The 1936 college football season was the first in which the Associated Press writers' poll selected a national champion. The first AP poll, taken of 35 writers, was released on October 20, 1936. Each writer listed his choice for the top ten teams, and points were tallied based on 10 for first place, 9 for second, etc., and the AP then ranked the twenty teams with the highest number of points.[2] In the first poll, Minnesota received 32 first place votes, and 3 votes for an additional 25 points, for a total of 345 altogether. Of the seven contemporary math system selectors, two chose Pittsburgh as the top team.
September 26 In Seattle, Minnesota opened its season with a 14–7 win over Washington.
Defending champ (under the Dickinson ratings) SMU had a tough time in beating North Texas, 6–0, and Rose Bowl winner Stanford lost its opener to visiting Santa Clara 13–0. Sugar Bowl winner TCU lost at Texas Tech 7–0. LSU beat visiting Rice 20–7. Alabama beat Samford 34–0 and Pittsburgh beat Ohio Wesleyan 53–0.
The first AP Poll was released on October 20, with Minnesota being the majority favorite, with 32 of 35 first place votes, and 345 out of 350 points. The Gophers were followed by No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Army, No. 4 Northwestern, and No. 5 Purdue. USC, ranked No. 6, received one first place vote.
October 24No. 1 Minnesota hosted No. 5 Purdue in a meeting of unbeaten (3–0–0) schools. Minnesota proved the AP voters right by winning 33–0. No. 2 Duke (5–0–0) lost to (1–2–1) Tennessee, 15–13. No. 3 Army beat Springfield College 33–0. No. 4 Northwestern won at Illinois 13–2. No. 8 Washington beat California 13–0. No. 9 Pittsburgh beat visiting, and previously unbeaten, No. 7 Notre Dame 26–0. No. 16 Fordham edged visiting No. 12 St. Mary's 7–6. The next top five was No. 1 Minnesota, No. 2 Pitt, No. 3 Northwestern, No. 4 Washington, and No. 5 Fordham.
October 31 In a Friday night game, No. 1 Minnesota and No. 3 Northwestern, both unbeaten (4–0–0), met in a Big Ten conference game at Evanston. The Gophers had not lost a game in more than three years, and the game was scoreless after three quarters, until Northwestern's line "ripped a gaping hole in the Gophers' forward wall" and Steve Toth drove across the goal line. With five minutes left, Minnesota's Rudy Gmitro was in the clear for a touchdown before being brought down by Fred Vanzon, and Northwestern held on for the 6–0 win.[3]
At the Polo Grounds in New York, No. 2 Pittsburgh and No. 5 Fordham played to a 0–0 tie. In Portland, No. 4 Washington beat Oregon 7–0, but dropped to 6th. No. 10 Marquette beat visiting No. 20 St. Mary's 20–6 and rose to 4th place. The next top five was No. 1 Northwestern, No. 2 Minnesota, No. 3 Fordham, No. 4 Marquette, and No. 5 Pitt.
November
November 7No. 1 Northwestern beat Wisconsin 26–18. No. 2 Minnesota beat Iowa 52–0. No. 3 Fordham defeated visiting Purdue 15–0. No. 4 Marquette narrowly won in Omaha against Creighton, 7–6. No. 5 Pittsburgh beat Penn State 34–7. No. 14 Alabama and No. 10 Tulane, both 5–0–1, met at Tuscaloosa. Alabama's 34–7 win was followed by its rise to 4th place in the poll, with Marquette dropping to 8th.
November 14No. 1 Northwestern won 9–0 at Michigan to clinch the Big Ten title, while No. 2 Minnesota beat Texas 47–19. No. 3 Fordham was idle. No. 4 Alabama beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta, 20–16. No. 5 Pittsburgh won at No. 6 Nebraska 19–6. In Birmingham, No. 7 LSU beat Auburn 19–6 to extend its record to 7–0–1 and move to 5th place in the poll, with Alabama falling to 8th.
November 21No. 1 Northwestern lost at No. 11 Notre Dame, 26–6, while No. 2 Minnesota won at Wisconsin 24–0 in their season finale. No. 3 Fordham and visiting Georgia played to a 7–7 tie. No. 4 Pittsburgh was idle. No. 5 LSU beat Lafayette College of Louisiana 93–0. No. 9 Santa Clara won in San Francisco at St. Mary's, 19–0. In the poll that followed, Northwestern—which had been one game away from a perfect season—fell to seventh place and Minnesota regained the top spot, ahead of LSU, Alabama, Pitt, and Santa Clara.
On November 26, Thanksgiving Day, No. 3 Alabama beat Vanderbilt 14–6 in Birmingham. No. 4 Pittsburgh beat its other crosstown rival, Carnegie Tech, 31–14. No. 6 Washington beat No. 20 Washington State 40–0. At Yankee Stadium Fordham, which had fallen to 8th, (5–0–2) lost to NYU, 7–6.
November 28No. 2 LSU clinched the SEC title with a 33–0 win over No. 19 Tulane. No. 5 Santa Clara lost to No. 18 TCU, 9–0. The final AP Poll ranked Minnesota, LSU, Pitt, Alabama, and Washington as the top five.
Conference standings
For this article, major conferences defined as those including multiple state flagship public universities.
"There is no longer any blot left on Pittsburgh's Rose Bowl escutcheon," wrote Grantland Rice. "Here was a Panther who belonged to the jungle and not to the zoo-- a fast, hard driving slashing Panther who put both fang and claw to work in beating Washington's Huskies 21 to 0 before 87,200 chilly witnesses."[5]
Pittsburgh had been ranked No. 3 by the AP, behind No. 2 LSU, which met Santa Clara in the Sugar Bowl. No. 1 ranked Minnesota, like other Big Ten Conference teams, was not allowed to play postseason. LSU had lost the previous Sugar Bowl to TCU, by a 3–2 score. A crowd of 41,000 turned out in New Orleans to see the Tigers lose again. The Santa Clara Broncos took a 14–0 lead in the first quarter and won 21–14.[6]
A crowd of 17,000 turned out in Dallas to watch the first Cotton Bowl. Sammy Baugh of TCU completed only 5 of 13 pass attempts, but had 110 yards and a touchdown as TCU beat Marquette, 16–6.[7]
1935 had been the first year that the Heisman Trophy was ever awarded, although it was named differently in the first year. It was known simply as the "DAC Trophy" for its inaugural year. In 1936, John Heisman died and the trophy that is awarded to the best college football player in the US was renamed in his honor. Larry Kelley, the second winner of the award was the first man to win it officially named as the "Heisman Trophy."[10]
There was significant debate over who would be recognized as the national champion in 1936. Thus, a number of sportswriters across the country began to nominate several small colleges based on wins over the national championship contenders via the transitive property. Essentially, the small college of choice would have beaten a team which had defeated another team which in turn defeated one or several of the legitimate national championship contenders. These were Minnesota (consensus), Pitt (BS, CFRA, HS), Duke (SR, WS), and LSU (BQPRS).
Other claims to the 1936 national championship by this method were also made by Saint Vincent College of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, which followed the majority of Slippery Rock's line of successive wins, beating West Virginia Wesleyan 6 to 0 earlier in the 1936 season. A case was made for Indiana State Teachers College as well, as they tied Lock Haven, who beat West Chester, which defeated Waynesburg, which connected to the Slippery Rock and St. Vincent's claims by defeating West Virginia Wesleyan 14 to 7.[15] A week before Thanksgiving, St. Thomas College of Pennsylvania was given national championship recognition after defeating Saint Vincent, 13 to 6.[16]
The 1962 NCAA University Division football season was played by American football teams representing 140 colleges and universities recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as major programs. The remaining 370 colleges and universities that were NCAA members and fielded football teams competed as part of the 1962 NCAA College Division football season.
During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known as Division I-A. The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of "wire service" polls. The "writers' poll" by Associated Press (AP) was the most popular, followed by the "coaches' poll" by United Press International) (UPI). Prior to 1965, both services issued their final polls at the close of the regular season, but before teams competed in bowl games. For the 1965 season, the AP took its final poll after the postseason games, an arrangement made permanent in 1968. The Associated Press presented the "AP Trophy" to the winner.
The 1961 college football season was the 93rd season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Two teams have a claim to the 1961 major college national championship:
The 1959 college football season was the 91st season of intercollegiate football in the United States. It concluded with two teams having claim to the major college national championship:
The 1976 NCAA Division I football season ended with a championship for the Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh. Led by head coach Johnny Majors, the Pitt Panthers brought a college football championship to the home of the defending pro football champions, the Steelers. Pitt also had the Heisman Trophy winner, Tony Dorsett; the Panthers had been ranked ninth in the preseason AP poll.
The 1977 NCAA Division I football season was one in which the top five teams finished with 11–1 records. Notre Dame, which beat top-ranked and undefeated Texas in the Cotton Bowl, became the national champion.
The 1932 college football season saw the Michigan Wolverines win the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy as national champion under the math-based Dickinson System. Because the "Big Nine" conference didn't permit its teams to play in the postseason, however, the Wolverines were not able to accept a bid to the Rose Bowl. As such, the Pasadena game matched the No. 2 and No. 3 teams, USC and Pittsburgh, with the USC Trojans winning the east–west matchup 35–0. The other four contemporary math system selectors all selected USC as national champion. This was also the last season NFL would use college football rules.
The 1934 college football season was the 66th season of college football in the United States. Two New Year's Day bowl games were initiated to rival the Rose Bowl Game. On February 15, Warren V. Miller and Joseph M. Cousins organized the New Orleans Mid-Winter Sports Association and by October, the group had enough funds to sponsor the Sugar Bowl. Meanwhile, W. Keith Phillips and the Greater Miami Athletic Club worked in November at a January 1 game for Florida, and the Orange Bowl was created.
The 1935 college football season was the last one before the Associated Press (AP) writers' poll was used in selecting the national champion. There were seven contemporary math system selectors that year who are informally recognized by the NCAA as "nationwide in scope". The Dickinson System, run by University of Illinois Professor Frank Dickinson, selected Southern Methodist University (SMU) as best in the nation. The Houlgate System, created by Carroll Everard "Deke" Houlgate Sr., also selected SMU. The contemporary Boand, Litkenhous and Poling math rating systems all selected Minnesota as the No. 1 team in the nation. The Dunkel System selected Princeton as its top team. The Williamson System, by Paul O. Williamson of New Orleans, ranked Texas Christian University first.
The 1949 college football season was the 81st season of intercollegiate football in the United States. It concluded with the top four teams undefeated and untied at the end of the regular season:
The 1948 college football season finished with SMU halfback Doak Walker as the Heisman Trophy winner and six teams in contention for the national championship:
Bennie Oosterbaan's Michigan compiled a 9–0 record, defeated six ranked opponents, and was the consensus national champion, receiving 192 of 333 first-place votes in the final AP Poll. It was Michigan's second consecutive undefeated season, extending the program's winning streak to 23 games.
Frank Leahy's Notre Dame Fighting Irish compiled a 9–0–1 record and had a 21-game winning streak dating back to the 1946 season before playing a 14–14 tie with USC in the final game of the 1948 season. Notre Dame was ranked No. 2 in the final AP Poll, receiving 97 of 333 first-place votes, with the same record as Michigan due to the final poll being taken prior to their season-ending tie.
Carl Snavely's No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels, led by Heisman Trophy runner-up Charlie Justice, were undefeated in the regular season (9–0–1) but lost to Oklahoma in the 1949 Sugar Bowl.
Pappy Waldorf's No. 4 California Golden Bears, led by Jackie Jensen who finished fourth in the 1948 Heisman Trophy voting, were undefeated in the regular season (10–0), but lost to Northwestern in the 1949 Rose Bowl.
Bud Wilkinson's No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners compiled a 10–1 record, including a victory over No. 3 North Carolina in the 1949 Sugar Bowl.
Earl Blaik's No. 6 Army Cadets finished the season undefeated (8–0–1). They won the first eight games of the season and were ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll before playing Navy to a tie in the annual Army–Navy Game.
The 1937 college football season ended with the Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh being named the nation's No. 1 team by 30 of the 33 voters in the Associated Press writers' poll. The AP poll was in its second year, and seven votes were taken during the final weeks of the 1937 season, starting with October 18. Each writer listed his choice for the top ten teams, and points were tallied based on 10 for first place, 9 for second, etc., and the AP then ranked the twenty teams with the highest number of points. With 33 writers polled, Pitt received 30 first place votes and 3 second-place, for a total of 327 points.
The 1938 college football season ended with the Horned Frogs of Texas Christian University (TCU) being named the nation's No. 1 team by 55 of the 77 voters in the final Associated Press writers' poll in early December. Tennessee was also chosen by six contemporary math system selectors as a national champion; both teams won every game. Notre Dame was chosen by the Dickinson System and won the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy.
The 1939 college football season concluded with the Aggies of The Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas being named as the national champions by the voters in the Associated Press writers' poll. Led by consensus All-American fullback John Kimbrough, the Aggies went undefeated at 11–0 and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 212 to 31, with the defense allowing just 54 first downs and 763 yards all season, or 1.71 yards per play. On New Year's Day, Texas A&M defeated Tulane, 14–13 in the Sugar Bowl.
The 1940 college football season was the 72nd season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six Conference, the Southern Conference, the Southwestern Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs.
The 1941 college football regular season was the 73rd season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six Conference, the Southern Conference, the Southwestern Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs.
The college football rankings for the 1936 college football season included the first AP Poll, the Toledo Cup rankings based on input from a judge's committee of 250 sports editors, and the Litkenhous Ratings. The 1936 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was ranked as the national champion in all three rankings.
One human poll comprised the 1939 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 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.
One human poll comprised the 1940 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 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.
One human poll comprised the 1941 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 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.
↑ Grantland Rice, from North American News syndicate, quoted in "Panthers Turn Rose Bowl into 21 to 0 Rout", Lincoln (Neb.) State Journal, Jan. 2, 1937, p7
↑ "Santa Clara Scores Twice First Period To Trip L.S.U. 21-14", Lincoln (Neb.) State Journal, Jan. 2, 1937, p7
↑ "Slingin' Sam Rifles Texas Christian to 16-6 Bowl Conquest", Lincoln (Neb.) State Journal, Jan. 2, 1937, p7
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.