On November 16, 1957, the same Saturday the rumor surfaced that Aggie coach Bear Bryant might leave College Station for Alabama, King Hill led Rice to a 7-6 upset of Texas A&M, the top-ranked college football team in the country.

The Owls went to win Jess Neely’s fourth and final Southwest Conference crown.  First-place Rice finished the 1957 season at eighth in the AP poll followed by Texas at 11th and A&M at 9th.