1957 College Football Season - November

November

November 2 - #1 Texas A&M got past host Arkansas, 7-6. #2 Oklahoma won at Kansas State 13-0. #3 Iowa played Michigan to a 21-21 tie. #4 Auburn beat Florida 13-0. #5 Notre Dame lost to visiting Navy, 20-6. #6 Michigan State, which won at Wisconsin 21-7, rose to fifth. The poll: 1.Texas A & M, 2.Oklahoma, 3.Auburn, 4.Michigan State, and 5.Iowa.

November 9 - #1 Texas A&M beat SMU 19-6. #2 Oklahoma won at Missouri 39-14. #3 Auburn beat Mississippi State 15-7 in Birmingham. #4 Michigan State beat Notre Dame 34-6. #5 Iowa beat Minnesota 44-20. The poll remained unchanged.

November 16 - #1 Texas A&M lost to Rice in Houston, 7-6. The #2 Oklahoma Sooners had not lost a game since September 26, 1953, had won 47 consecutive games, and had a record of 7-0-0 when they hosted Notre Dame. The Irish, 4-2-0 and on a losing streak, were an 18-point underdog coming into Norman. The Sooners, who had scored in 123 consecutive games (dating back to 1945), were unable to reach the end zone, but had held off the Irish on two goal line stands. In the final minutes, Notre Dame was on the 3-yard line on fourth down, when Dick Lynch "crossed up the Sooners" and ran around right end for a touchdown. Oklahoma's desperate passing drive at game's end was stopped by a Notre Dame interception, and the crowd of 62,000 was stunned into silence... and then stood up and applauded for both the Sooners and the Irish. The previous defeat, more than four years earlier, had been at the hands of Notre Dame as well. Final score: Notre Dame 7, Oklahoma 0. #3 Auburn beat Georgia 6-0 at Columbus, Georgia while #4 Michigan State beat Minnesota 42-13. #5 Iowa lost in Columbus to #6 Ohio State, 17-13. The 7-1-0 Buckeyes rose to third, while the 6-1-1 Hawkeyes fell to 8th. #8 Mississippi, which beat Tennessee 14-7 in Memphis, rose to 5th. The poll: 1.Michigan State, 2.Auburn, 3.Ohio State, 4.Texas A&M, and 5.Mississippi.

November 23 - #1 Michigan State closed its season with a 27-0 win over (3-5-1) Kansas State, but fell to 3rd. #2 Auburn, on probation, won at Florida State 29-7. As the only unbeaten (9-0-0) school among the majors, Auburn was voted #1 in the AP poll. #3 Ohio State, which wrapped up its season with a win at Michigan 31-14, was #1 in the UPI poll. #4 Texas A&M lost to Texas 7-9. #5 Mississippi was idle. #6 Oklahoma, who won at Nebraska 53-6, returned to the Top Five. The poll: 1.Auburn, 2.Ohio State, 3.Michigan State, 4.Texas A&M, and 5.Oklahoma.

Thanksgiving Day saw Bear Bryant's #4 Texas A&M team lose to the Texas Longhorns, 9-7. On November 30, #1 Auburn beat Alabama 40-0 at their annual meeting in Birmingham to close its season 10-0-0. Alabama finished its season at 2-7-1. Bryant, who had transformed the Aggies from a 1-9-0 team (1953) to a contender, would accept a job as head coach at the University of Alabama at season's end. #2 Ohio State and #3 Michigan State were both 8-1-0 in the regular season, but Ohio State was 7-0-0 in Big Ten play, compared to the 5-1-0 Spartans, and got the Rose Bowl bid. #5 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State 53-6. #8 Navy, which won the Army-Navy game in Philadelphia, 14-0, finished with an 8-1-1 record, a bid to meet Rice in the Cotton Bowl Classic, and a fifth place finish in the final poll. The services were split as to the national champion. The AP Trophy went to the Auburn Tigers, the choice of a majority of writers for #1, and the only major college program to finish unbeaten (Arizona State, then a lesser power, also finished 10-0-0). Auburn, however, was on probation and was ineligible for a bowl. The UPI coaches poll awarded #1 to the Rose Bowl bound, 8-1-0, Ohio State Buckeyes. Both Auburn and Ohio State are recognized in the NCAA Football Guidebook as unofficial national champions for 1957. The final AP poll was: 1.Auburn, 2.Ohio State, 3.Michigan State, 4.Oklahoma, and 5.Navy, while the UPI poll was 1.Ohio State, 2.Auburn, 3.Michigan State, 4.Oklahoma, and 5.Iowa.