U.S. Senate is debating NIL and transfer portal. And awarding Missouri the 1960 national title

The U.S. Senate has been discussing the Protect College Sports Act, attempting to establish guidelines and regulations on eligibility; name, image and likeness; the transfer portal; and the rapidly shifting landscape of college athletics.

And Thursday, it also found time to retroactively award the Missouri Tigers the 1960 national football championship.

A title now connected to five schools.

During a Senate meeting Thursday, Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) introduced S. Res. 833, recognizing Missouri’s claim to the title 66 years later.

“More than six decades later, the 1960 Tigers still embody the character of Missouri,” Schmitt said during the meeting. “We are a people who work. We are a people who endure. We are people who keep our promises. The men of that team brought home a Big Eight championship and the Orange Bowl championship game in a perfect season.”

As with so many things in college football history, that last part depends on who you ask. And which side of the Missouri River you live on.

Missouri finished 10-1 on the field in the 1960 season after defeating Navy 21-14 in the Orange Bowl. The Tigers’ lone loss came against Kansas, 23-7, in a game that was supposed to decide the Big Eight title. Kansas was later found to have used an ineligible player in running back Bert Coan, a transfer from TCU.

The Big Eight determined Kansas boosters had used illegal recruiting practices and provided improper off-campus transportation during Coan’s recruitment. The running back scored twice in the game against Missouri. The conference later ordered Kansas to forfeit the conference title and awarded the victory and the Big Eight championship to Missouri, restoring the Tigers’ undefeated season before their Orange Bowl win.

“A championship obtained by cheating is not a championship at all,” Schmitt said. “The people of Kansas have spent more than six decades trying to turn a blatant penalty into a moral victory. But the truth is harder to bear, and facts are stubborn things. Missouri finished 11-0, reminding the conference and the American populace that cheaters never truly win.”

Schmitt’s resolution was adopted by unanimous consent. The bill that’s supposed to save college sports remains unsettled.

Despite the Senate’s action, the University of Missouri hasn’t claimed the national championship and did not respond to a request for comment when reached by The Athletic.

The resolution adds more fuel to the bitter “Border War” rivalry, which is set to resume in Week 2 of the coming season. But in a sport defined by convoluted rulings and debates, a decision about a six-decade-old season is not as simple as a brief government resolution.

Five schools can now stake a claim to the 1960 national football championship, each under different selection criteria or circumstances.

Here are the other four.

Minnesota (8-2) — AP and UPI national champion

Back in 1960, the Associated Press and United Press International, recognized by the NCAA as official major selectors, crowned their national champion at the end of the regular season — before bowl games.

And both polls named 8-1 Minnesota its national champion at the end of the 1960 regular season. Then the Gophers lost 17-7 to Washington in the Rose Bowl.

Minnesota’s lone regular-season loss came at home to Purdue — a team that finished 4-4-1 — while its biggest regular-season win was a 27-10 thrashing of then-top-ranked Iowa (8-1) in Minneapolis in early November.

The latter was one of two wins over AP-ranked teams for the Golden Gophers — the other came at No. 12 Nebraska in late September.

Ole Miss (10-0-1) — NCAA-recognized co-champion

Nowadays, an undefeated SEC champion getting denied an outright national title would be unheard of. Back in the 1960s? Not so much.

The Rebels finished the regular season without a loss — the tie came at home against LSU (5-4-1) — and capped their campaign with a 14-6 victory over Rice in the Sugar Bowl.

After Minnesota lost in the Rose Bowl, the Football Writers Association of America voted Ole Miss as its post-bowl national champion. The FWAA was also recognized by the NCAA as an official major selector, making Ole Miss an NCAA-recognized co-national champion alongside Minnesota.

Washington (10-1) — The Rose Bowl winner

Washington defeated the AP and UPI national champion in the Rose Bowl, finishing the season with a better record and a head-to-head victory over the Gophers.

The Huskies were named national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation, which was founded in 1936 by bakery owner Paul H. Helms and sports historian Bill Schroeder to promote amateur athletics. The foundation selected All-Americans and national champions until it dissolved in 1983.

The Helms Athletic Foundation was not recognized by the NCAA as an official major selector, however, so Washington’s national championship claim is not recognized, either.

Iowa (8-1) — The Litkenhous Rating champion

Iowa’s lone loss in 1960 came on the road against Minnesota in the Hawkeyes’ seventh game. Minnesota lost to Purdue the next week, leaving both schools with 5-1 conference records and a share of the Big Ten title.

Before its loss to Minnesota, Iowa had spent much of the season No. 1 in the AP poll.

The Litkenhous Rating system, a mathematical formula based on scoring margins and opponent strength, was recognized by the NCAA as an official major selector. It concluded that Iowa was the national champion, giving the Hawkeyes their own claim to the 1960 title.

Although the Litkenhous selection is recognized by the NCAA, Minnesota and Ole Miss are generally regarded as the 1960 official co-national champions because their titles came through the wire-service and FWAA human polls. Those polls carried the greatest weight before college football shifted toward computer rankings and, later, the BCS and College Football Playoff systems.