1959 NCAA University Division football season
School 1958 Conference 1959 Conference
California Golden Bears PCC AAWU
Idaho Vandals PCC Independent
Oregon Ducks PCC Independent
Oregon State Beavers PCC Independent
USC Trojans PCC AAWU
Stanford Indians PCC AAWU
UCLA Bruins PCC AAWU
Washington Huskies PCC AAWU
Washington State Cougars PCC Independent
Conference and program changes -- Membership changes
The 1959 NCAA University Division football season saw Syracuse University crowned as the national champion by both final polls, the AP writers poll and the UPI coaches polls. A major rule change widened the goal posts from to . This width remained in effect for 32 seasons, until the 1991 season, when it was returned to 18½ feet. During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of wire service (AP and UPI) polls. The extent of that recognition came in the form of acknowledgment in the annual NCAA Football Guide of the unofficial national champions. The AP poll in 1959 consisted of the votes of as many as 201 sportswriters. Though not all writers voted in every poll, each would give their opinion of the twenty best teams. Under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., the overall ranking was determined. Although the rankings were based on the collective opinion of the representative sportswriters, the teams that remained unbeaten and untied were generally ranked higher than those that had not. A defeat, even against a strong opponent, tended to cause a team to drop in the rankings, and a team with two or more defeats was unlikely to remain in the Top 20. The top teams played on New Year's Day in the four major postseason bowl games: the Rose Bowl (near Los Angeles at Pasadena), the Sugar Bowl (New Orleans), the Orange Bowl (Miami), and the Cotton Bowl (Dallas).