National Champion: Notre Dame (AP)
Heisman Memorial Trophy: Glenn Davis (Army)
AP First #1: Texas ▪ AP Final #1: Notre Dame
| 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 | 82 | 44 | 33 | 5 | .567 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 12.62 | 10.17 | 0 | 3 | Illinois |
| 2 | Southeastern Conference | 12 | 122 | 74 | 47 | 1 | .611 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .625 | 11.54 | 7.53 | 0 | 4 | Georgia Tennessee |
| 3 | Southwest Conference | 7 | 71 | 34 | 33 | 4 | .507 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .750 | 6.42 | 5.20 | 0 | 3 | Arkansas Rice |
| 4 | Southern Conference | 16 | 149 | 74 | 67 | 8 | .523 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .000 | 3.39 | 2.40 | 0 | 2 | North Carolina |
| 5 | Independent | 39 | 352 | 182 | 157 | 13 | .536 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .250 | 1.96 | 0.67 | 0 | 4 | Montana State |
| 6 | Pacific Coast Conference | 10 | 92 | 46 | 42 | 4 | .522 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | -1.38 | -1.56 | 0 | 1 | UCLA |
| 7 | Big Six Conference | 6 | 58 | 25 | 30 | 3 | .457 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | -4.19 | -1.04 | 0 | 1 | Kansas Oklahoma |
| 8 | Missouri Valley Conference | 5 | 50 | 23 | 25 | 2 | .480 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6.25 | -5.58 | 0 | 1 | Tulsa | |
| 9 | Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association | 9 | 93 | 48 | 37 | 8 | .559 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .750 | -7.93 | -9.74 | 0 | 0 | Hardin-Simmons |
| 10 | Mountain States Athletic Conference | 7 | 71 | 33 | 33 | 5 | .500 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | -10.86 | -10.07 | 0 | 0 | Denver Utah State |
| School | Conf | 10/7 | 10/14 | 10/21 | 10/28 | 11/4 | 11/11 | 11/18 | 11/25 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notre Dame | Ind | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Army | Ind | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Georgia | SEC | 8 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| UCLA | PCC | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Illinois | Western | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 5 | ||
| Michigan | Western | 4 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6 |
| Tennessee | SEC | 8 | 9 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 |
| Louisiana State | SEC | 13 | 12 | 19 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 8 | ||
| North Carolina | Southern | 15 | 10 | 9 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 11 | 9 | |
| Rice | SWC | 16 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 14 | 12 | 13 | 10 | |
| Georgia Tech | SEC | 15 | 16 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 11 | ||
| Yale | Ind | 15 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 12 | ||||
| Pennsylvania | Ind | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 13 | 14 | 13 |
| Oklahoma | Big 6 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 14 | ||
| Texas | SWC | 1 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 17 | 20 | 15 |
| Arkansas | SWC | 18 | 14 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 16 | |||
| Tulsa | MVC | 20 | 19 | 17 | ||||||
| North Carolina State | Southern | 19 | 12 | 20 | 18 | |||||
| Delaware | 16 | 15 | 19 | |||||||
| Indiana | Western | 18 | 20 | 20 | ||||||
| School | Conf | 10/7 | 10/14 | 10/21 | 10/28 | 11/4 | 11/11 | 11/18 | 11/25 | Final |
| Alabama | SEC | 6 | 7 | 11 | 15 | |||||
| Boston College | Ind | 17 | ||||||||
| Columbia | Ind | 11 | 11 | |||||||
| Duke | Southern | 17 | 13 | 19 | 20 | |||||
| Harvard | Ind | 20 | 17 | |||||||
| Holy Cross | Ind | 19 | ||||||||
| Iowa | Western | 17 | 16 | |||||||
| Kentucky | SEC | 19 | ||||||||
| Mississippi State | SEC | 19 | ||||||||
| Muhlenberg | 19 | |||||||||
| Northwestern | Western | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 17 | ||||
| Ohio State | Western | 14 | 12 | 13 | ||||||
| Oregon | PCC | 19 | ||||||||
| Saint Mary's (CA) | Ind | 16 | ||||||||
| Southern California | PCC | 14 | 12 | 10 | 16 | |||||
| Stanford | PCC | 17 | ||||||||
| Wake Forest | Southern | 12 | 13 | |||||||
| William & Mary | Southern | 19 | 18 | |||||||
| Wisconsin | Western | 20 | 18 | 15 |
| Heisman Memorial Trophy: | Glenn Davis (Army) |
| John Outland Trophy: | George Connor (Notre Dame) |
| Maxwell Award: | Charley Trippi (Georgia) |
| AFCA Coach of the Year Award: | Red Blaik (Army) |
|
Doc Blanchard*, B, Army Glenn Davis*, B, Army John Lujack*, B, Notre Dame Charley Trippi*, B, Georgia Burr Baldwin*, E, UCLA Hubert Bechtol, E, Texas Hank Foldberg, E, Army Alex Agase, L, Illinois Warren Amling, L, Ohio State George Connor, L, Notre Dame Paul Duke, L, Georgia Tech Dick Huffman, L, Tennessee Weldon Humble, L, Rice |