing 4th - and - goal at the Texas 1 , Joe Namath ran a quarterback sneak but was stopped short of the goal . In the Cotton Bowl Classic , Arkansas quarterback Fred Marshall drove # 2 Arkansas to a touchdown with 4 : 41 left to beat # 6 Nebraska 10 - 7 . Notable members of the 1964 Arkansas team include Jerry Jones , later the billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL , and Jimmy Johnson , whom Jones would hire as coach of the Cowboys . # 5 Michigan routed # 8 Oregon State 34 - 7 in the Rose Bowl , while in the Sugar Bowl , # 7 LSU beat unranked Syracuse 10 - 7 on a late field goal . A five member committee of the Football Writers Association of America awarded the University of Arkansas Razorbacks the " Grantland Rice Trophy " as the # 1 team in a poll taken after the bowl games . The Helms Athletic Foundation , which also took polls after the bowl games , named Arkansas as 1964 National Champions . Notre Dame was named as the National Football Foundation ' s national champion . In 1965 , the AP ' s final poll came after the bowl games , but the policy did not become permanent until 1968 . The Coaches ' Poll adopted the same policy in 1974 . Arkansas and Alabama legitimately claim the 1964 National Championship , since all selectors of national title teams are documented in the official 2010 NCAA FBS College Football Record Book . These selectors , including the AP Poll and the Coaches ' Poll , were nationally - syndicated in newspapers and magazines during the 1964 football season . Other bowls : Other champions . The schools that are now in the NCAA ' s " Division I - AA " were ranked ( along with smaller schools ) in the " small college poll " taken by both the UPI ( coaches ) and AP ( a panel of writers ) . In 1964 , UPI ranked the 8 - 0 - 0 Golden Eagles of Los Angeles State University as # 1 ( the school is now California State University at Los Angeles , and has no football team ) . The 8 - 0 - 0 Wittenberg College Tigers ( now a Division III team ) were 2nd in the UPI poll , and # 1 choice for the AP panel . In the NAIA championship game , the Cobbers of Minnesota ' s Concordia College and the Bearkats of Sam Houston State University played to a 7 - 7 tie .