Arkansas State retains the belt after a 7–7 tie with East Texas A&M at a neutral site.
Where this game sits in the lineage
Arkansas State came in 55 days into reign #108, which began with a win over Memphis, with 2 defenses already behind it; this was its third defense. Arkansas State went on to defend it 1 more time before Mississippi State took it on October 2, 1954, 329 days after the reign began.
For East Texas A&M this was its first shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. A tie leaves the belt with the holder, so it went home empty-handed.
This is the only time Arkansas State and East Texas A&M have met with the belt on the line.
About this game
Arkansas State, holding the belt, faced East Texas A&M at a neutral site on January 1, 1954, in a postseason matchup that ended in a 7-7 tie. Under the site's tie rule, the belt holder retains possession in the event of a draw, so Arkansas State successfully defended the belt.
Written by Claude, strictly from this site’s own record of the game — the score and what it meant for the belt. CFBD doesn’t have a box score for games this old, so nothing here is invented beyond what’s verifiably on file.
Sources Game record: College Football Data (id 31987) · This game in the downloadable dataset