5 team, the Crimson Tide lost to Mississippi Southern and tied LSU before they earned their first win of the season against Vanderbilt in week three. Alabama won only six games all year, and only four of seven conference games. However, the other three conference games were ties, and a 4-0-3 record was good enough to win Alabama the SEC title.
It was Bama's first conference championship since 1945 and last until 1961. For their championship, Alabama accepted an invitation to play in the Cotton Bowl Classic. In their matchup against Rice one of the strangest plays in the history of college football occurred. In the second quarter, Rice had the ball on its own five-yard line up 7-6 after recovering an Alabama fumble. On their first play of the drive, Rice running back Dicky Moegle swept around the right side, broke free and appeared to be on his way to a 95-yard touchdown run - until Tommy Lewis of Alabama, who was on the sideline, ran onto the field of play and tackled Moegle at the Alabama 40.Officials awarded Moegle a 95-yard touchdown run, and Rice won the game 28-6. In 1953 the Rice Institute (it became Rice University in 1960) football team (the Owls) were led by 14th-year head coach Jess Neely and played their home games at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas. The team competed as members of the Southwest Conference, winning a share of the conference title with Texas with a 5-1 conference record.
Rice finished the regular season with an 8-2 record overall and were ranked 6th in the final polls, which were conducted before bowl season. Rice was invited to the 1954 Cotton Bowl Classic, played on New Years' Day, where the Owls defeated SEC champion Alabama.
Of those players on the two teams, 14 members of the Alabama Crimson Tide team and 15 members of the Rice Owls were drafted by the NFL in 1954/55/56. Of those, two became NFL Hall of Famers - quarterback Bart Starr of Alabama and Dickey Moegle, a halfback for Rice. This item is in the category "Sports Mem, Cards & Fan Shop\Vintage Sports Memorabilia\Publications\Programs\College - NCAA". The seller is "lwmall" and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, Korea, South, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Republic of, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Kitts-Nevis, Saint Lucia, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, French Guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macau, Martinique, Maldives, Nicaragua, Oman, Peru, Pakistan, Paraguay, Reunion, Vietnam, Uruguay.