Sunday will mark the 50^th anniversary of the Rice's last appearance in a New Year's Day bowl game, a matchup with Ole Miss that reveals much about the way bowls were allocated back in the pre-BCS and conference tie-in era.

It was a system whose variables made it possible for a three-loss team from Rice to face a team battling for a share of the national title in one of four nationally-televised college games that took place that day. It also reveals how precarious the weekly poll voting was at this time, but most importantly, it draws clear focus on how far the social fabric of our country has changed in the last 50 years.  

The Sugar Bowl matchup was one of four that day that did not feature the usual cast of programs associated with what was the traditional lineup of New Year's Day games: Duke and Arkansas were matched up in the Cotton Bowl,   Minnesota and Washington battled in the Rose Bowl, while Missouri and Navy were in Miami for the Orange Bowl.

Ole Miss, the runner-up to Syracuse in 1959, entered the 1960 season ranked second.  The Rebels moved into the top spot after an opening 42-0 defeat of Houston in Houston (one of six consecutive road games to open their season), and held on to it for the first month.  Syracuse, on the strength of a road win over #5 Kansas, vaulted past the Rebels in the first poll of October, but Ole Miss reclaimed the top spot the following week after Syracuse struggled, but surrendered it the following week to Iowa, despite a win over Tulane.  Two weeks late, the Rebels suffered their only blemish on their record, a 6-6 tie with LSU in their first home game of the season....yes, their first home game was on October 29.

Minnesota, a team not ranked in the preseason AP poll, rose to the top spot in the polls by defeating top-ranked Iowa on the first weekend in November.  Both wire services declared their national champions based upon regular season results only.  Minnesota lost the following week, and Missouri moved into the top spot and needed only a win over Kansas in the season finale to claim the top prize. However the Jayhawks downed the Tigers 23-7, throwing the polling process into disarray.

Iowa had stood at #2 in the polls, and would have seemed primed to move to take the final poll and win the National Title.  But the Hawkeyes were not destined to earn the Rose Bowl berth, since Minnesota, who was ranked 4^th heading into the final week, held the conference tie breaker with their win over the Hawks.  Per the Big Ten rule that only sent the conference champion to a bowl game--Iowa had no hope for a bowl game, and the pollsters seemed to adjust for this reality and the Gophers jumped the Hawkeyes in the final polls.

Ole Miss fans were equally upset to see that despite a 35-9 thrashing of Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl to end the season, their team was also jumped by the Gophers in the final wire service polls.   It would be left to the results of the bowl games to impress the few polls that were not announced until after those games to give them a chance to lay claim to the top prize.

As it turned out, the contract between the Big Ten and the Rose Bowl had concluded prior to the 1960 season and there was at least a question as to if the Big Ten's representative was in fact bound to make a trip to Pasadena.

For Ole Miss, there was no contractual obligation in place to play in the Sugar Bowl. In fact, after having played in New Orleans on two of the last three New Year's Days, the Rebels were of a mind to look for a different destination.

The glimmer of hope that Minnesota and Ole Miss might be free to broker a showdown was nothing but a pipe dream, due to the larger societal issues that would soon become impossible to ignore any longer as a nation prepared to inaugurate John Kennedy as its President.

By state law of the time, Mississippi was forbidden to play against integrated college teams.  Furthermore, legislators in Louisiana in 1956 passed a law forbidding sports competition between blacks and whites. As it turned out, the Big Ten decided that the relationship with the Rose Bowl was still in effect, and the Gophers were never placed in the position of confronting these regulations.  The Louisiana laws made it implausible for the Sugar to pursue 4^th ranked Navy, which featured Heisman trophy winner Joe Belino. 

Rumors spread that the upstart Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston had signed a deal to bring Ole Miss to Houston, but Sugar Bowl officials, seeing no attractive alternative in the Southeastern Conferenc, ramped up their sales pitch and put an end to the Rebels' wanderlust.

To find an opponent for Mississippi, bowl officials first looked to Duke, which had risen up the ranks after upsetting Navy in October. But a November loss to North Carolina shifted their attention west to a season-ending matchup between the two teams battling for a share of the top spot in Southwest Conference, Baylor and Rice. 

The Bears chose not to gamble on the results of the final game, accepting an offer to play in the Gator Bowl.   That left the Owls as the object of the Sugar Bowl's affections, hoping for a win that would give the Owls a share of the SWC title to bring with them to New Orleans.  However, Baylor pulled out a late 12-7 win over Rice, and the Sugar Bowl was left to promote a three-loss team in a showdown with a team looking to make a National Championship statement.

Despite the lackluster nature of the matchup on paper, the Owls provided the national television audience (with Lindsey Nelson and Red Grange calling the action on NBC) with a far more entertaining matchup than anyone could have expected.

The Owls out-gained the heavily favored Rebels, 281 yards to 186, but Ole Miss thwarted multiple Rice incursions into the Red Zone.  Down only 7-0 heading to the third quarter, the Owls looked to be ready to knot the score when Butch Blume scored from three yards out. However, Max Webb missed the extra point.  Ole Miss quarterback Jake Gibbs, who was an All America selection in both football and baseball and went on to play in the majors for the Yankees, gave Ole Miss some breathing room at the end with a three-yard run.

As it happened, the Rebels less-than-inspiring effort to impress the final poll voters did little to harm their chances, thanks to Washington's victory over top-ranked Minnesota in the Rose Bowl.   Ole Miss was named National Champions by the Football Writers and several other postseason polls.

Rice had given an inspired accounting of itself on a national stage in one of the last great moments of the Jess Neely era of Owls football.  Neely would lead the Owls back to one final bowl game less than a year later, when Rice met Kansas in the Bluebonnet Bowl in December of 1961, Rice's final bowl berth until 2006 when the Owls ripped off six wins down the stretch to earn a berth in the New Orleans Bowl.

Ironically, their practice facility in 2006 at Tulane University was located on the same ground where Sugar Bowl stadium, the site of their heroic 1961 effort against Ole Miss, had stood.

action photo courtesy of allstatesugarbowl.org/ Sugar Bowl Ticket image courtesy of My Favorite Bowls

Just as few notes to flesh out the answers to the four trivia questions about Rice Owls playing for the Cowboys....

Photos by James D. Smith 

Andrew Sendejo made his NFL debut vs. Philadelphia and followed that up last week by picking up his first career tackle on special teams against Washington.

Sendejo is the eighth Owl to play for the Cowboys and the first since Michael Downs, who was a mainstay in the Dallas defenisve backfield from 1981-88.

This edition's trivia questions (no real soft tosses here):

1. Can you name the first Owl to play for the Cowboys?

2. Which legendary Owl wrapped up his NFL career with the Cowboys?

3. After going 0-11-1 in their first season, the Cowboys won their opener in 1961 for the first in in their history. Can you name the Owl who was the Cowboys' leading receiver that day?

4. Can you name the Owl who scored a touchdown in the first-ever game in Cowboys history?

Happy Holidays and Happy Hunting 

With the first pitch of the college baseball season just nine weeks away, Reckling Park is getting a few minor improvements.   The old chainlink fencing and gate along the right field line leading to the batting cages has been replaced by wrought iron material that matches the fencing and gates at the main entrance.

With finals out of the way, and the holiday season in full swing, Anthony Rendon spent a little time at Reckling Park on Friday shooting some promotional materials that will debut very soon. 

Opening Day vs. Stanford is nine weeks from today....................

No matter how many times the pronunciation guide was in the notes, media guides, etc., it's always been a struggle for announcers who did not cover Chase Clement on a regular basis to get the proper pronunciation of his name. 

Here's hoping the challenge continues in an NFL broadcast booth in the future.

Andrew Sendejo became the third member of the 2008 Texas Bowl Champion Owls to play in the NFL when he made his debut on special teams with the Dallas Cowboys on national television Sunday night against the Philadelphia Eagles. Sendejo was not drafted last April after coming off surgery for an injury that ended his Rice career prematurely in 2009. Undaunted, he worked out during the summer with the Owls and was signed by Sacramento of the UFL. After leading the team in tackles and earning All UFL honors, Sendejo's dream of reaching the NFL became a reality with the Cowboys signed him in mid-November.   The R Blog caught up with Andrew for a few quick questions after his debut with the Cowboys.

As you were getting dressed Sunday night, getting ready to make your NFL debut, did you have a minute to pause and reflect about how far you had come in one year? 

I found out on Saturday I was going to be active, so that was when I started to think about the journey I had been through to get to where I am and just took it all in and was thankful to be given such a great opportunity. But on Sunday, I was just trying to focus on the game and not let all the other things get to me 

When you were sitting on the table in the training room at Rice, having just gone through your surgery, was there ever any doubt in your mind that this day would come?

There definitely was some doubt. It's hard enough to make it to the NFL at all, much less when you don't play your the last part of your senior season and are coming off an injury. That didn't mean I wasn't going to try. My coaches at Rice were very supportive and told me that I would still have my chance. I just made up my mind I was going to get here by any means necessary. I was able to take advantage of my opportunity in the UFL and get signed by Dallas.

How valuable was the experience of playing in the UFL?  I know when we spoke in the summer, it was a point of pride for you that you were going to start ahead of some players who had NFL experience.  Did the level of competition and the coaches you played for help prepare you for the NFL?  

The UFL was definitely a great experience and helped me to get to the NFL. I am very thankful I had the opportunity to develop there, my secondary coaches (Martin Bayless & Robert Griffith) both played safety in the NFL for a long time so I learned a lot from them. It was good to be able to compete against NFL-level talent every week and see that I could compete on that level. It also helped me to getting accustomed to the lifestyle of being a professional football player.

Do you think that Chase Clement earned himself a ticket to an NFL camp with his performance when he got to play?

Yes. That kid is a winner. He might not have all the physical attributes that NFL teams look for in quarterbacks, but when the lights come on he usually finds a way to win. I watched him do it in high school, college, and the UFL.  All he needs is an opportunity and he proved that this past season in the UFL.

 You got your hands on the returner on the opening kickoff on Sunday night and slowed him up for the tackle.  How good did it feel to get right in the middle of the action on your very first play?

It felt good to get in there and slow him up a little bit, but it would have been better if I would have made the tackle. Nothing is guaranteed in this game so you have to take advantage of the opportunities you get.

 What's it like to go to work at the Cowboys new stadium?  Is it hard to not get caught looking around at all the unique features, including the massive TV screens?

It's great being able to play at a venue like that. I try not to get caught up everything going on around me, but I look at the screen all the time, sometimes you can't see what's going on when you're on the sidelines and you can see everything on that big screen

Have you heard from any of your Rice teammates?  I know that you and James Casey are pretty active on Twitter.  Did any of the Owls in the league give you any advice?

Yeah I speak with James every now and then and when I first got signed to the practice squad he just told me to go all out every day because everything you do is evaluated. 

Photo courtesy Dallas Cowboys Football Club

Former Owl Andrew Sendejo is in his second week as a member of the Dallas Cowboys. Sendejo was inactive last week when the Cowboys traveled to Indianapolis to face the Colts, but should he be on the active roster and see action this week when Dallas hosts the Eagles, he will be the third member of the Owls' 2008 Texas Bowl Champions to play in the NFL....

Can you name the last Rice team to have more than three future NFL players who lettered in the same season?  Names of the players?

After speaking at the Rotary Lombardi Award on Wednesday night, Rudy Ruettiger accepted an invitation from Rice football coach David Bailiff to stop by campus on Thursday morning to speak to Owls student-athletes and members of the Athletic Department staff.

Ruettiger shared insights and reflections from both his story of his one-tackle career at Notre Dame and the effort to have that story made into the movie "Rudy". 

Remember, Rice senior Kevin Pool is a candidate for the 2010 Rudy Awards. Fan voting remains open through Monday and the three finalists will be announced on Tuesday.