Conference Summary
| 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 | 37 | 32 | 3 | .535 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.83 | 10.08 | 0 | 4 | Minnesota | |
| 2 | Southwest Conference | 7 | 70 | 41 | 27 | 4 | .597 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 10.85 | 6.74 | 0 | 2 | Texas A&M |
| 3 | Pacific Coast Conference | 10 | 94 | 51 | 42 | 2 | .547 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 10.19 | 8.62 | 0 | 2 | Oregon State |
| 4 | Southeastern Conference | 12 | 116 | 73 | 39 | 6 | .644 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 8.42 | 2.66 | 0 | 5 | Mississippi State |
| 5 | Independent | 37 | 328 | 183 | 133 | 13 | .576 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 3.05 | 0.62 | 0 | 5 | |
| 6 | Big Six Conference | 6 | 54 | 25 | 27 | 3 | .482 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 2.97 | 3.34 | 0 | 1 | Missouri |
| 7 | Southern Conference | 16 | 152 | 65 | 74 | 14 | .471 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | -4.91 | -4.28 | 0 | 1 | Duke |
| 8 | Missouri Valley Conference | 6 | 57 | 30 | 26 | 2 | .534 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | -5.77 | -5.94 | 0 | 0 | Tulsa |
| 9 | Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association | 9 | 89 | 50 | 36 | 4 | .578 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | -7.47 | -9.92 | 0 | 0 | Arizona |
| 10 | Mountain States Athletic Conference | 7 | 59 | 23 | 27 | 9 | .466 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -7.68 | -6.95 | 0 | 0 | Utah | |
Award Winners
| Award | Name | School |
|---|---|---|
| Heisman Memorial Trophy | Bruce Smith | Minnesota |
| Maxwell Award | Bill Dudley | Virginia |
| AFCA Coach of the Year Award | Frank Leahy | Notre Dame |
Consensus All-Americans