yards, Jim Bertelsen went over to tie the score, and the extra point kick by Happy Feller gave Texas a 15–14 lead with just under four minutes remaining. A late interception stopped the Hogs and Texas remained undefeated. President Nixon presented the plaque to Texas head coach Darrell Royal after the game. Because both teams had been unbeaten in Southwest Conference play, the game also determined the SWC championship, with Texas getting the bid for the Cotton Bowl. The final regular season poll was No. 1 Texas, No. 2 Penn State, No. 3 Arkansas, No. 4 Ohio State, and No. 5 USC. Texas' and Arkansas' bowl opponents were decided under strange circumstances. Arkansas accepted an invitation to the Sugar Bowl, where they would normally have faced either No. 8 LSU or No. 11 Tennessee, the co-champions of the SEC. However, LSU tried instead to arrange a matchup against Texas in the Cotton Bowl, which the school officials viewed as an opportunity to play for the national championship. The negotiations fell through when No. 9 Notre Dame unexpectedly became available. Needing money for scholarships, the Fighting Irish decided to repeal their longstanding policy against appearing in bowl games and offered to become Texas' Cotton Bowl opponent. Meanwhile, the Sugar Bowl organizers spurned LSU and Tennessee in favor of No. 13 Mississippi, which held just a 7−3 record but had dealt both the Tigers and the Volunteers their only loss of the regular season. Tennessee was relegated to the Gator Bowl, while LSU stayed home entirely. Conference standings Rankings Bowl games Major bowls Thursday, January 1, 1970 At the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the No. 1 Texas Longhorns were facing the end of their unbeaten streak before a crowd of 73,000 against No. 9 Notre Dame, playing in its first bowl game in 45 years, since the 1925 Rose Bowl. Trailing 17–14 with 2:26 left in the game, Texas faced a fourth-and-two situation on the Irish ten-yard line. Settling for a tying field goal was out of the question, but a failure to convert would give Notre Dame the ball and the chance to run out the clock. Texas QB James Street managed to fire a pass over the head of the equally determined linebacker Bob Olson. Cotton Speyrer came down with the ball on the two-yard line, just before the ball hit the ground. The officials paused before ruling that the