The 1938–39 NCAA football bowl games were the final games of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 1938 college football season and featured five bowl games, each of which had been held the previous season. All five games were played on January 2, 1939, as New Year's Day fell on a Sunday. Contemporary polls selected different national champions, as the AP Poll named TCU, the Dunkel System chose Tennessee, and the Dickinson System designated Notre Dame.
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 TCU Horned Frogs SWC Sugar Bowl Tennessee Volunteers SEC Orange Bowl Duke Blue Devils Southern Rose Bowl Oklahoma Sooners Big Six Orange Bowl Notre Dame Fighting Irish Ind. — Carnegie Tech Tartans Ind. Sugar Bowl USC Trojans PCC Rose Bowl Pittsburgh Panthers Ind. — Holy Cross Crusaders Ind. — Minnesota Golden Gophers Big Ten — Texas Tech Red Raiders Border Cotton Bowl Classic Cornell Big Red Ind. — Alabama Crimson Tide SEC — California Golden Bears PCC — Fordham Rams Ind. — Michigan Wolverines Big Ten — Northwestern Wildcats Big Ten — Villanova Wildcats Ind. — Tulane Green Wave SEC — Dartmouth Indians Ind. — The Big Ten Conference did not allow its members to participate in bowl games until the 1947 Rose Bowl.
Bowl schedule Rankings are from the final regular season AP Poll. DateGameSiteTeamsAffiliationsResults Jan. 2Rose BowlRose BowlPasadena, California#7 USC Trojans (8–2) #3 Duke Blue Devils (9–0)PCCSouthern USC 7Duke 3Orange BowlBurdine StadiumMiami, Florida#2 Tennessee Volunteers (10–0) #4 Oklahoma Sooners (10–0)SEC Big SixTennessee 17Oklahoma 0Sugar BowlTulane StadiumNew Orleans, Louisiana#1 TCU Horned Frogs (10–0) #6 Carnegie Tech Tartans (6–1)SWCIndependentTCU 15Carnegie Tech 7Sun BowlKidd FieldEl Paso, TexasUtah Utes (6–1–2) New Mexico Lobos (8–2) Mountain StatesBorderUtah 26New Mexico 0Cotton Bowl ClassicCotton BowlDallas, TexasSaint Mary's Gaels (5–2) #11 Texas Tech Red Raiders (10–0)IndependentBorderSaint Mary's 20Texas Tech 13
Conference performance in bowl games ConferenceGamesRecordBowls W L Pct.Won Lost Independents 2 Cotton Sugar Border 2 Cotton, Sun Mountain States 1 Sun Pacific Coast 1 Rose SEC 1 Orange SWC 1 Sugar Big Six 1 Orange Southern 1 Rose
Game recaps NOTE: Rankings used are the final regular season AP Rankings whenever noted
Rose Bowl
Qtr. Team Scoring play Score4DUKERuffa 23 yard FGDUKE 3–0USCKrueger 19 yard pass from Nave, Gaspar kick goodUSC 7–3Source:
Orange Bowl
Qtr. Team Scoring play Score1TENNFoxx 8 yard rush, Wyatt kick goodTENN 7–02TENNWyatt 22 yard FGTENN 10–04TENNWood 19 yard rush, Foxx kick goodTENN 17–0Source:
Sugar Bowl
Qtr. Team Scoring play Score2TCUSparks 1 yard rush, kick failedTCU 6–0CTMuha 37 yard pass from Moroz, Muha kickTECH 7–63TCUHorner 44 pass from O'Brien, kick failedTCU 12–74TCUO'Brien 19 yard FGTCU 15–7Source:
Sun Bowl
Qtr. Team Scoring play Score1UTAHPace 15 yard rush, McGarry kickUTAH 7–0UTAHPeterson 64 yard interception return, McGarry kickUTAH 14–02UTAHPeterson 9 yard rush, kick failedUTAH 20–04UTAHGehrke 10 yard rush, kick failedUTAH 26–0Source:
Cotton Bowl Classic
Qtr. Team Scoring play Score1STMHeffernan 9 yard rush, Perrie kick goodSTM 7–02STMKlotovich 1 yard rush, Marefos kick goodSTM 14–03STMSmith 24 yard interception return, kick failedSTM 20–04TTUTarbox 33 yard pass from Barnett, Marek kickSTM 20–6TTUMcKnight 31 yard pass from Barnett, kick failedSTM 20–13Source:
See also Prairie View Bowl
References