| 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 | 84 | 45 | 34 | 5 | .565 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11.77 | 9.63 | 0 | 3 | Indiana | |
| 2 | Southeastern Conference | 12 | 115 | 64 | 49 | 2 | .565 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 5.57 | 2.51 | 0 | 4 | Alabama |
| 3 | Missouri Valley Conference | 5 | 49 | 33 | 15 | 1 | .684 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 4.62 | -3.61 | 0 | 2 | Oklahoma State |
| 4 | Independent | 35 | 298 | 160 | 123 | 15 | .562 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 | 2.02 | -0.03 | 0 | 7 | Colorado College |
| 5 | Southern Conference | 11 | 98 | 48 | 44 | 6 | .520 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 1.53 | 1.24 | 0 | 2 | Duke |
| 6 | Southwest Conference | 7 | 74 | 39 | 34 | 1 | .534 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 0.81 | -0.27 | 0 | 1 | Texas |
| 7 | Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association | 3 | 26 | 11 | 12 | 3 | .481 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | -3.09 | -2.47 | 0 | 0 | |
| 8 | Mountain States Athletic Conference | 5 | 41 | 19 | 20 | 2 | .488 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | -3.22 | -3.76 | 0 | 0 | Denver |
| 9 | Big Six Conference | 6 | 55 | 24 | 29 | 2 | .455 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | -4.33 | -1.71 | 0 | 0 | Missouri |
| 10 | Pacific Coast Conference | 8 | 74 | 36 | 35 | 3 | .507 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | -6.83 | -6.84 | 0 | 1 | Southern California |
| School | Conf | 10/8 | 10/15 | 10/22 | 10/29 | 11/5 | 11/12 | 11/19 | 11/26 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Army | Ind | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Alabama | SEC | 7 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Navy | Ind | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Indiana | Western | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Oklahoma State | MVC | 14 | 15 | 17 | 9 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 5 |
| Michigan | Western | 9 | 13 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 6 |
| Saint Mary's (CA) | Ind | 19 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 7 |
| Pennsylvania | Ind | 11 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 8 |
| Notre Dame | Ind | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 9 |
| Texas | SWC | 10 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 10 | |
| Southern California | PCC | 6 | 14 | 20 | 16 | 11 | ||||
| Ohio State | Western | 4 | 4 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 12 | 12 |
| Duke | Southern | 13 | 16 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 13 |
| Tennessee | SEC | 18 | 18 | 14 | 17 | 14 | ||||
| Louisiana State | SEC | 13 | 17 | 14 | 19 | 15 | ||||
| Holy Cross | Ind | 12 | 19 | 15 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 13 | 16 | |
| Tulsa | MVC | 16 | 18 | 14 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 14 | 17 | |
| Georgia | SEC | 12 | 18 | |||||||
| Wake Forest | Southern | 19 | ||||||||
| Columbia | Ind | 17 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 19 | 20 | |||
| School | Conf | 10/8 | 10/15 | 10/22 | 10/29 | 11/5 | 11/12 | 11/19 | 11/26 | Final |
| Clemson | Southern | 18 | ||||||||
| Minnesota | Western | 5 | 5 | 5 | 16 | 20 | ||||
| Mississippi State | SEC | 20 | 20 | 18 | 15 | 16 | 20 | |||
| Missouri | Big 6 | 16 | 14 | |||||||
| Northwestern | Western | 20 | ||||||||
| Oklahoma | Big 6 | 14 | 14 | |||||||
| Penn State | Ind | 12 | ||||||||
| Purdue | Western | 15 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 18 | ||
| Texas A&M | SWC | 17 | ||||||||
| UCLA | PCC | 12 | ||||||||
| Virginia | Ind | 20 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 20 | ||||
| Washington | PCC | 18 | 18 |
| Heisman Memorial Trophy: | Doc Blanchard (Army) |
| Maxwell Award: | Doc Blanchard (Army) |
| AFCA Coach of the Year Award: | Bo McMillin (Indiana) |
|
Doc Blanchard*, B, Army Glenn Davis*, B, Army Bob Fenimore, B, Oklahoma State Herman Wedemeyer*, B, Saint Mary's (CA) Hubert Bechtol, E, Texas Dick Duden, E, Navy Max Morris, E, Northwestern Bob Ravensberg, E, Indiana Tex Coulter, L, Army John Green, L, Army Vaughn Mancha, L, Alabama Warren Namling*, L, Ohio State George Savitsky, L, Pennsylvania |