re: So does Bama claim 1964 National Championship?

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That was the days of buying votes.

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Yeah, Auburn bought a lot of votes for their 1957 title.

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When the unbeaten season ended with a 40-0 victory over Alabama, sports information director Bill Beckwith feverishly worked the system to ensure that the Tigers had enough votes to secure The Associated Press national title.

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What Auburn didn't do was convince the nation that it was the clear-cut national champion. The Tigers weren't eligible for the UPI poll because of their NCAA probation so Beckwith worked to make sure Auburn ended up on top of the AP poll.

At the time, any AP subscriber was eligible to vote in the poll. Beckwith made sure that smaller radio stations and smaller papers were aware of this, adding in his informational pitch that a vote for Auburn would be greatly appreciated. It was a loophole that the AP quickly closed -- it formed a panel of voters soon afterwards -- but it couldn't change the vote that season, much to the chagrin of Ohio State head coach Woody Hayes, who boldly questioned if Auburn had played anyone of note.

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So, Auburn is the reason there is a panel of AP voters.... good job.

And I wonder how much AU paid these small radio stations?

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