1965 Orange Bowl
The 1965 Orange Bowl, part of the 1964–65 bowl season, was the 31st edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Friday, January 1. Part of the 1964–65 bowl season, It matched the top-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and the #5 Texas Longhorns of the Southwest Conference (SWC). Texas built an early lead and won 21–17.
| 1965 Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| 31st Orange Bowl | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | January 1, 1965 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 1964 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Orange Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | Miami, Florida | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MVP | Joe Namath (Alabama QB) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Alabama by 3 points | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | E.D. Cavette (SEC; split crew: SEC, SWC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 72,880 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | NBC | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Simpson, Bud Wilkinson | ||||||||||||||||||||
This was the first Orange Bowl game played at night, and the first live national network telecast of a college football game during prime time. NBC acquired the television rights and the kickoff was moved to follow the network's Rose Bowl telecast, without competition from other bowls. It also was the first Orange Bowl in twelve years not to include a team from the Big Eight Conference.
Despite Alabama's loss they were still named co-national champions (along with Arkansas).