Standings
| Overall | Conference | SRS | Polls | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| School | W | L | T | Pct | W | L | T | Pct | Pts | Pts | SRS | SOS | AP Pre | AP High | AP Post | Notes |
| Penn State | 11 | 1 | 0 | .917 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40.3 | 11.4 | 19.51 | 0.59 | 12 | 5 | 5 | ||
| Boston College | 9 | 2 | 0 | .818 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23.5 | 10.6 | 7.29 | -3.53 | |||||
| Notre Dame | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.5 | 8.6 | 16.60 | 6.50 | 1 | 1 | 13 | ||
| Houston | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.3 | 16.6 | 16.77 | 6.68 | 15 | 17 | |||
| Idaho | 8 | 3 | 0 | .727 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.6 | 15.5 | -3.43 | -7.70 | |||||
| Temple | 6 | 2 | 1 | .722 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.6 | 15.1 | 2.61 | -6.95 | |||||
| Utah State | 8 | 3 | 0 | .727 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.1 | 16.6 | 6.87 | 0.41 | |||||
| Air Force | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.7 | 18.7 | 5.50 | 4.30 | 18 | ||||
| Army | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14.6 | 20.6 | 0.39 | 1.89 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 7 | 4 | 0 | .636 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.5 | 17.1 | -0.43 | -4.43 | |||||
| Colgate | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28.7 | 26.2 | -8.99 | -10.29 | |||||
| Florida State | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25.8 | 14.5 | 13.25 | 3.67 | 19 | ||||
| Hawaii | 7 | 4 | 0 | .636 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23.2 | 20.5 | -2.60 | -5.60 | |||||
| West Virginia | 7 | 4 | 0 | .636 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25.5 | 20.0 | 4.12 | -0.88 | |||||
| Georgia Tech | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.3 | 17.3 | 7.80 | 8.55 | 17 | 17 | |||
| New Mexico State | 5 | 5 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.0 | 18.9 | -6.35 | -7.89 | |||||
| Northern Illinois | 5 | 5 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.4 | 21.1 | -6.78 | -5.24 | |||||
| South Carolina | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.4 | 17.8 | 4.35 | 3.90 | 19 | ||||
| Southern Mississippi | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.4 | 17.5 | 1.52 | 1.52 | |||||
| Syracuse | 5 | 5 | 1 | .500 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.9 | 16.3 | 1.69 | 1.23 | 13 | 13 | |||
| Tampa | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29.9 | 14.7 | 1.80 | -5.75 | |||||
| Villanova | 6 | 4 | 1 | .591 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.2 | 14.9 | -1.02 | -3.66 | |||||
| Dayton | 5 | 6 | 0 | .455 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.0 | 21.4 | -9.75 | -4.94 | |||||
| Holy Cross | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.8 | 23.9 | -10.36 | -6.66 | |||||
| Miami (FL) | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15.8 | 20.1 | 0.54 | 4.64 | |||||
| Rutgers | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17.5 | 22.1 | -11.82 | -8.18 | |||||
| Virginia Tech | 4 | 7 | 0 | .364 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22.6 | 24.7 | -3.06 | -0.33 | |||||
| Marshall | 2 | 8 | 0 | .200 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.7 | 29.9 | -20.46 | -4.66 | |||||
| Navy | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.3 | 30.1 | -4.31 | 6.06 | |||||
| Pitt | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19.6 | 35.3 | -3.20 | 8.25 | |||||
| Tulane | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.8 | 19.5 | 0.94 | 6.85 | |||||
| Chattanooga | 2 | 9 | 0 | .182 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18.6 | 30.3 | -13.24 | -4.96 | |||||
| Texas-Arlington | 2 | 9 | 0 | .182 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.5 | 24.5 | -21.63 | -8.08 | |||||
| Xavier | 1 | 9 | 0 | .100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13.4 | 24.2 | -16.61 | -6.41 | |||||
4 Bowl Games
| Date | Bowl | Winner | Pts | Loser | Pts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972-01-01 | Cotton Bowl | Penn State | 30 | Texas | 6 | Dallas, TX |
| 1971-12-31 | Bluebonnet Bowl | Colorado | 29 | Houston | 17 | Houston, TX |
| 1971-12-30 | Peach Bowl | Mississippi | 41 | Georgia Tech | 18 | Atlanta, GA |
| 1971-12-27 | Fiesta Bowl | Arizona State | 45 | Florida State | 38 | Tempe, AZ |
1971 Conference Leaders