1975 NCAA Division I football season

1975 NCAA Division I football season
Preseason AP No. 1	Oklahoma[1]
Regular season	September 4 – December 6, 1975
Number of bowls	11
Bowl games	December 20, 1975 – January 1, 1976
Champion(s)	Oklahoma (AP, Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
Heisman	Archie Griffin (running back, Ohio State)
← 1974 · football seasons · 1976 →

The 1975 NCAA Division I football season saw University of Oklahoma repeat as national champion in the Associated Press (AP) writers' poll, and were ranked No. 1 in the United Press International (UPI) coaches' poll, just ahead of runner up Arizona State, runner-up in both final polls, despite having an undefeated 12–0 season and a win over Nebraska in the Fiesta Bowl.

During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for major 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 "writers' poll" by Associated Press (AP) was the most popular, followed by the "coaches' poll" by United Press International) (UPI). The AP poll consisted of the votes of as many as 63 writers, though not all voted in each poll, and the UPI poll was taken of a 25-member board of coaches.

Rule changes[]

• Jerseys are required to be changed if the shoulder pads are exposed and/or the uniform numbers become unreadable.
• The game ball composition and appearance are standardized.
• The team bench area is expanded from between the 35-yard lines to between the 30-yard lines.
• Penalty enforcement of fouls committed during kickoffs, field goal attempts, and punts when the ball is not in possession of either team is from the spot of the foul, changed from the previous spot.
• The referee has the authority (without consulting with the two coaches) to suspend a game due to severe weather (lightning, etc.).
• If a player is observed playing without a mouthpiece, his team will be charged a time-out (or a five-yard penalty if out of time-outs) to correct.

In addition to the following programs the Southland Conference was also classified as University Division.

Conference and program changes[]

School	1974 Conference	1975 Conference
Ball State Cardinals	D-II Independent	MAC
Central Michigan Chippewas	D-II Independent	MAC
Indiana State Sycamores	D-II Independent	D-I Independent
Louisville Cardinals	Missouri Valley	D-I Independent
Northern Illinois Huskies	D-I Independent	MAC
North Texas State Mean Green	Missouri Valley	D-I Independent
Wisconsin–Milwaukee Panthers	D-II Independent	Dropped Program

September[]

In the preseason poll released on September 1, the AP ranked Oklahoma first, followed by Alabama, Michigan, Ohio State and USC.

September 6 Most teams had yet to open their seasons, but No. 2 Alabama lost its home opener in Birmingham to unranked Missouri, 20–7. No. 6 Penn State was the only other top 10 team to play the weekend, and struggled to defeat Temple in a game in Philadelphia, winning 26–25. In the next poll, Missouri rose to fifth place, while Alabama dropped to 13th. Penn State fell from 6th to 10th. The poll: 1.Oklahoma 2.Michigan 3.Ohio State 4.USC 5.Missouri

September 13 No. 1 Oklahoma beat Oregon 62–7. No. 2 Michigan won at Wisconsin, 23–6. No. 3 Ohio State won at No. 11 Michigan State, 21–0. No. 4 USC beat Duke 35–7 at home and No. 5 Missouri was idle. The poll was unchanged: 1.Oklahoma 2.Michigan 3.Ohio State 4.USC 5.Missouri

September 20 No. 1 Oklahoma beat No. 15 Pittsburgh 46–10, and Michigan was tied by Stanford at home, 19–19. No. 3 Ohio State beat No. 7 Penn State 17–9. No. 4 USC defeated Oregon State 24–7. No. 5 Missouri won at Illinois, 30–20. Missouri's Big Eight rival, No. 6 Nebraska, beat Indiana 45–0, and rose to fourth. The poll: 1.Oklahoma 2.Ohio State 3.USC 4.Nebraska 5.Missouri

In a Friday night game September 26 at Miami, No. 1 Oklahoma eked out a win over the Hurricanes, 20–17. The next day, September 27 No. 2 Ohio State beat North Carolina 32–7. No. 3 USC beat visiting Purdue, 19–6. Nebraska beat TCU 56–14, and No. 5 Missouri edged Wisconsin, 27–21. The poll was unchanged: 1.Oklahoma 2.Ohio State 3.USC 4.Nebraska 5.Missouri

October[]

October 4 No. 1 Oklahoma had another narrow win, beating visiting No. 19 Colorado, 21–20, while in Los Angeles, No. 2 Ohio State had no problems in defeating No. 13 UCLA, 41–20. The Buckeyes and Bruins would meet again at season's end. No. 3 USC won 27–16 at Iowa, and No. 4 Nebraska defeated the Miami Hurricanes at home, 31–16. No. 5 Missouri played its third straight game against a Big Ten team, losing at No. 12 Michigan, 31–7. After a promising start, the Tigers would go on to a 6–5–0 finish. No. 7 Texas, which beat Utah State 61–7, rose to fifth. Ohio State took over first place from Oklahoma, with 47 of the 62 first place votes. The poll was 1.Ohio State 2.Oklahoma 3.USC 4.Nebraska 5.Texas

October 11 No. 1 Ohio State beat visiting Iowa 49–0. In their annual meeting in Dallas, No. 2 Oklahoma defeated No. 5 Texas 24–17 to regain the top spot. No. 3 USC beat Washington State 28–10. No. 4 Nebraska beat visiting Kansas 16–0. No. 6 Texas A&M, which won 38–9 at Texas Tech, rose to fifth. The poll was 1.Oklahoma 2.Ohio State 3.USC 4.Nebraska 5.Texas A & M

October 18 No. 1 Oklahoma won 25–3 at Kansas State, and No. 2 Ohio State had a second straight shutout at home, 56–0 over Wisconsin. No. 3 USC beat visiting Oregon 17–3. No. 4 Nebraska won 28–20 at Oklahoma State, and No. 5 Texas A&M won at TCU, 14–6. The poll was unchanged: 1.Oklahoma 2.Ohio State 3.USC 4.Nebraska 5.Texas A & M

October 25 No. 1 Oklahoma beat Iowa State, 39–7, No. 2 Ohio State won 35–6 at Purdue, and No. 3 USC won at No. 14 Notre Dame, 24–17. No. 4 Nebraska beat No. 10 Colorado, 63–21, and No. 5 Texas A&M beat Baylor at home, 19–10. The poll was 1.Oklahoma 2.Ohio State 3.Nebraska 4.USC 5.Texas A & M

November[]

November 1 No. 1 Oklahoma won 27–7 at No. 19 Oklahoma State, No. 2 Ohio State defeated Indiana at home, 24–14, and No. 3 Nebraska won 30–7 at No. 12 Missouri. Coach John McKay announced he would be leaving USC after the season to coach the NFL's expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and No. 4 USC abruptly lost 28–14 at California, beginning a four-game losing streak after a 7–0 start. No. 5 Texas A&M was idle, and No. 6 Alabama beat Mississippi State in Jackson, 21–10. The poll was 1.Oklahoma 2.Ohio State 3.Nebraska 4.Texas A & M 5.Alabama

November 8 No. 1 Oklahoma were stunned 23–3 in Norman by the visiting Kansas Jayhawks, led by quarterback Nolan Cromwell. No. 2 Ohio State won at Illinois, 40–3, and No. 3 Nebraska won at Kansas State, 12–0. No. 4 Texas A&M beat SMU, 36–3, and No. 5 Alabama won 23–10 at LSU. No. 6 Michigan, which beat Purdue 28–0, rose to fourth. The poll was: 1.Ohio State 2.Nebraska 3.Texas A & M 4.Michigan 5.Alabama

November 15 No. 1 Ohio State beat Minnesota 38–6, and No. 2 Nebraska beat Iowa State 52–0. No. 3 Texas A&M won 33–14 at Rice, 33–14, and No. 4 Michigan won 21–15 at Illinois to extend its record to 8–0–2, while No. 5 Alabama beat Southern Mississippi at home, 27–6. The poll was unchanged: 1.Ohio State 2.Nebraska 3.Texas A & M 4.Michigan 5.Alabama

November 22 The game that determined the Big Ten championship took place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as unbeaten (10–0) No. 1 Ohio State visited unbeaten, but twice tied (8–0–2) No. 4 Michigan. OSU won 21–14 and got the trip to the Rose Bowl, where it would have a rematch with 11th-ranked UCLA (The Bruins would beat out Cal for the Rose Bowl bid by beating USC, 25–22, the following Friday). In Norman, Oklahoma, a trip to the Orange Bowl was on the line as No. 2 Nebraska (10–0) closed its season against No. 7 Oklahoma (9–1) in a game for the Big Eight title. Oklahoma handed the Cornhuskers their first loss, 35–10, and Nebraska settled for a berth in the Fiesta Bowl. No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 5 Alabama were both idle, No. 6 Texas (9–1) was also idle, but rose to fifth. The poll was: 1.Ohio State 2.Texas A & M 3.Oklahoma 4.Alabama 5.Texas

November 29 No. 2 Texas A&M (9–0) hosted the No. 5 Texas (9–1) at College Station, with the Aggies winning, 20–10. No. 4 Alabama closed its season with its tenth straight win after its opening loss, a 28–0 win over Auburn in Birmingham. In the final AP poll released on December 1, No. 1 Ohio State (11–0), No. 2 Texas A&M (10–0) and No. 7 Arizona State (11–0) were all undefeated. On December 6, however, the Aggies lost in Little Rock to No. 18 Arkansas, 31–6. The Southwest Conference race finished with a three way tie between Arkansas, Texas and Texas A&M, all 6–1 in conference play. Arkansas got the Cotton Bowl berth, while Texas went to the Bluebonnet Bowl and Texas A&M to the Liberty Bowl.

Conference standings[]

1975 Atlantic Coast Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 13 Maryland $ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 1 Duke 3 – 0 – 2 4 – 5 – 2 NC State 2 – 2 – 1 7 – 4 – 1 Wake Forest 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Clemson 2 – 3 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 North Carolina 1 – 4 – 1 3 – 7 – 1 Virginia 0 – 4 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll[2]	1975 Big Eight Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 1 Oklahoma + 6 – 1 – 0 11 – 1 – 0 No. 9 Nebraska + 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 No. 16 Colorado 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 Kansas 4 – 3 – 0 7 – 5 – 0 Missouri 3 – 4 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Oklahoma State 3 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Iowa State 1 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Kansas State 0 – 7 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll	1975 Big Ten Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 4 Ohio State $ 8 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0 No. 8 Michigan 7 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 2 Michigan State 4 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Illinois 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Purdue 4 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Wisconsin 3 – 4 – 1 4 – 6 – 1 Minnesota 3 – 5 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Iowa 3 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Northwestern 2 – 6 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Indiana 1 – 6 – 1 2 – 8 – 1 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
1975 Ivy League football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Harvard $ 6 – 1 – 0 7 – 2 – 0 Brown 5 – 1 – 1 6 – 2 – 1 Yale 5 – 2 – 0 7 – 2 – 0 Dartmouth 4 – 2 – 1 5 – 3 – 1 Princeton 3 – 4 – 0 4 – 5 – 0 Penn 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Columbia 2 – 5 – 0 2 – 7 – 0 Cornell 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1975 Mid-American Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 12 Miami $ 6 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0 Central Michigan 4 – 1 – 1 8 – 2 – 1 Ball State 4 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 Bowling Green 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Ohio 3 – 3 – 1 5 – 5 – 1 Toledo 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Northern Illinois 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Kent State 1 – 6 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Western Michigan 0 – 7 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1975 Missouri Valley Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Tulsa $ 4 – 0 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 New Mexico State 2 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 West Texas State 2 – 2 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Drake 1 – 3 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Wichita State 1 – 3 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1975 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T San Jose State $ 5 – 0 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 Long Beach State 4 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 San Diego State 3 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Pacific (CA) 2 – 3 – 0 5 – 6 – 1 Fresno State 1 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Cal State Fullerton 0 – 5 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1975 Pacific-8 Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 5 UCLA ^ + 6 – 1 – 0 9 – 2 – 1 No. 14 California + 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Stanford 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 1 Washington 5 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 No. 17 USC 3 – 4 – 0 8 – 4 – 0 Oregon 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Oregon State 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 Washington State 0 – 7 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 + – Conference co-champions ^ – Selected as Rose Bowl representative Rankings from AP Poll	1975 Southern Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Richmond $ 5 – 1 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 East Carolina 4 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 Appalachian State 3 – 2 – 0 8 – 3 – 0 The Citadel 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 William & Mary 2 – 3 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 Furman 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 5 – 1 VMI 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 8 – 0 Davidson 0 – 3 – 0 1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1975 Southeastern Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 3 Alabama $ 6 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0 Florida 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 No. 19 Georgia 5 – 1 – 0 9 – 3 – 0 Ole Miss 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Tennessee 3 – 3 – 0 7 – 5 – 0 Vanderbilt 2 – 4 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 LSU 2 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0 Auburn 2 – 4 – 0 3 – 6 – 2 Mississippi State 1 – 4 – 1 6 – 4 – 1 Kentucky 0 – 6 – 0 2 – 8 – 1 $ – Conference champion Mississippi State later forfeited all 1975 wins and one tie due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll	1975 Southland Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Arkansas State $ 5 – 0 – 0 11 – 0 – 0 Louisiana Tech 4 – 1 – 1 8 – 2 – 0 McNeese State 3 – 2 – 0 7 – 4 – 0 Southwestern Louisiana 2 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Texas–Arlington 1 – 4 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Lamar 0 – 5 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1975 Southwest Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 7 Arkansas + 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 No. 6 Texas + 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 No. 11 Texas A&M + 6 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0 Texas Tech 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Baylor 2 – 5 – 0 3 – 6 – 2 SMU 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0 Rice 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 TCU 1 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll
1975 Western Athletic Conference football standings v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T No. 2 Arizona State $ 7 – 0 – 0 12 – 0 – 0 No. 18 Arizona 5 – 2 – 0 9 – 2 – 0 Colorado State 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 BYU 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 New Mexico 4 – 3 – 0 6 – 5 – 0 Utah 1 – 4 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 Wyoming 1 – 6 – 0 2 – 9 – 0 UTEP 0 – 6 – 0 1 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1975 NCAA Division I independents football records v t Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Rutgers   –   9 – 2 – 0 No. 10 Penn State   –   9 – 3 – 0 No. 20 West Virginia   –   9 – 3 – 0 Notre Dame   –   8 – 3 – 0 Virginia Tech   –   8 – 3 – 0 No. 15 Pittsburgh   –   8 – 4 – 0 Boston College   –   7 – 4 – 0 Georgia Tech   –   7 – 4 – 0 Memphis State   –   7 – 4 – 0 Navy   –   7 – 4 – 0 North Texas State   –   7 – 4 – 0 Southern Miss   –   7 – 4 – 0 South Carolina   –   7 – 5 – 0 Colgate   –   6 – 4 – 0 Cincinnati   –   6 – 5 – 0 Hawaii   –   6 – 5 – 0 Syracuse   –   6 – 5 – 0 Temple   –   6 – 5 – 0 Utah State   –   6 – 5 – 0 Indiana State   –   5 – 5 – 0 Dayton   –   5 – 6 – 0 Northeast Louisiana   –   4 – 6 – 1 Tulane   –   4 – 7 – 0 Villanova   –   4 – 7 – 0 Florida State   –   3 – 8 – 0 Air Force   –   2 – 8 – 1 Houston   –   2 – 8 – 0 Miami (FL)   –   2 – 8 – 0 Army   –   2 – 9 – 0 Marshall   –   2 – 9 – 0 Southern Illinois   –   1 – 9 – 1 Holy Cross   –   1 – 10 – 0 Louisville   –   1 – 10 – 0 Rankings from AP Poll

Bowl games[]

Major bowls[]

Thursday, January 1, 1976

BOWL
COTTON	No. 18 Arkansas Razorbacks	31	No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs	10
SUGAR	No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide	13	No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions	6
ROSE	No. 11 UCLA Bruins	23	No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes	10
ORANGE	No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners	14	No. 5 Michigan Wolverines	6

This was the first season that both the Pac-8 and Big Ten conferences allowed their teams to play in bowl games other than the Rose Bowl. Unranked USC (7–4), fifth in the Pac-8 (3–4), was invited to the Liberty Bowl, head coach John McKay's final game before going to the NFL to coach the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. California, who tied UCLA for the Pac-8 title (UCLA earned the Rose Bowl berth due to their win over Cal) was left out of any bowls, as were Washington and Stanford, all of whom beat and finished ahead of USC. Michigan, the Big Ten runner up, was invited to play Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, which passed over higher-ranked Alabama (10–1), who met Penn State in the Sugar Bowl, rather than the higher-ranked Big 8 runner-up, Nebraska. The Huskers went to the Fiesta Bowl to play host Arizona State (11–0).

USC sent McKay out a winner and climbed to 17th, as they shut out uninspired Texas A&M, still reeling from being upset by Arkansas on December 6 and losing out on the Cotton Bowl bid. The day after Christmas, Arizona State, the WAC champion, won arguably the biggest game to date in their history over Big 8 runner-up Nebraska, 17–14. Arizona State was one of two Division I teams to finish undefeated and untied as they completed a 12–0 season. Another ASU, Arkansas State, also finished unbeaten and untied, but were unranked. New Year's Eve saw Alabama beat Penn State 13–6 in the Sugar Bowl. On New Year's Day, Arkansas beat SEC runner up Georgia in the Cotton Bowl 31–10. The Rose Bowl was a rematch between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 11 UCLA; Ohio State had beaten UCLA in Los Angeles on October 4, 41–20. After that game, Ohio State coach Woody Hayes was so impressed by UCLA in defeat, he predicted that his Buckeyes would be playing the Bruins again in the Rose Bowl. This time, the 11th-ranked Bruins (8–2–1) handed the previously undefeated and No. 1 ranked Buckeyes a 23–10 loss. UCLA was the only team to score more than 14 points on Ohio State all season, and they did it twice. No. 3 Oklahoma (10–1) defeated No. 5 Michigan (8–1–2), 14–6, in the Orange Bowl to claim the national title. The final rankings were 1.Oklahoma 2. Arizona State 3.Ohio State 4.Alabama 5.UCLA

Other bowls[]

BOWL	Location	Date	Winner	Score	Runner-up
FIESTA	Tempe, AZ	December 26	No. 7 Arizona State	17–14	No. 6 Nebraska
SUN	El Paso, TX	December 26	No. 20 Pittsburgh	33–19	No. 19 Kansas
LIBERTY	Memphis, TN	December 22	USC	20–0	No. 2 Texas A&M
GATOR	Jacksonville, FL	December 29	No. 17 Maryland	13–0	No. 13 Florida
TANGERINE	Orlando, FL	December 20	No. 16 Miami (OH)	20–7	South Carolina
ASTRO-BLUEBONNET	Houston, TX	December 27	No. 9 Texas	38–21	No. 10 Colorado
PEACH	Atlanta, GA	December 31	West Virginia	13–10	NC State

Heisman Trophy voting[]

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

1. Archie Griffin, RB - Ohio State, 1,800 points
2. Chuck Muncie, RB - California, 730
3. Ricky Bell, RB - USC, 708
4. Tony Dorsett, RB - Pittsburgh, 616
5. Joe Washington, RB - Oklahoma, 250
6. Jimmy DuBose, RB - Florida, 112
7. John Sciarra, QB - UCLA, 86
8. Gordon Bell, RB - Michigan, 84
9. Lee Roy Selmon, DT - Oklahoma, 79
10. Gene Swick, QB - Toledo, 73

• Bell and Dorsett were juniors

Source:^[3][4][5]

Through 2020, Griffin is the only multiple winner of the Heisman Trophy.

See also[]

• 1975 College Football All-America Team
• 1975 NCAA Division II football season
• 1975 NCAA Division III football season

References[]