We have arrived in 1962 on MNC Wednesday, and this continues the move into a golden age of college football, where many schools earned the “football factory” labels they still carry today.

Will one of these teams will walk away as the champs today? Find out below!

The 1962 MNC: Quality and quantity of opponents matter

Here is the Associated Press Top 10, including final record with key bowl results.

1. USC: 11-0-0 — W, Rose, 42-37
2. Wisconsin: 8-2-0 — L, Rose, 37-42
3. Mississippi: 10-0-0 — W, Sugar, 17-13
4. Texas: 9-1-1 — L, Cotton, 0-13
5. Alabama: 10-1-0 — W, Orange, 17-0
6. Arkansas: 9-2-0 — L, Sugar, 13-17
7. LSU: 9-1-1 — W, Cotton, 13-0
8. Oklahoma: 8-3-0 — L, Orange, 0-17
9. Penn State: 9-2-0 — L, Gator, 7-17
10. Minnesota: 6-2-1 — NONE

The Trojans solidified their No. 1 AP ranking with the shootout Rose Bowl victory. We covered this in both our B1G and Pac-12 pieces on this decade. USC is at the top of a short list for the MNC here.

Ole Miss won the SEC, even though it didn’t play Alabama. The Crimson Tide lost to Georgia Tech in conference (while the Rebels dodged the Yellow Jackets), and LSU’s only loss did come against the Rebels. Weird scheduling, of course, but that leaves us with Mississippi as the contender for the MNC, either way.

Are there any other teams to consider that aren’t listed above? Dartmouth went 9-0, but the Big Green played the second-easiest schedule in the country. Congrats to them, but no.

Thus, at the end of our preliminary analysis, we have only two teams to examine up close this time out—and the respective strength of schedule, based on the Simple Rating System:

  • Mississippi: 9 Division I-A opponents, 3.08 SOS rating, 48th of 120
  • USC: 11 Division I-A opponents, 8.66 SOS rating, 17th of 120

Not much to say here, as it is clear the Trojans were the better team against better competition and more competition, as well. This was one of those years that this was as simple as it could get.

Congratulations to the 1962 USC Trojans, the mythical national champion!

Check in every Wednesday for a new feature on the mythical national championship in college football on The Daily McPlay.