Florida State finds itself on the wrong side of history

To clarify, from 1961 to 1967, the AP polls shrank from 20 teams to 10 teams. So now teams from any of those polls were included just because of the smaller lists. Not many teams stayed in the top 10 rankings for many weeks, so I didn't think it was fair to include any instances from that little era. Starting in 1968, the AP polls went back to ranking 20 teams.

The following year, the Houston Cougars became the next team to suffer this fate. The Cougs were coached by the legendary Bill Yeoman. In 1968, Houston had a solid 6-2-2 campaign. Heading into 1969, Houston was ranked seventh in the preseason AP poll.

It was the first time that the school had received votes for the preseason rankings since 1953. This was also the highest preseason ranking that Houston had ever been given.

It's understandable to see why, given the fact that they did have a good season the year before. The Cougars began their season in the SEC country as they took on the Florida Gators in "The Swamp". Florida had an okay 6-3-1 record in 1968 however they handed Houston their first loss of the year. The Gators not only beat Houston. They destroyed them, 59-34.

Yeoman's squad quickly fell to an unranked position following the season-opening debacle. Fortunately for him and his players, the season didn't collapse. They lost to Oklahoma State to drop to 0-2. However, Houston would go on a tear, winning their next eight regular season games. They moved back into the top 20 rankings and as an independent, got a bid to play in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl against Auburn.

That's pretty impressive because independent teams struggled to get into bowl games at the time, no matter their record. Just ask the 1976 Rutgers Scarlet Knights. In the postseason bowl game, Houston won a ninth straight game, pummeling Auburn 36-7. The team finished the year ranked 17th. Below is film of their destruction of the Tigers in the bowl game.