1939–40 NCAA football bowl games

Season

1939

Number of bowls

All-star games

Blue–Gray Football Classic
East–West Shrine Game

Bowl games

January 1, 1940

Champions

Texas A&M Aggies (AP, Dunkel)
USC Trojans (Dickinson)

Bowl record by conference
Conference	Bowls	Record	Final AP poll
SEC	3	1–2 (0.333)	3
Independents	2	0–1–1 (0.250)	6
PCC	1	1–0 (1.000)	2
Southern	1	1–0 (1.000)	2
SWC	1	1–0 (1.000)	1
Border	1	0–0–1 (0.500)	0
Big Six	1	0–1 (0.000)	3
Big Ten	0	0–0 (–)	3

The 1939–40 NCAA football bowl games were the final games of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 1939 college football season and featured five bowl games, each of which had been held the previous season. All five bowls were played on January 1, 1940. The national championship, according to recognized selectors, was split by Texas A&M and USC.

Poll rankings

The below table lists top teams (per the AP poll taken after the completion of the regular season), their win–loss records (prior to bowl games), and the bowls they later played in.

AP	Team	W–L	Conf.	Bowl
1	Texas A&M Aggies	10–0	SWC	Sugar Bowl
2	Tennessee Volunteers	10–0	SEC	Rose Bowl
3	USC Trojans	7–0–2	PCC	Rose Bowl
4	Cornell Big Red	8–0	Ind.	—
5	Tulane Green Wave	8–0–1	SEC	Sugar Bowl
6	Missouri Tigers	8–1	Big Six	Orange Bowl
7	UCLA Bruins	6–0–4	PCC	—
8	Duke Blue Devils	8–1	Southern	—
9	Iowa Hawkeyes	6–1–1	Big Ten	— †
10	Duquesne Dukes	8–0–1	Ind.	—
11	Boston College Eagles	9–1	Ind.	Cotton Bowl Classic
12	Clemson Tigers	8–1	Southern	Cotton Bowl Classic
13	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	7–2	Ind.	—
14	Santa Clara Broncos	5–1–3	Ind.	—
15	Ohio State Buckeyes	6–2	Big Ten	— †
16	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	8–2	SEC	Orange Bowl
17	Fordham Rams	6–2	Ind.	—
18	Nebraska Cornhuskers	7–1–1	Big Six	—
19	Oklahoma Sooners	6–2–1	Big Six	—
20	Michigan Wolverines	6–2	Big Ten	— †

† The Big Ten Conference did not allow its members to participate in bowl games until the 1947 Rose Bowl.

Bowl schedule

Date	Game	Site	Teams	Affiliations	Results
Jan. 1	Rose Bowl	Rose Bowl Pasadena, California	#3 USC Trojans (7–0–2) #2 Tennessee Volunteers (10–0)	PCC SEC	USC 14 Tennessee 0
	Sugar Bowl	Tulane Stadium New Orleans, Louisiana	#1 Texas A&M Aggies (10–0) #5 Tulane Green Wave (8–0–1)	SWC SEC	Texas A&M 14 Tulane 13
	Orange Bowl	Burdine Stadium Miami, Florida	#16 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7–2) #6 Missouri Tigers (8–1)	SEC Big Six	Georgia Tech 21 Missouri 7
	Sun Bowl	Kidd Field El Paso, Texas	Catholic University (8–1) Arizona State Bulldogs (8–2)	Independent Border	Catholic 0 Arizona State 0
	Cotton Bowl Classic	Cotton Bowl Dallas, Texas	#12 Clemson Tigers (8–1) #11 Boston College Eagles (9–1)	Southern Independent	Clemson 6 Boston College 3

Source:

Conference performance in bowl games

Conference	Games	Record				Bowls
Conference	Games	W	L	T	Pct.	Won	Lost	Tied
SEC	3	1	2	0	.333	Orange	Rose, Sugar	—
Independents	2	0	1	1	.250	—	Cotton	Sun
Pacific Coast	1	1	0	0	1.000	Rose	—	—
Southern	1	1	0	0	1.000	Cotton	—	—
SWC	1	1	0	0	1.000	Sugar	—	—
Border	1	0	0	1	.500	—	—	Sun
Big Six	1	0	1	0	.000	—	Orange	—

Game recaps

Rose Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
#3 USC	0	7	0	7	14
#2 Tennessee	0	0	0	0	0

Qtr.	Team	Scoring play	Score
2	USC	Schindler 1 yard rush, Jones kick good	USC 7–0
4	USC	Krueger 1 yard pass from Schindler, Gaspar kick good	USC 14–0
Source:

Sugar Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
#1 Texas A&M	7	0	0	7	14
#5 Tulane	0	0	7	6	13

Qtr.	Team	Scoring play	Score
1	A&M	Kimbrough 1 yard rush, Price kick good	A&M 7–0
3	TUL	Kellogg 75 yard punt return, Thibaut kick good	TIED 7–7
4	TUL	Baker 2 yard rush, kick failed	TUL 13–7
4	A&M	Kimbrough 18 yard pass from Smith, Price kick good	A&M 14–13
Source:

Orange Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
#6 Missouri	7	0	0	0	7
#16 Georgia Tech	7	7	7	0	21

Qtr.	Team	Scoring play	Score
1	MO	Christman 1 yard rush, Cunningham kick good	MO 7–0
1	GT	Ector 1 yard rush, Goree kick good	TIED 7–7
2	GT	Ison 31 yard rush, Goree kick good	GT 14–7
3	GT	Wheby 59 yard rush, Goree kick good	GT 21–7
Source:

Cotton Bowl Classic

	1	2	3	4	Total
#12 Clemson	0	6	0	0	6
#11 Boston College	0	3	0	0	3

Qtr.	Team	Scoring play	Score
2	BC	Lukachik 36 yard FG	BC 3–0
2	CLEM	Timmons 1 yard rush, kick failed	CLEM 6–3
Source:

Sun Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Catholic	0	0	0	0	0
Arizona State	0	0	0	0	0

Qtr.	Team	Scoring play	Score
No scoring
Source:

References

"1939 Final AP Football Poll". collegepollarchive.com. Archived from the original on October 27, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2018 – via Wayback Machine.
^ MacCambridge, Michael (2005). ESPN College Football Encyclopedia. New York, N.Y.: ESPN Books. ISBN 1-4013-3703-1.

v t e 1939–40 NCAA football bowl game season
Cotton (Jan. 1) Orange (Jan. 1) Rose (Jan. 1) Sugar (Jan. 1) Sun (Jan. 1)

v t e NCAA football bowl seasons
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Category:

1939–40 college football bowl games

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