| Overall | Bowls | SRS | Polls | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Conference | Schs | G | W | L | T | Pct | G | W | L | T | Pct | SRS | SOS | Pre | Final | Champion |
| 1 | Western Conference | 9 | 72 | 39 | 33 | 0 | .542 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.87 | 12.52 | 0 | 3 | Minnesota | |
| 2 | Southwest Conference | 7 | 70 | 43 | 26 | 1 | .621 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 9.99 | 6.39 | 0 | 2 | Texas A&M |
| 3 | Southeastern Conference | 12 | 123 | 74 | 43 | 6 | .626 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 7.22 | 1.96 | 0 | 2 | Tennessee |
| 4 | Pacific Coast Conference | 10 | 94 | 43 | 43 | 8 | .500 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 5.29 | 5.65 | 0 | 2 | Stanford |
| 5 | Big Six Conference | 6 | 55 | 28 | 27 | 0 | .509 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 2.30 | 2.02 | 0 | 1 | Nebraska |
| 6 | Independent | 41 | 362 | 188 | 152 | 22 | .550 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 | 2.11 | -0.10 | 0 | 7 | |
| 7 | Southern Conference | 15 | 141 | 74 | 62 | 5 | .543 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.01 | -2.67 | 0 | 1 | Clemson | |
| 8 | Missouri Valley Conference | 7 | 68 | 33 | 31 | 4 | .515 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -5.56 | -6.37 | 0 | 0 | Tulsa | |
| 9 | Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association | 7 | 66 | 37 | 25 | 4 | .591 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | -6.57 | -8.91 | 0 | 0 | Arizona State |
| 10 | Mountain States Athletic Conference | 7 | 61 | 26 | 27 | 8 | .492 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -7.37 | -6.56 | 0 | 0 | Utah | |
| School | Conf | 10/14 | 10/21 | 10/28 | 11/4 | 11/11 | 11/18 | 11/25 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | Western | 7 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Stanford | PCC | 10 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Michigan | Western | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 3 |
| Tennessee | SEC | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 |
| Boston College | Ind | 8 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 5 |
| Texas A&M | SWC | 2 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Nebraska | Big 6 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 7 | |
| Northwestern | Western | 4 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 8 |
| Mississippi State | SEC | 20 | 19 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 9 | ||
| Washington | PCC | 16 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 10 |
| Santa Clara | Ind | 20 | 19 | 16 | 19 | 15 | 11 | ||
| Fordham | Ind | 11 | 11 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 12 | |
| Georgetown | Ind | 15 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 13 | |
| Pennsylvania | Ind | 9 | 8 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 14 | |
| Cornell | Ind | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 13 | 15 |
| Southern Methodist | SWC | 19 | 15 | 14 | 20 | 18 | 16 | 16 | |
| Hardin-Simmons | Ind | 20 | 17 | ||||||
| Duke | Southern | 18 | 12 | 12 | 20 | 18 | |||
| Lafayette | 18 | 18 | 19 | ||||||
| School | Conf | 10/14 | 10/21 | 10/28 | 11/4 | 11/11 | 11/18 | 11/25 | Final |
| Alabama | SEC | 14 | 17 | 17 | |||||
| Clemson | Southern | 12 | 13 | 10 | |||||
| Columbia | Ind | 20 | |||||||
| Detroit Mercy | Ind | 17 | |||||||
| Iowa | Western | 20 | |||||||
| Mississippi | SEC | 13 | 14 | 17 | 11 | ||||
| Navy | Ind | 14 | |||||||
| Notre Dame | Ind | 6 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 14 | ||
| Ohio State | Western | 15 | |||||||
| Oregon State | PCC | 18 | 19 | ||||||
| Penn State | Ind | 18 | 16 | 20 | 20 | ||||
| Southern California | PCC | 17 | 17 | ||||||
| Texas | SWC | 14 | 12 | ||||||
| Texas Tech | BIAA | 20 | 18 | ||||||
| Washington State | PCC | 19 |
| Heisman Memorial Trophy: | Tom Harmon (Michigan) |
| Maxwell Award: | Tom Harmon (Michigan) |
| AFCA Coach of the Year Award: | Clark Shaughnessy (Stanford) |
|
Frankie Albert, B, Stanford George Franck, B, Minnesota Tom Harmon*, B, Michigan John Kimbrough*, B, Texas A&M Gene Goodreault, E, Boston College Dave Rankin, E, Purdue Alf Bauman, L, Northwestern Nick Drahos, L, Cornell Rudy Mucha, L, Washington Urban Odson, L, Minnesota Marshall Robnett, L, Texas A&M Bob Suffridge*, L, Tennessee |