National Champion: Southern California (AP, FWAA, NFF, UPI)
Heisman Memorial Trophy: Terry Baker (Oregon State)
FWAA Coach of the Year Award: John McKay (Southern California)
AP Preseason #1: Ohio State ▪ AP Final #1: Southern California
| Overall | Bowls | SRS | Polls | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Conference | Schs | G | W | L | T | Pct | G | W | L | T | Pct | SRS | SOS | Pre | Final | Champion |
| 1 | Big Ten Conference | 10 | 91 | 47 | 42 | 2 | .527 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 14.10 | 12.19 | 3 | 2 | Wisconsin |
| 2 | Athletic Association of Western Universities | 6 | 61 | 33 | 25 | 3 | .566 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 8.12 | 6.28 | 1 | 1 | Southern California |
| 3 | Southeastern Conference | 12 | 123 | 63 | 52 | 8 | .545 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | .800 | 8.08 | 6.59 | 3 | 3 | Mississippi |
| 4 | Southwest Conference | 8 | 82 | 36 | 43 | 3 | .457 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | 4.54 | 5.77 | 1 | 2 | Texas |
| 5 | Big Eight Conference | 8 | 83 | 42 | 38 | 3 | .524 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 3.56 | 3.66 | 0 | 1 | Oklahoma |
| 6 | Atlantic Coast Conference | 8 | 80 | 35 | 43 | 2 | .450 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.65 | 0.77 | 1 | 0 | Duke | |
| 7 | Independent | 34 | 339 | 173 | 159 | 7 | .521 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | .500 | -1.23 | -1.62 | 1 | 1 | |
| 8 | Western Athletic Conference | 6 | 60 | 32 | 25 | 3 | .558 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1.57 | -4.41 | 0 | 0 | New Mexico | |
| 9 | Mid-American Conference | 7 | 68 | 38 | 28 | 2 | .574 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 | -2.22 | -4.04 | 0 | 0 | Bowling Green State |
| 10 | Missouri Valley Conference | 4 | 40 | 16 | 24 | 0 | .400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6.11 | -4.43 | 0 | 0 | Tulsa | |
| 11 | Southern Conference | 9 | 88 | 42 | 44 | 2 | .489 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -7.71 | -6.33 | 0 | 0 | Virginia Military Institute | |
| 12 | Ivy Group | 8 | 72 | 35 | 33 | 4 | .514 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -11.33 | -11.48 | 0 | 0 | Dartmouth | |
| School | Conf | Pre | 9/24 | 10/1 | 10/8 | 10/15 | 10/22 | 10/29 | 11/5 | 11/12 | 11/19 | 11/26 | Final |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern California | AAWU | 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wisconsin | Big Ten | 10 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Mississippi | SEC | 6 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| Texas | SWC | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Alabama | SEC | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Arkansas | SWC | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6 | |||
| Louisiana State | SEC | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | |
| Oklahoma | Big 8 | 10 | 8 | 8 | |||||||||
| Penn State | Ind | 9 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 9 | |||||
| Minnesota | Big Ten | 10 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 10 | |||||||
| School | Conf | Pre | 9/24 | 10/1 | 10/8 | 10/15 | 10/22 | 10/29 | 11/5 | 11/12 | 11/19 | 11/26 | Final |
| Army | Ind | 10 | |||||||||||
| Auburn | SEC | 10 | |||||||||||
| Duke | ACC | 8 | |||||||||||
| Georgia Tech | SEC | 8 | 5 | ||||||||||
| Miami (FL) | Ind | 9 | |||||||||||
| Michigan State | Big Ten | 4 | 6 | 10 | 7 | ||||||||
| Missouri | Big 8 | 10 | 7 | 6 | |||||||||
| Northwestern | Big Ten | 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |||||||
| Ohio State | Big Ten | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | |||||||
| Purdue | Big Ten | 7 | 9 | ||||||||||
| Washington | AAWU | 10 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 9 |
|
Terry Baker*, B, Oregon State Mel Renfro, B, Oregon George Saimes, B, Michigan State Jerry Stovall*, B, Louisiana State Hal Bedsole, E, Southern California Pat Richter, E, Wisconsin Bobby Bell*, L, Minnesota Jack Cvercko, L, Northwestern Jim Dunaway, L, Mississippi Lee Roy Jordan*, L, Alabama Johnny Treadwell*, L, Texas |