At the small college level, Ohio (10–0) was recognized as the small college national champion by both the AP and UPI; Southern (9–1) was recognized as the black college national champion; and Lenoir Rhyne (11–0–1) defeated Humboldt State in the Holiday Bowl to win the NAIA national championship.
Navy halfback Joe Bellino won the Heisman Trophy and the Maxwell Award.
In the preseason poll released on September 12, the defending champion Syracuse Orangemen and 1959's second-place finisher, the Mississippi Rebels, were No.
[2] As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.
4 Texas opened its season with a loss at home to Nebraska, falling 14–13.
3 Washington won at home again, beating the University of Idaho Vandals 41–12.
2 Mississippi won in their third consecutive trip to Tennessee, beating Vanderbilt 26–0 in Nashville.
6 Navy, which had beaten SMU 26–7 at a game in the naval port of Norfolk, Virginia, came in at fifth.
6 Missouri reached 5–0 after a 45–0 win over Kansas State at Manhattan, KS.
The Iowa Hawkeyes narrowly topped the next poll, with 23 first place votes to 22 for Ole Miss, and only two points to separate No.
5 Missouri, which had held all of its opponents to single digits, continued winning with a 34–8 thrashing of Iowa State.
2 Mississippi played its 7th game of the season, but its first at home in Oxford, and was tied 6–6 by the LSU Tigers, the only team which had defeated them in 1959.
1 team, the Minnesota Gophers took the top spot in the poll released on November 7, 1960, with 40 of the 47 voters voting them as No.
6 Mississippi, still unbeaten, returned to the Top Five after a 45–0 win over the University of Chattanooga.
They tied with Iowa atop the Big Ten standings and earned a Rose Bowl berth by virtue of their head-to-head victory over the Hawkeyes.
With both the AP and UPI finishing their voting before the bowl games, the championship was determined in December.
[5] The UPI Coaches Poll placed the teams in a slightly different order, but also settled on Minnesota as the No.
Because the final Associated Press and United Press International polls were conducted after the final game of the regular season, Minnesota is considered the national champion for 1960 despite their loss to Washington in the Rose Bowl.
After the bowl games, the Helms Athletic Foundation recognized Washington as national champion,[6] while the Football Writers Association of America crowned Mississippi as national champion.
Had the polls been taken after the bowl games, Missouri would likely also have been a contender for the national championship, as the Tigers beat Navy in the Orange Bowl and their 10–1 record was improved to 11–0 when the Kansas game was declared a forfeit.
The MAC's Ohio Bobcats were also crowned the world small college football champions in 1960, after an undefeated season.
December 8 The Big Eight faculty committee, meeting in Kansas City, ruled Kansas halfback Bert Coan ineligible and ordered the Jayhawks to forfeit their last two victories on November 12 and 19.
Both wire services named the Ohio Bobcats – who had a record of 10–0, registered five shutouts, and held all their opponents to eight points or less[12] – as the number one team.
Associated Press (writers) final poll Published on December 1[16]
1 Minnesota went to the Rose Bowl to face Washington, which had the best record of the five teams in the AAWU (today's Pac-12).
2 Mississippi, as winner of the SEC, was invited to the Sugar Bowl to face unranked Rice University.
The Big Ten did not allow its teams to play in a postseason game other than the Rose Bowl, so No.
Although Washington upset Minnesota 17–7 in Pasadena, the post-season loss did not affect the Gophers' championship as determined by the AP and UPI.
The season culminated in the fifth annual NAIA Football National Championship, played this year for the last time at Stewart Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.
The following chart identifies the NCAA-recognized consensus All-Americans and displays which first-team designations they received.