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The 1966 season

Notre Dame finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 9–⁠0–⁠1 under Ara Parseghian. Michigan State also claims the national title. The Game of the Century: No. 1 Notre Dame 10, No. 2 Michigan State 10 (Nov 19, 1966). 16 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Steve Spurrier, QB, Florida.

The Heisman vote: Steve Spurrier 1,679 points, Bob Griese 816
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Steve Spurrier QB, Florida1,67943315080
Bob Griese QB, Purdue8161849574
Nick Eddy RB, Notre Dame4563912099
Gary Beban QB, UCLA318237697
Floyd Little RB, Syracuse296257081
Clinton Jones RB, Michigan State204224352
Mel Farr RB, UCLA115102927
Terry Hanratty QB, Notre Dame98122316
Loyd Phillips DT, Arkansas6713108
George Patton DT, Georgia6612317

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

The 1966 Florida team
The 1966 Florida teamPhoto: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The 1966 Florida season →

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1Notre DameIndependent
2Michigan StateBig Ten
3AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
4GeorgiaSoutheastern Conference
5UCLAAthletic Association of Western Universities
6NebraskaBig Eight
7PurdueBig Ten
8Georgia TechIndependent
9MiamiIndependent
10SMUSouthwest Conference

Biggest upsets

Nov 5, 1966Washington 16, 3UCLA 3
Nov 24, 1966Oklahoma 10, 4Nebraska 9
Oct 8, 1966Baylor 7, 5Arkansas 0
Oct 28, 1966Miami 10, 5USC 7
Nov 19, 1966Texas Tech 21, 6Arkansas 16
Nov 5, 1966Georgia 27, 7Florida 10
Oct 1, 1966North Carolina 21, 8Michigan 7
Jan 2, 1967Florida 27, 8Georgia Tech 12
Nov 26, 1966Miami 21, 9Florida 16
Sep 24, 1966Colorado 13, 10Baylor 7
Oct 29, 1966Colorado State 12, 10Wyoming 10
Nov 12, 1966Ole Miss 14, 10Tennessee 7

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 1966, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 2Wk 3Wk 4Wk 5Wk 6Wk 7Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10Wk 11Wk 12FinalSMU: 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 unranked, Wk 10 unranked, Wk 11 unranked, Wk 12 No. 10, Final No. 1010 SMUMiami: 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 unranked, Wk 10 unranked, Wk 11 unranked, Wk 12 No. 9, Final No. 99 MiamiGeorgia Tech: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 No. 9, Wk 4 No. 9, Wk 5 No. 7, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 8, Final No. 88 Georgia TechPurdue: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 No. 9, Wk 6 No. 9, Wk 7 unranked, Wk 8 unranked, Wk 9 unranked, Wk 10 No. 10, Wk 11 No. 8, Wk 12 No. 7, Final No. 77 PurdueNebraska: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 6, Wk 4 No. 7, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 7, Wk 7 No. 8, Wk 8 No. 6, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 6, Final No. 66 NebraskaUCLA: Wk 1 No. 4, Wk 2 No. 2, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 8, Wk 10 No. 8, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 5, Final No. 55 UCLAGeorgia: 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. 9, Wk 10 No. 9, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 4, Final No. 44 GeorgiaAlabama: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 3, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 3, Final No. 33 AlabamaMichigan State: Wk 1 No. 2, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 2, 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. 22 Michigan StateNotre Dame: Wk 1 No. 6, Wk 2 No. 8, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 3, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 1, 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. 11 Notre Dame
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. Georgiaunranked → No. 4
  2. Georgia Techunranked → No. 8
  3. Miamiunranked → No. 9
  4. SMUunranked → No. 10
  5. Notre DameNo. 6 → No. 1

Fell

  1. ArkansasNo. 5 → unranked
  2. SyracuseNo. 7 → unranked
  3. USCNo. 9 → unranked
  4. TennesseeNo. 10 → unranked

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

National leaders

Passing yardsMark Reed (Arizona)2,368 yds
Passing touchdownsBo Burris (Houston)22 TD
Passer ratingDewey Warren (Tennessee)142.2
Rushing yardsRay McDonald (Idaho)1,329 yds
Rushing touchdownsLee Jones (Buffalo)16 TD
Yards per carryMacArthur Lane (Utah State)7.6
ReceptionsGlenn Meltzer (Wichita State)91 catches
Receiving yardsJohn Love (North Texas)1,130 yds
Yards per catchGene Washington (Michigan State)25.1
Receiving touchdownsKen Hebert (Houston)11 TD
PointsKen Hebert (Houston)113 pts
Total offenseVirgil Carter (BYU)2,545 yds
Punt return yardsVic Washington (Wyoming)443 yds
Punt return averageDon Bean (Houston)20.2
Kickoff return yardsMarcus Rhoden (Mississippi State)572 yds
Kickoff return averageFrank Moore (Louisville)27.9

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
USC
Atlantic Coast Conference
Clemson
Big Eight
Nebraska
Big Ten
Michigan State
Ivy League
Dartmouth, Harvard and Princeton (shared)
Mid-American Conference
Miami (OH) and Western Michigan (shared)
Missouri Valley Conference
North Texas and Tulsa (shared)
Southeastern Conference
Alabama and Georgia (shared)
Southern Conference
East Carolina and William & Mary (shared)
Southwest Conference
SMU
Western Athletic Conference
Wyoming
Yankee Conference
Massachusetts

Small college

Alabama Collegiate Conference
Jacksonville State
Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference
Central Arkansas
Big Sky
Montana State
California Collegiate Athletic Conference
San Diego State
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Morgan State
Evergreen Conference
Eastern Washington
Far Western Conference
Sacramento State
Gulf States Conference
Northwestern State
Indiana Collegiate Conference
Ball State
Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Central Michigan
Lone Star Conference
East Texas A&M
Mid Atlantic Conference
Delaware
Midwestern Conference
Tennessee State
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association
Missouri State
North Central Conference
North Dakota and North Dakota State (shared)
Ohio Valley Conference
Morehead State
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Alabama A&M and Alabama State (shared)
Southland Conference
Lamar
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Grambling and Southern (shared)

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 1966 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1966 All-America teams page.

The 1966 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Coaches

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 10, 19669Miami 14, Virginia Tech 7Liberty Bowl
Dec 17, 1966Texas 19, Ole Miss 0Bluebonnet Bowl
Dec 24, 1966Wyoming 28, Florida State 20Sun Bowl
Dec 31, 19664Georgia 24, 10SMU 9Cotton Bowl
Dec 31, 1966Tennessee 18, Syracuse 12Gator Bowl
Jan 2, 19673Alabama 34, 6Nebraska 7Sugar Bowl
Jan 2, 1967Florida 27, 8Georgia Tech 12Orange Bowl
Jan 2, 19677Purdue 14, USC 13Rose Bowl