15 under Ara Parseghian); Hillsdale (declined Tangerine Bowl bid after being told national scoring champion and African-American Nate Clark must stay home); Trinity (CT) (consecutive perfect seasons); and Whitworth (part of 21-game winning streak).

Ohio State halfback Howard Cassady won the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award.

In the preseason poll released on September 12, 1955, the UCLA Bruins, 1954's co-champions, received 33 first place votes, while Oklahoma had 32.

Other teams nominated for the top spot were defending AP champ Ohio State, Maryland, Notre Dame, Navy, Miami, Georgia Tech, Iowa, USC, Duke, West Virginia, and Purdue.

[2] As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.

UCLA's Doug Peters plunged into the end zone in the first half, but fumbled the ball before crossing the goal line.

In the second half, the home team Terrapins had the ball 17 yards from goal, on fourth down.

MSU had tied the score 7–7 after an errant punt by Michigan gave them the ball 39 yards from goal.

Minutes later, Earl Morrall's punt was blocked to give Michigan the ball on the MSU 21, from which the winning score was made.

15 Miami, with both touchdowns coming on fourth down passes from Paul Hornung, before an Orange Bowl record crowd of 75,685.

1 Michigan faced a 1–3–0 Minnesota team and was stunned when the Gophers racked up two touchdowns in the first quarter.

Michigan's Terry Barr blocked the extra point attempt on the second touchdown, but the nation's No.

4 UCLA was trailing Washington 17–16 in the closing seconds, but Jim Decker kicked a field goal for a 19–17 victory.

The UCLA game and its unlikely winning field goal was used by an elderly Biff Tannen from 2015 to demonstrate the fact that his Gray's Sports Almanac can predict the winning outcome of any major sports game between 1950 and 2000 to his younger self from 1955.

Old Biff bets on UCLA winning, with his younger self pointing out the fact that the game is essentially over.

The other games of the day were later heard over the same radio, with young Biff further testing out the almanac's capabilities.

1 Oklahoma was 8–0–0 and host Nebraska was 5–4–0, both had 5–0–0 records in Big 7 conference play when they met at Lincoln.

2 Maryland closed its season with a 19–0 win over George Washington University and accepted the invitation to meet Oklahoma, but what would have been a No.

3 Michigan State, which had a 5–1 record in Big Ten play, beat Marquette 33–0 in a non-conference game.

9 Ohio State gave the Wolverines a 5–2 conference mark and knocked them out of contention for the Rose Bowl.

Though Maryland, like Oklahoma, was unbeaten, the voters put once-beaten Michigan State in the second spot instead.

5 Notre Dame lost in Los Angeles to USC, 42–20, and dropped to 6th in the final AP poll, where it would be replaced at No.

The top four teams (Oklahoma, Michigan State, Maryland, and UCLA) had finished their seasons and were ranked in the same order in the final poll.

For this article, major conferences defined as those including at least one state flagship public university and the Ivy League.

The final rankings were made on November 28, after the regular season and without consideration of the postseason bowl games: Prior to the integration of sports teams, Miami Orange Bowl stadium hosted the New Year's Day game of the same name, and a December game for historically black colleges, the Orange Blossom Classic.

John Roach, SMU, 64 of 141 (.454), 907 yards, 14 interceptions, 6 touchdowns [15] Small college The following players were the individual leaders in pass completions among small college football players during the 1955 season: 1.

Kessler, Capital, 54 of 117 (.462), 869 yards, 11 interceptions, 7 touchdowns [16] Major college The following players were the individual leaders in rushing yards among major college football players during the 1955 season: 1.

Jim Shanley, Oregon, 711 yards on 100 carries (7.11 average) [17] Small college The following players were the individual leaders in rushing yards among small college football players during the 1955 season: 1.

Boles, Sam Houston State, 906 yards on 133 carries (6.81 average) [18] Major college The following players were the individual leaders in receptions among major college football players during the 1955 season: 1.

Paige Cothren, Ole Miss, 74 points (6 TD, 20 PAT, 6 FG) 8.