Alabama won the SEC championship, but a "no repeat rule" prevented them from playing in the Sugar Bowl for a second straight year. The Orange Bowl invited Alabama and Texas on November 21. The Cotton Bowl had invited then-unbeaten Nebraska on November 15 to play unbeaten Southwestern Conference champion Arkansas. As such, there would be no No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Notre Dame declined to play in a bowl game. The Irish did not play in any bowl games for over forty years, until the 1969 season.