1948 college football rankings

none August 2023 December 2025 1948 Michigan One human poll comprised the 1948 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 November 29, at the end of the regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP did not release a January final poll regularly until the 1968 season (January 1969). 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 (Final) Oct 4 Oct 11 Oct 18 Oct 25 Nov 1 Nov 8 Nov 15 Nov 22 Nov 29 Notre Dame (2–0) (50) North Carolina (2–0) (55) Northwestern (2–0) (21) SMU (2–0) (13) Army (2–0) (7) Georgia Tech (2–0) Michigan (2–0) (2) Minnesota (2–0) California (3–0) (3) Penn State (1–0) (2) Ohio State (2–0) Penn (1–0) Arkansas (2–0) т tw Ole Miss (2–0) т Purdue (0–2) Texas (1–0) Indiana (2–0) Harvard (1–0) Nevada (2–0) Tennessee (0–1–1) North Carolina (3–0) (52) u Notre Dame (3–0) (34) d Northwestern (3–0) (25) Michigan (3–0) (24) u Army (3–0) (5) California (4–0) (10) u Georgia Tech (3–0) d Penn (2–0) (7) u Penn State (2–0) (1) u Ole Miss (3–0) u Minnesota (3–0) d Missouri (2–1) (1) npr Cornell (3–0) npr SMU (2–1) d Clemson (2–0) npr Georgia (2–1) npr Nevada (3–0) u Duke (1–0–2) npr Baylor (2–0–1) npr Oklahoma (2–1) npr Arkansas Harvard Indiana Ohio State Purdue Tennessee Texas Michigan (4–0) (74) u Notre Dame (4–0) (23) North Carolina (4–0) (32) d California (5–0) (14) u Army (4–0) (1) Georgia Tech (4–0) u Penn (3–0) u Penn State (3–0) (1) u Missouri (3–1) (2) u Northwestern (3–1) d SMU (3–1) u Cornell (4–0) u Minnesota (3–1) d Clemson (3–0) u Duke (2–0–2) т tu Nevada (4–0) (1) т u Tulane (3–1) npr Oklahoma (3–1) u Michigan State (2–2) npr Ole Miss (3–1) d Baylor Georgia Michigan (5–0) (117) Notre Dame (5–0) (19) North Carolina (5–0) (46) California (6–0) (13) Army (5–0) (4) Georgia Tech (5–0) (1) Penn (4–0) Missouri (4–1) (1) u Northwestern (4–1) u Nevada (5–0) (3) u SMU (4–1) Penn State (3–0–1) (1) d Clemson (4–0) u Oregon (5–1) npr Minnesota (3–2) d Oklahoma (4–1) (1) u Michigan State (2–2–1) u Georgia (4–1) npr Tulane (4–1) d Baylor (4–0–1) т Texas (4–2) т npr Duke Ole Miss Cornell Notre Dame (6–0) (56) u Michigan (6–0) (68) d North Carolina (6–0) (36) Army (6–0) (5) u California (7–0) (16) d Georgia Tech (6–0) (7) Penn (5–0) SMU (5–1) (1) u Missouri (5–1) (4) d Northwestern (5–1) d Nevada (6–0) (5) d Clemson (5–0) (6) u Georgia (5–1) u Penn State (4–0–1) (1) d Oklahoma (5–1) (2) u Oregon (6–1) d Michigan State (3–2–1) Wake Forest (4–2) npr Minnesota (4–2) d Tulane (5–1) d Baylor Michigan (7–0) (77) u Notre Dame (7–0) (80) d Army (7–0) (14) u California (8–0) (11) u Penn State (5–0–1) (1) u North Carolina (6–0–1) (7) d SMU (6–1) u Northwestern (6–1) u Oklahoma (6–1) (5) u Clemson (6–0) (8) u Georgia Tech (6–1) d Michigan State (4–2–1) (1) u Georgia (6–1) (1) Minnesota (5–2) u Oregon (7–1) u Nevada (6–1) d Penn (5–1) d Tennessee (4–2–1) npr Wake Forest (5–2) d Missouri (5–2) d Tulane Michigan (8–0) (130) Notre Dame (8–0) (27) Army (8–0) (3) California (9–0) (16) North Carolina (7–0–1) (11) u Penn State (6–0–1) (3) d Northwestern (6–2) u Oklahoma (7–1) (5) u Clemson (7–0) (9) u SMU (7–1) d Georgia (7–1) (2) u Michigan State (5–2–1) (2) Oregon (8–1) u Tulane (7–1) npr Minnesota (6–2) d Penn (5–2) u Ole Miss (7–1) npr Ohio State (6–2) npr Cornell (7–1) npr Georgia Tech (6–2) d Missouri Nevada Tennessee Wake Forest Michigan (9–0) (105) Notre Dame (8–0) (38) Army (8–0) (5) North Carolina (8–0–1) (14) u California (10–0) (3) d Oklahoma (8–1) (13) u Northwestern (7–2) SMU (8–1) u Clemson (8–0) (8) Oregon (9–1) u Michigan State (6–2–1) (3) u Georgia (8–1) (1) d Minnesota (7–2) u Tulane (8–1) Vanderbilt (6–2–1) npr Ole Miss (7–1) u Ohio State (6–3) u Penn State (6–1–1) d Penn (5–2) d William & Mary (5–2–2) npr Cornell Georgia Tech Michigan (9–0) (192) nc Notre Dame (9–0) (97) North Carolina (9–0–1) (31) u California (10–0) (5) u Oklahoma (9–1) (30) u Army (8–0–1) d Northwestern (7–2) Georgia (9–1) (5) u Oregon (9–1) u SMU (8–1–1) d Clemson (9–0) (6) d Vanderbilt (7–2–1) (2) u Tulane (9–1) u Michigan State (6–2–2) (2) d Ole Miss (8–1) (13) u Minnesota (7–2) d William & Mary (6–2–2) u Penn State (7–1–1) Cornell (8–1) npr Wake Forest (6–3) npr Ohio State Penn Litkenhous Ratings The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1948 provided numerical rankings to more than 700 college and military football programs.Michigan Leads Final Grid Ratings Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph December 19, 1948 II-2 https://www.newspapers.com/article/pittsburgh-sun-telegraph-michigan-leads/124889710/ Newspapers.com The top 100 ranked teams were: 15em 1. Michigan (9–0) - 114.1 2. Notre Dame (9–0–1) - 106.9 3. Michigan State (6–2–2) - 103.6 4. Army (8–0–1) - 102.1 5. Oklahoma (10–1) - 99.6 6. North Carolina (9–1–1) - 99.4 7. California (10–1) - 99.1 8. Vanderbilt (8–2–1) - 99.1 9. Ohio State (6–3) - 98.4 10. Northwestern (8–2) - 98.0 11. SMU (9–1–1) - 97.9 12. Ole Miss (8–1) - 97.8 13. Minnesota (7–2) - 97.1 14. Georgia (9–2) - 95.7 15. Nevada (9–2) - 93.9 16. Georgia Tech (7–3) - 93.2 17. Missouri - 93.1 18. USC (6–3–1) - 92.1 19. Tulane (9–1) - 91.7 20. Texas (7–3–1) - 90.1 21. Penn State (7–1–1) - 89.8 22. Penn (5–3) - 89.8 23. Illinois (3–6) - 89.5 24. Villanova (8–2–1) - 89.2 25. Cornell (8–1) - 88.7 26. Santa Clara (7–2–1) - 88.6 27. Dartmouth (6–2) - 88.4 28. Oregon (9–2) - 88.3 29. Tennessee (4–4–2) - 88.3 30. Kentucky (5–3–2) - 88.1 31. Pittsburgh (6–3) - 85.7 32. Alabama (6–4–1) - 84.8 33. Baylor (6–3–2) - 84.6 34. Purdue (3–6) - 84.5 35. Clemson (11–0) - 84.2 36. Arkansas (5–5) - 83.9 37. Duke (4–3–2) - 83.9 38. Rice (5–4–1) - 83.9 39. Wake Forest (6–4) - 83.5 40. TCU (4–5–1) - 83.5 41. Princeton (4–4) - 82.5 42. Iowa (4–5) - 82.3 43. Mississippi State (4–4–1) - 82.3 44. William & Mary (7–2–2) - 82.3 45. Stanford (4–6) - 81.6 46. Boston College (5–2–2) - 81.4 47. Kansas (7–3) - 80.1 48. Utah (8–1–1) - 79.9 49. Columbia (4–5) - 79.8 50. Oklahoma A&M (6–4) - 79.5 51. Maryland (6–4) - 79.4 52. Wisconsin (2–7) - 78.5 53. Navy (0–8–1) - 78.4 54. Oregon State (5–4–3) - 78.4 55. Brown (7–2) - 78.3 56. Texas Tech (7–3) - 77.9 57. Miami (OH) (7–1–1) - 77.7 58. Rutgers (7–2) - 76.7 59. Florida (5–5) - 76.1 60. Detroit (6–3) - 75.9 61. Harvard (4–4) - 75.9 62. Washington (2–7–1) - 75.9 63. Indiana (2–7) - 75.8 64. Washington State (4–5–1) - 75.4 65. Miami (FL) (4–6) - 75.2 66. NC State (3–6–1) - 74.8 67. Pacific (7–1–2) - 74.5 68. Saint Mary's (4–6) - 74.4 69. UCLA (3–7) - 74.3 70. Texas A&M (0–9–1) - 74.2 71. Dayton (7–2–1) - 73.8 72. Virginia (5–3–1) - 73.2 73. Texas Mines (8–2–1) - 72.0 74. LSU (3–7) - 71.8 75. Yale (4–5) - 71.8 76. St. Bonaventure (7–1–1) - 71.7 77. West Virginia (9–3) - 71.6 78. Chattanooga (4–5) - 71.1 79. Iowa State (4–6) - 70.4 80. Lafayette (7–2) - 70.3 81. San Jose State (9–3) - 70.2 82. Colorado (3–6) - 69.9 83. Holy Cross (5–5) - 69.5 84. Hardin–Simmons - 69.3 85. VMI (6–3) - 68.8 86. John Carroll (7–1–2) - 68.3 87. Nebraska (2–8) - 68.2 88. Marquette (2–8) - 67.6 89. San Francisco (2–7) - 67.5 90. Idaho (3–6) - 67.4 91. Canisius - 67.2 92. Denver (4–5–1) - 67.2 93. Drake (7–3) - 67.1 94. Colgate (3–6) - 66.7 95. Wyoming (4–5) - 65.8 96. Xavier - 65.7 97. Colorado A&M (8–3) - 65.6 98. South Carolina (3–5) - 65.3 99. Georgetown (3–4–1) - 64.2 100. Bowling Green (8–0–1) - 64.1 101. Wichita (5–4–1) - 64.0 102. Boston University (6–2) - 64.2 103. Auburn (1–8–1) - 62.3 104. Kent State (6–2–1) - 61.9 105. Western Michigan (6–3) - 61.6 106. St. Thomas - 61.3 107. Murray (KY) - 60.7 108. Mississippi Southern (7–3) - 60.5 109. Youngstown - 60.5 110. Baldwin Wallace - 60.2 111. Compton - 60.1 112. Muhlenberg - 60.0 113. Cincinnati (3–6–1) - 59.9 114. Arizona (6–5) - 59.7 115. Bradley - 59.3 116. Ohio Wesleyan - 59.3 117. Richmond - 58.7 118. Heidelberg - 58.0 119. North Texas (6–4) - 57.4 120. Sul Ross - 57.4 121. Trinity (CT) - 57.3 122. Scranton - 57.1 123. Denison - 56.8 124. George Washington (4–6) - 56.7 125. Washington & Lee (4–6) - 56.7 126. West Texas (6–5) - 56.6 127. Buffalo - 56.4 128. Wayne (4–4) - 56.3 129. Syracuse (1–8) - 56.2 130. Gustavus Adolphus - 56.0 131. Iowa State Teachers (7–3) - 56.0 132. Loras - 55.9 133. Utah State - 55.7 134. Illinois Normal - 55.6 135. Eastern Washington - 55.5 136. Temple - 55.4 137. Abilene Christian - 55.1 138. New Mexico - 55.1 139. Toledo (5–6) - 55.0 140. Washington Univ. - 54.9 141. Stephen Austin - 54.8 142. Wesleyan (8–0) - 54.8 143. Delaware (5–3) - 54.7 144. Fordham (3–6) - 54.7 145. Lehigh (5–4) - 54.7 146. Emporia Teachers - 54.4 147. McMurry - 54.4 148. Eastern Kentucky - 54.3 149. Texas Southwest - 54.0 150. Tulsa (0–9–1) - 54.0 Pittsburgh Courier The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1948 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was largely segregated.Southern Continues to Show Grid Supremacy The Pittsburgh Courier Lucius Jones December 11, 1948 11 https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-pittsburgh-courier-1948-rankings/139175726/ Newspapers.com The rankings were published on December 11. Southern (12–0) Grambling (8–2) Wilberforce State (9–1–1) West Virginia State (5–2–2) Florida A&M (8–2) Kentucky State (7–2–1) Texas College (8–3) Lincoln (PA) (5–2) Morgan State (5–3) Virginia Union (6–5) See also 1948 College Football All-America Team References * Category:College football rankings