re: 1969 tigers no bowl??

My Dad played on that team. At the end of the year awards banquet, each player received a plaque with the results of all of their games and a huge gold screw affixed in the middle, that read, "We got Screwed in 1969".

I believe the Seniors on the team got to vote on whether they wanted to go to a bowl or not. The Seniors voted not to go to a lesser bowl.

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he game was played in BR.

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The 69 game was in Jackson. 68 game was in BR, and 70 was the Archie Who game in BR that we won 61-17 with Archie playing with a cast on his arm. Archie was a great, great college QB--better than both of his sons really.

Didn't Notre Dame have 2 or 3 losses that year?

That 1969 team was fun to watch - they played some great football. Notre Dame waited until near the end of the season to announce it would go to a bowl game; the New Years games were already filled (unofficially - official invitations couldn't go out for another week or two). LSU was in the Cotton Bowl, but ND's late decision bumped them out. The Peach Bowl was desperate for a ranked team, and LSU was the defending champ, but decided to sit home. Almost everyone associated with LSU supported that decision.

This was Charlie Mac's best team and there were many people who believe that the Cotton Bowl committee let Darrel Royal decide on who he wanted to play. He did not want to face LSU so he chose Notre Dame. I have great disdain for the Longhorns and Notre Dame ever since.

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There was a gentlemen's agreement that LSU would play Texas for the national championship in the Cotton Bowl

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No, there was an agreement that we would play Texas in the Cotton Bowl, but we were not in position to win the national championship under any circumstances. The loss to Ole Miss sealed that for us.

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Texas ran the wishbone in 69 and should have been defeated by Arkansas in the famous showdown that Nixon attended. Nobody could run on LSU , and they would have beaten Texas

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Given how poorly Mac's defenses dealt with the wishbone when Alabama adopted it in 1971 or 1972, I think it is very questionable whether LSU would have beaten Texas that year.

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LSU was the best team in the country that year.

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Maybe. It should be noted that all the teams we stomped that year were bad. The only good teams we played were Auburn and Ole Miss (both finished 8-3), and we split those games, beating Auburn 21-20 on a blocked extra point, and losing to Ole Miss 26-23. Alabama was the only other team with a winning record we played that year (they finished 6-5), and we beat them 20-15. The other seven opponents all had losing records and combined to finish 18-52 on the season.

Results that year, and opponents' records:

Texas A&M (3-7), won 35-6
Rice (3-7), won 42-0
Baylor (0-10), won 63-8
Miami, Fla. (4-6), won 20-0
Kentucky (2-8), won 37-10
Auburn (8-3), won 21-20
Ole Miss (8-3), lost 26-23
Alabama (6-5), won 20-15
Mississippi State (3-7), won 61-6
Tulane (3-7), won 27-0

Lots of myths about the 1969 team. First of all, the highest that team was ever ranked in that season was8th, which the '68 team accomplished as well. That's not to say they weren't outstanding, in fact Las Vegas had LSU only behind Ohio State and Texas as the best teams.

Remember the bowl culture was different,too. Big 10 and then Pac 8 were tied to the Rose. SWC champion was tied to the Cotton. Orange and Big 8 had an arrangement of sorts,but not binding.

Also the 1969 season had ranked teams that were a who's who of that decade, Southern Cal, Ohio State, Texas, Notre Dame, Penn State, Tennessee, Arkansas and LSU. In early November of 1969, the Sugar Bowl offered LSU a bid but LSU turned it down hoping to play Texas in the Cotton. Penn State had already turned down the Cotton so LSU and the Cotton indeed had talks.

Notre Dame had been seriously considering going to bowls for years. They decided to go to bowls again to help fund minority scholarships and women's sports. The Cotton then picked Notre Dame over LSU. LSU went back to the Sugar and the Sugar said "sorry" that they had chosen Ole Miss.LSU tried to persuade the Sugar into a rematch like in 1960.The Sugar declined wanting the Texas-Arkansas loser.

The Astro-Bluebonnet and Sun Bowls offered LSU and invitation, but LSU declined. One thing people need to understand, is with the loss to Ole Miss even if LSU had played and beaten Texas in the Cotton Bowl, LSU would not have won the AP National Title. Southern Cal or Penn State would have.

two words, Notre Dame