1961 Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||
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25th Cotton Bowl Classic | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Date | January 2, 1961 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Season | 1960 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Stadium | Cotton Bowl | ||||||||||||||||||||
Location | Dallas, Texas | ||||||||||||||||||||
MVP | Lance Alworth (Arkansas HB) Dwight Bumgarner (Duke T) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Favorite | Arkansas by 7 points[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
Referee | Carl Bredt (SWC; split crew: SWC, ACC) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Attendance | 74,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||
United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||||||||||
Network | CBS | ||||||||||||||||||||
Announcers | Jack Drees, Terry Brennan | ||||||||||||||||||||
The 1961 Cotton Bowl Classic was the 25th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, on Monday, January 2. Part of the 1960–61 bowl game season, it matched two conference champions, the seventh-ranked Arkansas Razorbacks of the Southwest Conference (SWC), and the No. 10 Duke Blue Devils of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).[2][3] With a late score, underdog Duke won 7–6, in front of 74,000 spectators.[4][5][6][7]
New Year's Day was on Sunday in 1961; the major bowl games were played the following day.