The 1959 NCAA University Division football season saw Syracuse University crowned as the national champion by both the AP and the UPI wire services.
A major rule change widened the goal posts from 18 feet, 6 inches to
23 feet, 4 inches. The new wider goal posts would remain in effect until
the 1991 season, when the width of the goal posts was returned to 18 feet, 6 inches.
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 1959 consisted of the
votes of as many as 201 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). Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1959_college_football_season.
Final Stats:
No comments:
Post a Comment