Missouri Has Already Claimed a National Championship

The year 1960 was a good one for Missouri, who—like the Big Eight in general—had spent the 1950s in Oklahoma’s shadow.

Starting unranked, the Tigers opened 8–0, demolished the Sooners in Norman, Okla., lost to Kansas and beat Navy in the Orange Bowl in front of President-Elect John F. Kennedy. Their luck further increased when the Jayhawks, who fielded ineligible halfback Bert Coan against Missouri, were forced to forfeit the Border War.

On Friday, then, the Tigers did something you can only do in college football. Nearly seven decades after the fact, they claimed a national championship.

“The 1960 team has an important place in Mizzou history, and after reviewing the historical record, we believe it is appropriate to honor that team as national champions,” athletic director Laird Veatch said in a statement.

Missouri’s rationale: one Congressional resolution, one set of rankings

Earlier this month, Sen. Eric Schmitt—a Republican from Missouri—introduced a Congressional resolution recognizing the Tigers as `60 national champs (clearly, Congress is focused on the important college sports issues).

Well-meaning though it may have been, Schmitt’s resolution would’ve been meaningless for Missouri if the school couldn’t back it up with national-title acclaim from an NCAA-recognized selector. That’s where the Poling System, a mathematical ranking masterminded by ex-Ohio Wesleyan player Richard Poling, comes in. Poling, who is recognized as a national-title selector from the 1924 to ’84 seasons, chose the Tigers—or rather, his calculations spit out Missouri—in ’60.

Now, if you look over Poling’s record, you’ll find all manner of contrarian selections—Arizona State in 1970, Nebraska in ’83 (even after its Orange Bowl loss to Miami). Does the Tigers’ argument have merit? Let’s take a closer look.

Missouri halfback Norman Beal was fast enough to lose Kansas was knocked down by Kansas center Kent Staab. — Missouri officially went 11–0 during the 1960 season, after a loss to Kansas was overturned due to the Jayhawks fielding an ineligible player. | Bettman Archive/Getty Images

Iowa, Minnesota, Ole Miss, Missouri and Washington all have ’60 championship cases

The Golden Gophers are traditionally listed as the ’60 national champion, having won it in the eyes of three major selectors—the AP, the National Football Foundation and United Press International.

However, there’s a reason for that. Those selectors picked their national championship before the bowl games; Minnesota lost the Rose Bowl 17–7 to the Huskies. The Golden Gophers did beat Iowa 27–10 on Nov. 5 (the Hawkeyes’ only loss) ... but Minnesota also had a bad loss to 4-4-1 Purdue.

Among the other three candidates, the Rebels would appear the most viable at 10-0-1, but they tied a mediocre LSU team 6–6 on Oct. 29. Washington’s only loss came by one point, but it was to Navy ... who, you’ll recall, lost the Orange Bowl to Missouri.

College Football Reference’s Simple Rating System has Missouri at No. 3 for the 1960 season, behind the Hawkeyes and, interestingly, 7–2 Ohio State (Ole Miss and the Golden Gophers are No. 4 and No. 5, while the Huskies are No. 17). The site also lists Iowa’s schedule that year as the hardest in the nation, and it’s easy to see why: Each of the Hawkeyes’ first eight opponents were ranked in the top 20.

If you want to pick the ’60 national champion, Iowa is probably your team. However, if you want to pick a ’60 national champion, Missouri is a perfectly valid choice, even before taking the forfeit into account. Better 66 years late than never.

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