1940 NCAA football rankings

One human poll comprised the 1940 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship, instead that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. The Coaches' Poll began operation in 1950; in addition, the AP Poll did not begin conducting preseason polls until that same year.

Legend edit

  Increase in ranking
  Decrease in ranking
  Not ranked previous week
  National champion
(#–#)
  Win–loss record
(Italics)
  Number of first place votes
т
Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

AP Poll edit

The final AP Poll was released on December 2, at the end of the 1940 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.

Week 1
Oct 14[1]
Week 2
Oct 21[2]
Week 3
Oct 28[3]
Week 4
Nov 4[4]
Week 5
Nov 11[5]
Week 6
Nov 18[6]
Week 7
Nov 25[7]
Week 8 (Final)
Dec 2[8]A
1.Cornell (2–0) (90)Cornell (3–0) (83)Cornell (4–0) (81.5)Cornell (5–0) (119)Minnesota (6–0) (55.33)Minnesota (7–0) (68)Minnesota (8–0) (88)Minnesota (8–0) (65)1.
2.Texas A&M (3–0) (25)Notre Dame (3–0) (30)Notre Dame (4–0) (40.5)Minnesota (5–0) (18)Cornell (6–0) (45.33)Texas A&M (8–0) (59)Texas A&M (8–0) (41)Stanford (9–0) (44)2.
3.Michigan (3–0) (26)Michigan (4–0) (18)Michigan (5–0) (16)Michigan (5–0) (11)Texas A&M (7–0) (31.33)Stanford (8–0) (24)Stanford (8–0) (15)Michigan (7–1) (5)3.
4.Northwestern (2–0) (1)Texas A&M (4–0) (15)Minnesota (4–0) (13)Texas A&M (6–0) (14)Stanford (7–0) (12)Boston College (8–0) (12)Boston College (9–0) (15)Tennessee (10–0) (10)4.
5.Tennessee (3–0) (7)Tennessee (4–0) (6)Texas A&M (5–0) (9)Tennessee (6–0) (11)Tennessee (7–0) (2)Cornell (6–1) (6)Michigan (7–1) (3)Boston College (10–0) (7)5.
6.Notre Dame (2–0) (5)Minnesota (3–0) (8)Stanford (5–0)Stanford (6–0) (3)Michigan (5–1)Tennessee (8–0) (3)Tennessee (9–0) (8)Texas A&M (8–1) (1)6.
7.Minnesota (2–0) (2)Northwestern (3–0)Tennessee (5–0)Notre Dame (5–0)Notre Dame (6–0)Michigan (6–1)Northwestern (6–2)Nebraska (8–1)7.
8.Boston College (3–0)Penn (3–0)Northwestern (4–0) (1)Boston College (6–0) (2)Boston College (7–0)Nebraska (6–1)Nebraska (7–1)Northwestern (6–2)8.
9.Penn (2–0)Stanford (4–0)Boston College (5–0) (2)Georgetown (6–0)Georgetown (7–0)Georgetown (7–1)Georgetown (8–1)Mississippi State (8–0–1) (1)9.
10.Stanford (3–0)Boston College (4–0)Clemson (5–0) (2) тNorthwestern (4–1)Northwestern (5–1)Northwestern (5–2)Penn (6–1–1)Washington (7–2)10.
11.Fordham (2–0)Fordham (3–0)Georgetown (5–0) (2) тWashington (4–1)Nebraska (5–1)Ole Miss (8–1)Mississippi State (8–0–1)Santa Clara (6–1–1)11.
12.Clemson (4–0)Texas (4–0)Nebraska (3–1)Duke (4–1) тDuke (5–1) (2)Penn (5–1–1)Washington (6–2)Fordham (7–1)12.
13.Ole Miss (4–0)Clemson (4–0) (1)Washington (4–1)Nebraska (4–1) тFordham (5–1)Washington (5–2)Cornell (6–2)Georgetown (8–1)13.
14.Texas (3–0)Ole Miss (5–0) (1)Navy (5–0)SMU (4–0–1)Alabama (5–1)Notre Dame (6–1)Fordham (6–1)Penn (6–1–1)14.
15.Ohio State (2–1)Georgetown (4–0)Penn (3–1) тPenn (4–1)Mississippi State (6–0–1)Fordham (5–1)Santa Clara (5–1–1)Cornell (6–2)15.
16.Washington (2–1)Washington (3–1)SMU (3–0–1) тPenn State (5–0)Santa Clara (3–1–1)Mississippi State (7–0–1)SMU (6–1–1)SMU (7–1–1)16.
17.USC (1–0–2)USC (2–0–2)Detroit (5–0)Fordham (4–1)Ole Miss (7–1) тAlabama (6–1)Alabama (7–1)Hardin-Simmons (8–0)17.
18.Oregon State (2–0–1)Nebraska (2–1)Duke (3–1) тLafayette (6–0)Washington (4–2) тSMU (5–1–1)Lafayette (9–0) тDuke (7–2)18.
19.Washington State (2–0–1)SMU (3–0–1)Penn State (4–0) тMississippi State (5–0–1) тOregon State (5–1–1)Santa Clara (4–1–1)Texas Tech (8–0–1) тLafayette (9–0)19.
20.Iowa (2–0)Columbia (3–0)
Santa Clara (3–1–1) т
  • Penn State (5–0–1) т
  • SMU (4–1–1) т
  • Penn State (6–0–1) т
  • Texas Tech (7–0–1) т
20.
Week 1
Oct 14[1]
Week 2
Oct 21[2]
Week 3
Oct 28[3]
Week 4
Nov 4[4]
Week 5
Nov 11[5]
Week 6
Nov 18[6]
Week 7
Nov 25[7]
Week 8 (Final)
Dec 2[8]A
Dropped:
  • Iowa
  • Ohio State
  • Oregon State
  • Washington State
Dropped:
  • Columbia
  • Fordham
  • Ole Miss
  • Texas
  • USC
Dropped:
  • Clemson
  • Detroit
  • Navy
Dropped:
  • Lafayette
  • Penn
Dropped:
  • Duke
  • Oregon State
Dropped:
  • Ole Miss
  • Notre Dame
  • Penn State
Dropped:
  • Alabama
  • Texas Tech
A. ^ Only 19 teams received votes in the final poll.

Boand System edit

The final Boand System rankings (also known as "Azzi Ratem") were released after the bowl games in early January 1941. Boand's final rankings were as follows:[9]

1. Minnesota (86.4)
2. Stanford (83.1)
3. Boston College (83.0)
4. Michigan (81.8)
5. Texas A&M (80.3)
6. Tennessee (80.2)
7. Mississippi State (79.6)
8. SMU (76.9)
9. Northwestern (76.9)
10. Penn (76.2)
11. Texas (76.1)
12. Nebraska (76.0)

Dickinson System edit

The final Dickinson System rankings released in December 1940 were as follows:[10]

1. Minnesota (29.55)
2. Michigan (26.16)
3. Stanford (25.84)
4. Tennessee (25.76)
5. Texas A&M (25.74)
6. Penn (24.78)
7. Mississippi State (24.28)
8. SMU (23.82)
9. Texas (23.33)
10. Nebraska (23.12)
11. Northwestern (22.51)
12. Boston College (22.14)

Dunkel System edit

The final Dunkel System rankings released in December 1940 were as follows:[11]

Litkenhous Ratings edit

The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1940 provided numerical rankings to 697 college football programs. The top 100 ranked teams were:[12]

Williamson System edit

The final Williamson System rankings for 1940 were as follows:[13]

1. Stanford
2. Boston College
3. Minnesota
4. Michigan
5. Mississippi State
6. Tennessee
7. Texas A&M
8. Santa Clara
9. Fordham
10. Nebraska
11. SMU
12. Washington
13. Penn
14. Northwestern
15. Georgetown
16. Alabama
17. Ole Miss
18. Duke
19. Duquesne
20. Saint Mary's (CA)
21. Cornell
22. Rice
23. Notre Dame
24. Texas
25. Navy
26. Oklahoma
27. LSU
28. Syracuse
29. Columbia
30. Auburn
31. Ohio State
32. Colgate
33. Pittsburgh
34. Hardin-Simmons
35. Missouri
36. Wisconsin
37. Penn State
38. Tulane
39. Indiana
40. Arizona State

References edit

  1. ^ "October 14, 1940 AP Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  2. ^ "October 21, 1940 AP Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  3. ^ "October 28, 1940 AP Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  4. ^ "November 4, 1940 AP Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  5. ^ "November 11, 1940 AP Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  6. ^ "November 18, 1940 AP Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  7. ^ "November 25, 1940 AP Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  8. ^ "1940 Final AP Football Poll". College Poll Archive. Retrieved March 26, 2017.
  9. ^ "Azzi Ratem Puts Huskers 12th in Final Ranking". Evening World-Herald. January 3, 1941. p. 20 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Dickinson Ranks Minnesota Top Football Team of 1940". Winston-Salem Journal. December 10, 1940. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Sittin' In". The Des Moines Register. December 5, 1940. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 19, 1940). "Final 1940 Litkenhous Ratings". The Boston Globe. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ Paul Williamson (January 5, 1941). "Stanford Gets Top Grid Rating: Eagles Given Second Berth; Gophers Next". The Shreveport Times. p. 26 – via Newspapers.com.