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The 1965 season

Alabama finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 9–⁠1–⁠1 under Bear Bryant, after it beat Nebraska 39–⁠28 in the Orange Bowl. Michigan State also claims the national title. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 3 Arkansas 27, No. 1 Texas 24 (Oct 16, 1965). 27 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Mike Garrett, RB, USC.

The Heisman vote: Mike Garrett 926 points, Howard Twilley 528
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Mike Garrett RB, USC926179143103
Howard Twilley WR, Tulsa5281017869
Jim Grabowski FB, Illinois481977246
Donny Anderson RB, Texas Tech408785760
Floyd Little RB, Syracuse287514250
Steve Juday QB, Michigan State281534042
Tommy Nobis LB, Texas205273750
Bob Griese QB, Purdue193323625
Steve Spurrier QB, Florida93171414
Steve Sloan QB, Alabama9218158

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
2Michigan StateBig Ten
3ArkansasSouthwest Conference
4UCLAAthletic Association of Western Universities
5NebraskaBig Eight
6MissouriBig Eight
7TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
8LSUSoutheastern Conference
9Notre DameIndependent
10USCAthletic Association of Western Universities

Biggest upsets

Jan 1, 1966LSU 14, 2Arkansas 7
Sep 18, 1965Georgia 18, 5Alabama 17
Oct 2, 1965Florida 14, 5LSU 7
Oct 16, 1965Florida State 10, 5Georgia 3
Oct 23, 1965Rice 20, 5Texas 17
Oct 30, 1965Ole Miss 23, 5LSU 0
Oct 2, 1965Auburn 23, 6Kentucky 18
Oct 30, 1965Illinois 21, 6Purdue 0
Oct 30, 1965Auburn 28, 7Florida 17
Nov 6, 1965Tennessee 21, 7Georgia Tech 7
Sep 25, 1965Mississippi State 18, 8Florida 13
Nov 13, 1965Ole Miss 14, 8Tennessee 13

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 1965, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6Wk 7Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10Wk 11Wk 12FinalUSC: Wk 1 No. 7, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 No. 8, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 6, Wk 10 No. 6, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 8, Final No. 1010 USCNotre Dame: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 8, Wk 4 No. 7, Wk 5 No. 8, Wk 6 No. 7, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 9, Final No. 99 Notre DameLSU: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 5, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 No. 9, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 unranked, Wk 10 unranked, Wk 11 unranked, Wk 12 unranked, Final No. 88 LSUTennessee: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 No. 8, Wk 10 unranked, Wk 11 No. 9, Wk 12 No. 7, Final No. 77 TennesseeMissouri: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 No. 9, Wk 9 No. 9, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 6, Final No. 66 MissouriNebraska: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 3, Final No. 55 NebraskaUCLA: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 No. 8, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 5, Final No. 44 UCLAArkansas: Wk 1 No. 6, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 2, Final No. 33 ArkansasMichigan State: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 No. 9, Wk 4 No. 5, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Final No. 22 Michigan StateAlabama: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 unranked, Wk 6 unranked, Wk 7 No. 10, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 4, Final No. 11 Alabama
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Michigan Stateunranked → No. 2
  2. UCLAunranked → No. 4
  3. Missouriunranked → No. 6
  4. Tennesseeunranked → No. 7

Fell

  1. TexasNo. 2 → unranked
  2. MichiganNo. 4 → unranked
  3. PurdueNo. 9 → unranked
  4. Ohio StateNo. 10 → unranked

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsBilly Anderson (Tulsa)3,464 yds
Passing touchdownsBill Anderson 30 TD
Passer ratingSteve Sloan (Alabama)153.8
Rushing yardsMike Garrett (USC)1,440 yds
Rushing touchdownsDave Alexander (East Carolina)17 TD
Yards per carryHarry Jones (Arkansas)7.7
ReceptionsHoward Twilley (Tulsa)134 catches
Receiving yardsHoward Twilley (Tulsa)1,779 yds
Yards per catchLarry Seiple (Kentucky)23.5
Receiving touchdownsHoward Twilley (Tulsa)16 TD
PointsHoward Twilley (Tulsa)127 pts
Total offenseBilly Anderson (Tulsa)3,343 yds
Total offense per gameBilly Anderson (Tulsa)334.3
Punt return yardsNick Rassas (Notre Dame)459 yds
Punt return averageFloyd Little (Syracuse)23.5
Kickoff return yardsEric Crabtree (Pittsburgh)636 yds
Kickoff return averageTom Barrington (Ohio State)34.3

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Major college

Athletic Association of Western Universities
UCLA
Atlantic Coast Conference
Clemson and NC State (shared)
Big Eight
Nebraska
Big Sky
Idaho and Weber State (shared)
Big Ten
Michigan State
Ivy League
Dartmouth
Mid-American Conference
Bowling Green and Miami (OH) (shared)
Missouri Valley Conference
Tulsa
Ohio Valley Conference
Middle Tennessee
Southeastern Conference
Alabama
Southern Conference
West Virginia
Southwest Conference
Arkansas
Western Athletic Conference
BYU

Small college

Alabama Collegiate Conference
Jacksonville State
Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference
Central Arkansas
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Morgan State
Evergreen Conference
Eastern Washington
Gulf States Conference
Louisiana
Indiana Collegiate Conference
Ball State
Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Northern Illinois
Midwestern Conference
Tennessee State
North Central Conference
North Dakota State
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Alabama State
Southland Conference
Lamar
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Grambling
Yankee Conference
Maine

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

22 playersAll 10 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1965 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1965 All-America teams page.

The 1965 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Coaches

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 18, 1965Ole Miss 13, Auburn 7Liberty Bowl
Dec 18, 19657Tennessee 27, Tulsa 6Bluebonnet Bowl
Dec 31, 1965Georgia Tech 31, 10Texas Tech 21Gator Bowl
Dec 31, 1965UTEP 13, TCU 12Sun Bowl
Jan 1, 19664Alabama 39, 3Nebraska 28Orange Bowl
Jan 1, 1966LSU 14, 2Arkansas 7Cotton Bowl
Jan 1, 19666Missouri 20, Florida 18Sugar Bowl
Jan 1, 19665UCLA 14, 1Michigan State 12Rose Bowl