1946 college football rankings

none August 2023 December 2025 1946 Notre Dame One human poll comprised the 1946 college football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship, instead that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. The Coaches' Poll began operation in 1950; in addition, the AP Poll did not begin conducting preseason polls until that same year. Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week   National champion (#–#)   Win–loss record (Italics)   Number of first place votes т Tied with team above or below also with this symbol AP Poll November 2025 The final AP Poll was released on December 2, at the end of the 1946 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (Final) Oct 7 Oct 14 Oct 21 Oct 28 Nov 4 Nov 11 Nov 18 Nov 25 Dec 2 Texas (3–0) (69 1 3) Army (3–0) (21 1 3) Notre Dame (1–0) (15 1 3) Michigan (2–0) UCLA (2–0) (1) Alabama (3–0) Penn (1–0) (1) Georgia (2–0) т tw Tennessee (2–0) т Northwestern (2–0) Columbia (2–0) Illinois (2–1) LSU (2–0) Ohio State (1–0) Yale (2–0) St. Mary's (2–0) Stanford (2–0) Arkansas (2–0–1) Kentucky (3–0) т tw NC State (2–0) т Army (4–0) (63) u Notre Dame (2–0) (31) u Texas (4–0) (38) d UCLA (3–0) (5) u Michigan (2–1) d Penn (2–0) (2) u Alabama (4–0) d Georgia (3–0) Tennessee (3–0) d Northwestern (3–0) Columbia (3–0) LSU (3–0) u Oklahoma (1–2) npr Arkansas (3–0–1) u North Carolina (2–0–1) npr Rice (2–1) npr Duke (1–2) npr Indiana (2–2) npr William & Mary (3–1) npr Tulsa (4–0) т Wisconsin (3–1) т npr Illinois Kentucky NC State Ohio State St. Mary's Stanford Yale Army (5–0) (112 1 4) Notre Dame (3–0) (21 1 4) Texas (5–0) (13 1 4) Tennessee (4–0) (6) u UCLA (4–0) (2) d Penn (3–0) (1 4) Georgia (4–0) u Michigan (2–1–1) т td Northwestern (3–0–1) т u North Carolina (3–0–1) u Alabama (4–1) d NC State (4–0) npr Duke (2–2) u Oklahoma (2–2) d Georgia Tech (3–1) npr Rice (3–1) Iowa (4–1) npr William & Mary (4–1) u Oregon (3–0–1) npr Harvard (4–0) npr Arkansas Columbia Indiana LSU Tulsa Wisconsin Army (6–0) (104) Notre Dame (4–0) (61) Penn (4–0) (4) u UCLA (5–0) (1) u Georgia (5–0) (1) u Northwestern (4–0–1) u Texas (5–1) d Rice (4–1) u North Carolina (4–0–1) u Tennessee (4–1) d Illinois (4–2) npr Wake Forest (4–1) npr Michigan (2–2–1) d Oklahoma (3–2) Alabama (5–1) d Georgia Tech (4–1) d Harvard (5–0) (1) u Wisconsin (3–2) npr Duke (2–3) d Indiana (3–3) npr Iowa NC State Oregon William & Mary Army (7–0) (64) Notre Dame (5–0) (51) Georgia (6–0) (6) u UCLA (6–0) (3) Rice (5–1) u Texas (6–1) u Tennessee (5–1) u Georgia Tech (5–1) u Penn (4–1) d Illinois (5–2) u Michigan (3–2–1) u Ohio State (3–1–2) npr Wake Forest (5–1) d USC (4–2) npr Wisconsin (4–2) u Oklahoma (4–2) d North Carolina (4–1–1) т td Northwestern (4–1–1) т d LSU (5–1) npr NC State (5–1) npr Alabama Duke Harvard Indiana Army (7–0–1) (75) Notre Dame (5–0–1) (49) Georgia (7–0) (12) UCLA (7–0) (7) Penn (5–1) u Texas (7–1) Georgia Tech (6–1) u Tennessee (6–1) d Illinois (5–2) u Michigan (4–2–1) u LSU (6–1) u USC (5–2) u Ohio State (4–1–2) d Rice (5–2) d North Carolina (5–1–1) u Iowa (5–3) npr Arkansas (5–2–1) npr Yale (5–1–1) npr Holy Cross (3–4) npr Duke (3–4) npr NC State Northwestern Oklahoma Wake Forest Wisconsin Army (8–0–1) (58) Notre Dame (6–0–1) (16) Georgia (8–0) (8) UCLA (8–0) (5) Illinois (6–2) u Georgia Tech (7–1) u Tennessee (7–1) u Michigan (5–2–1) u LSU (7–1) u USC (5–2) u Arkansas (6–2–1) u Rice (6–2) u Penn (5–2) d North Carolina (6–1–1) u Yale (6–1–1) u Delaware (8–0) npr Texas (7–2) d Oklahoma (6–2) npr Muhlenberg (8–0) т tnpr Tulsa (8–1) т npr Duke Holy Cross Iowa Ohio State Army (8–0–1) (72) Notre Dame (7–0–1) (38) Georgia (9–0) (5) UCLA (9–0) (5) Illinois (7–2) Michigan (6–2–1) u Georgia Tech (8–1) (1) d Tennessee (8–1) (1) d LSU (8–1) Arkansas (6–2–1) u North Carolina (7–1–1) u Yale (7–1–1) u Rice (7–2) d Penn (5–2) d Delaware (9–0) (2) u USC (5–3) d Boston College (6–2) т tnpr Oklahoma (6–3) т u Mississippi State (8–1) npr Texas (7–2) d Muhlenberg Tulsa Notre Dame (8–0–1) (104 1 2) nc Army (9–0–1) (52 1 2) d Georgia (10–0) (23) UCLA (10–0) (2) Illinois (7–2) Michigan (6–2–1) Tennessee (9–1) u LSU (9–1) u North Carolina (8–1–1) u Rice (8–2) u Georgia Tech (8–2) d Yale (7–1–1) Penn (6–2) u Oklahoma (7–3) u Texas (8–2) (1) u Arkansas (6–3–1) d Tulsa (9–1) npr NC State (8–2) npr Delaware (9–0) d Indiana (6–3) (1) npr USC Mississippi State Boston College Litkenhous Ratings The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1946 provided numerical rankings to more than 500 college and military football programs.UC Ranked 65th in Nation by Litkenhous; Irish No. 1 for 1946 The Chattanooga Times December 12, 1946 19 https://www.newspapers.com/article/chattanooga-daily-times-uc-ranked-65th-i/124862961/ Newspapers.com The top 100 ranked teams were: 15em 1. Notre Dame (8–0–1) 2. Army (9–0–1) 3. Michigan (6–2–1) 4. Georgia (11–0) 5. Rice (9–2) 6. Illinois (8–2) 7. Texas (8–2) 8. Penn (6–2) 9. LSU (9–1–1) 10. Mississippi State (8–2) 11. Georgia Tech (9–2) 12. Tennessee (9–2) 13. North Carolina (8–2–1) 14. Kentucky (7–3) 15. Oklahoma (8–3) 16. UCLA (10–1) 17. Northwestern (4–4–1) 18. Iowa (5–4) 19. Indiana (6–3) 20. Duke (4–5) 21. Yale (7–1–1) 22. Alabama (7–4) 23. Tulsa (9–1) 24. Penn State (6–2) 25. Ohio State (4–3–2) 26. Vanderbilt (5–4) 27. Minnesota (5–4) 28. Arkansas (6–3–2) 29. Wisconsin (4–5) 30. William & Mary (8–2) 31. Oklahoma City (10–1) 32. Navy (1–8) 33. Tulane (3–7) 34. Wake Forest (6–3) 35. NC State (8–3) 36. Columbia (6–3) 37. USC (6–4) 38. Cornell (5–3–1) 39. Miami (FL) (8–2) 40. Texas A&M (4–6) 41. SMU (4–5–1) 42. Cincinnati (9–2) 43. Pittsburgh (3–5–1) 44. Boston College (6–3) 45. Ole Miss (2–7) 46. Harvard (7–2) 47. Villanova (6–4) 48. Purdue (2–6–1) 49. Rutgers (7–2) 50. Miami (OH) (7–3) 51. Michigan State (5–3–1) 52. TCU (2–7–1) 53. Colgate (4–4) 54. Stanford (6–3–1) 55. Holy Cross 56. Hardin-Simmons (11–0) 57. Princeton (3–5) 58. Texas Tech 59. Nevada (7–2) 60. Oklahoma A&M (3–7–1) 61. Detroit (6–4) 62. Oregon State (7–1–1) 63. Syracuse (4–5) 64. Mississippi Southern (7–3) 65. Chattanooga (5–5) 66. Temple (2–4–2) 67. Nebraska 68. Marquette (4–5) 69. Auburn (4–6) 70. Washington (5–4) 71. West Virginia (5–5) 72. Saint Mary's (6–3) 73. Ohio (6–3) 74. Virginia (4–4–1) 75. Baylor (1–8) 76. Kansas (7–2–1) 77. Missouri (5–4–1) 78. Louisiana Tech (7–3) 79. California (2–7) 80. Clemson (4–5) 81. Dartmouth 82. Delaware (10–0) 83. Virginia Tech (3–4–3) 84. Florida (0–9) 85. Iowa State Teachers (4–1–2) 86. San Francisco (3–6) 87. Southwestern Louisiana (6–4) 88. St. Bonaventure (6–2) 89. Washington State (1–6–1) 90. Central Michigan (6–2) 91. Utah State (7–2–1) 92. Northwestern Louisiana 93. Utah (8–3) 94. Arizona (4–4–2) 95. Georgetown (5–3) 96. Dayton (6–3) 97. Western Michigan (5–2–1) 98. Bowling Green (5–3) 99. Oregon (4–4–1) 100. Southwestern (TX) (5–4–1) 101. Brown (3–5–1) 102. Muhlenberg (9–1) 103. George Washington (4–3) 104. Missouri Valley (10–0) 105. Richmond (6–2–2) 106. Baldwin-Wallace (4–2–2) 107. VMI (4–5–1) 108. Maryland (3–6) 109. San Jose State (9–1–1) 110. South Carolina (2–4–3) 111. Washington & Lee (2–6) 112. Denver (5–5–1) 113. Wichita (5–5) 114. Boston University (5–2–1) 115. Hawaii (8–2) 116. Saint Louis (4–6) 117. Bucknell (3–6) 118. Minot 119. Otterbein (7–1) 120. Santa Clara (2–5–1) 121. Morehead (KY) 122. Canisius (4–3–1) 123. New Hampshire (6–1–1) 124. California (PA) (9–0) 125. Southwestern Louisiana (6–4) 126. Bradley (7–2) 127. Connecticut (4–3–1) 128. Toledo (6–2–2) 129. Western Reserve (4–3–2) 130. Ohio Wesleyan 131. Youngstown (7–1) 132. Abilene Christian (8–1–1) 133. Butler (7–1) 134. Catawba (10–2) 135. St. Norbert (8–0) 136. Murray (KY) 137. Wesleyan (7–0) 138. Clarkson 139. Eastern Kentucky 140. Colorado (5–4–1) 141. Kent State (6–2) 142. Davidson (4–5) 143. Niagara (6–2) 144. Furman (2–8) 145. Lawrence (6–1–1) 146. Cape Girardeau 147. Wayne (4–5) 148. Santa Monica 149. Compton 150. Ottawa (7–1–1) Pittsburgh Courier The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1946 teams from historically black colleges and universities using the Dickinson System in an era when college football was largely segregated.Morgan Wins But Tennessee Is Still Tops The Pittsburgh Courier Lucius Jones December 7, 1946 17 https://www.newspapers.com/clip/102422096/morgan-wins-but-tennesssee-is-still-tops/ Newspapers.com The rankings were published on December 7. Tennessee A&I (10–1) Morgan State (8–0) Tuskegee (10–2) Wilberforce (5–2–2) Lane (8–2) Arkansas A&M (8–2–1) Southern (9–2–1), Lincoln (MO) (5–3–1) Florida A&M (6–4–1) Prairie View A&M (6–2–2) West Virginia State (6–3–1) Allen (8–2) Bethune-Cookman (8–1–1), Wiley (6–3–1), Xavier (LA) (4–2) Texas College (5–4–1) South Carolina State (5–3–1) Fisk (4–2–1) North Carolina College (7–3), Howard (6–3), Morris Brown (4–3–1), Louisville Municipal (5–2) Benedict (5–4) Clark (3–4), North Carolina A&T (3–5), Bluefield State (4–4–1), Houston College (2–3–2) Shaw (5–3–1), Kentucky State (5–4) Lincoln (PA) (5–3), Alabama State (4–4–1) LeMoyne–Owen (3–4) Morehouse (1–3–3), Hampton (4–4), Virginia Union (3–4–1), Langston (2–6) Alabama A&M (3–4–1), Huston (2–4–2) Tillotson (2–5) Bishop (3–2–1), Dillard (3–3) Grambling (6–6) See also 1946 College Football All-America Team References * Category:College football rankings