1960 Regular Season · 9–1

Saturday, September 17, 1960 · 12:00 AM – 11:59 PM

The 1960 Missouri Tigers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Missouri in the Big Eight Conference (Big 8) during the 1960 college football season. The team compiled an 11–0 record (7–0 against Big 8 opponents), won the Big 8 championship, defeated Navy in the Orange Bowl, was ranked No. 5 in the final AP poll, and outscored its opponents 295 to 93. Led by third-year head coach Dan Devine, the team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Columbia, Missouri. The 1960 season included one of the most famous games in the history of Missouri vs. Kansas rivalry. Missouri had won its first nine games and was ranked atop the polls, but the visiting Jayhawks won 23–7. Kansas used an ineligible player, Bert Coan, in the game and the win was officially awarded to Missouri by the Big Eight Conference on December 8. The reversal brought Missouri's record to 11–0 instead of 10–1. The team's statistical leaders included Mel West with 650 rushing yards and 650 yards of total offense, Ron Taylor with 302 passing yards, Danny LaRose with 151 receiving yards, and Donnie Smith with 78 point scored. The team was featured in the 2024 historical novel "Respectable Roughnecks" by Brendon Steenbergen. The book focused on Dan LaRose during his All-American season, and on West and Norris Stevenson with their struggles as Missouri's first black players. On August 6, 2026, Eric Schmitt (junior Senator of Missouri) introduced a resolution (S.Res. 833) recognizing the 1960 Missouri football team as having a claim to the national championship. The resolution passed with no objections, but had no force of laws and was said to reflect the Senate's "sentiments." Later that same year, the University announced it was recognizing the championship as part of the Memorial Stadium centennial celebrations. Wiki link