Senate Resolution Gives Missouri a Claim to the 1960 National Title

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate has added Missouri to the list of teams with a claim to college football's 1960 national championship.

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., introduced a resolution during a meeting Thursday recognizing the Tigers for a claim to the title. It passed with no objections. Resolutions do not carry the force of law and, by the chamber's own definition, reflect the Senate's "sentiments," according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The move adds another wrinkle to the history of a sport whose champions were decided by polls and rankings decades before the Bowl Championship Series or today's College Football Playoff. Missouri had not previously claimed the 1960 team as a national champion.

Team spokesman Dave Matter did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment Friday afternoon.

Missouri finished 10-1 on the field that season, beating Navy and Heisman Trophy winner Joe Bellino in the Orange Bowl. Its lone loss came against "Border War" rival Kansas in a game that decided the then-Big Eight Conference title, though the league later ordered the Jayhawks to forfeit for using an ineligible player because of recruiting violations.

In a past interview with the Post-Dispatch, author Brendon Steenbergen, who wrote a book detailing that season, said: "I've been beating the drum to try to get the university to recognize it because I think they have as much a right as anyone in the country to be national champions in 1960."

Four teams already had claims to the 1960 title. Minnesota was crowned champion by the AP and United Press International polls, though those votes came before the Gophers lost to Washington in the Rose Bowl. The Football Writers Association of America voted Mississippi its post-bowl champion.

The Helms Athletic Foundation, created in 1936 to promote amateur athletics before dissolving in 1983, recognized Washington. The Litkenhous Rating system, which used a mathematical formula built on scoring margins and opponent strength, chose Iowa, according to The Athletic.