 From the late 1940s until the mid-1960s, Baylor also played in the 1952 Orange Bowl (vs. Georgia Tech), twice in the Gator Bowl (vs. Auburn and Florida), and the Bluebonnet (beating LSU), Dixie (beating Wake Forest) and Gotham Bowl (beating #10 ranked Utah St in New York City).Baylor had finished in last place in 4 of the last 7 seasons including the year before and had not won the conference championship in 50 years.Also, prior to this season, they had never appeared in the Cotton Bowl.