| Season: | 1935 |
The 1935 college football season rankings included (1) a United Press (UP) poll of sports writers, (2) a poll of sports editors conducted by the committee responsible for awarding the Toledo Cup to the nation's top college football team, and the (3) Boand, (4) Dickinson, and (5) Houlgate Systems. The Minnesota Golden Gophers (8–0), led by head coach Bernie Bierman, were selected as national champions in the UP poll, the Toledo Cup voting, and the Boand System. The SMU Mustangs (12–0 prior to losing the 1936 Rose Bowl), led by consensus All-Americans Bob Wilson and J. C. Wetsel, were selected as national champions by Dickinson and Houlgate.
Weekly top ten rankings were published by the Associated Press news service throughout the season. The rankings were made by Associated Press sports editor Alan Gould.
Gould's final rankings on December 3, 1935, declared a three-way tie for first between SMU, Princeton, and Minnesota.[1] Controversy surrounding his selections lead Gould to instead poll the nation's sportswriters in subsequent years; thus the AP Poll would officially begin in 1936.[2]
| Rank | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | SMU | |
| Princeton | ||
| Minnesota | ||
| 4 | LSU | |
| TCU | ||
| 6 | Stanford | |
| 7 | Ohio State | |
| 8 | North Carolina | |
| 9 | California | |
| 10 | Fordham |
At the end of the regular season, the United Press (UP) polled 141 sports writers from all sections of the country. Each writer was asked to rank the top ten teams, and the UP then assigned points with ten points being awarded to a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, etc.[3] [4] The leaders in the poll were:
| Rank | Team | Points | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota | 1,366 | 98 | 34 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | SMU | 1,246 | 30 | 68 | 30 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 3 | Princeton | 1,008 | 12 | 20 | 52 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 2 | |
| 4 | TCU | 790 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 36 | 32 | 26 | 20 | 4 | 2 | 6 | |
| 5 | Ohio State | 764 | 0 | 10 | 16 | 22 | 24 | 14 | 28 | 16 | 8 | 2 | |
| 6 | Stanford | 720 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 16 | 36 | 40 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 8 | |
| 7 | LSU | 629 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 20 | 18 | 24 | 18 | 16 | 8 | 4 | |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 459 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 24 | 8 | |
| 9 | California | 292 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 28 | 28 | |
| 10 | Pittsburgh | 138 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 22 | 14 |
The following teams were ranked below the top 10:
11. Fordham
12. North Carolina
13. Duke
14. Holy Cross
15. Auburn
16. Northwestern
17. Alabama
18. (tie) Army, Iowa, UCLA
21. (tie) Nebraska, Ohio
23. (tie) Marquette, Washington, Saint Mary's
26. (tie) Temple, Dartmouth, NYU
The Toledo Cup was presented to the college football national champion. Overseen by a committee including westbrook Pegler, Avery Brundage, Gustavus Kirby, Lynn St. John, Wilbur C. Smith, Stewart Edward White, and Theodore Roosevelt Jr., the Toledo Cup award was based on input from a judge's committee of 250 sports editors of leading newspapers.
A preliminary vote was taken in December 1935 with the following results:
1. Minnesota - 840 points
2. Princeton - 379 points
3. SMU - 347 points
4. TCU - 71 points
5. Ohio State - 52 points
6. LSU - 24 points
7. Notre Dame - 23 points
8. Stanford - 22 points
9. California - 9 points
10. Pittsburgh - 2 points
11. (tie) Dartmouth, Alabama, Northwestern, and Saint Mary's - 1 point each[5]
The final vote of the committee was taken in January 1936 with the following results:
1. Minnesota - 168 votes
2. SMU - 46 votes
3. Princeton - 22 votes
[6]
It was Minnesota's second consecutive year winning the Toledo Cup.[7]
The Boand System was a mathematical rating system, also known as the "Azzi Ratem" system, developed by W. F. Boand. The Boand ratings released in early December 1935 were as follows:
1. Minnesota - 170 points
2. SMU - 165 points
3. Princeton - 160 points
4. Ohio State - 159 points
5. LSU - 157 points
6. Notre Dame - 152 points
7. California - 151 points
8. TCU - 149 points
9. Pittsburgh - 147 points
10. Stanford - 144 points
11. Nebraska - 143 points
12. Auburn - 142 points
[8]
The Dickinson System was a mathematical rating system devised by University of Illinois economics professor Frank G. Dickinson. In his 1935 rankings, Dickinson weighted each team's performance based on the strength of the conferences, reported as follows: Big Ten (+3.78), SWC (+3.31), East (0.00), Pacific Coast (-0.11), SEC (-0.12), Big Six (-1.95) and Southern (-6.15) [9] The final Dickinson System rankings for 1935 were released in December 1935, prior to SMU's loss to Stanford in the Rose Bowl. Dickinson ranked the top 11 teams as follows:[10]
1. SMU (12-0) - 28.01 points
2. Minnesota (8-0) - 27.35 points
3. Princeton (9-0) - 26.00 points
4. LSU (9-1-1) - 24.03 points
5. (tie) Stanford (7-1) - 23.11 points
5. (tie) California (9-1) - 23.11 points
7. Ohio State (7-1) - 22.21 points
8. TCU (10-1) - 22.01 points
9. Notre Dame (7-1-1) - 21.66 points
10. UCLA (8-2) - 21.25 points
11. Fordham (6-1-2) - 20.89 points
Northwestern, North Carolina, and Dartmouth followed.
In early December 1935, Deke Houlgate released his Houlgate System rankings as follows:
1. SMU
2. Princeton
3. LSU
4. California
5. Minnesota
6. TCU
7. Notre Dame
8. Tie: Holy Cross (9–0–1), Ohio State, Stanford
11. Pittsburgh
12. Tie: Fordham (6–1–2), Rice (8–3)
14. Tie: Duke, UCLA
16. North Carolina
17. Alabama
18. Auburn
19. Marquette (7–1)
20. Michigan State (6–2)
21. NYU (7–1)
22. Nebraska (6–2–1)
23. Tie: Catholic University (8–1), Furman (8–1)
25. Villanova (7–2)
26. Saint Mary's (5–2–2)
27. Tie: Army (6–2–1), Mississippi State (8–3)
29. Tie: Bucknell (6–3), Temple (7–3)
31. Tie: Oregon (6–3), Syracuse (6–1–1)
33. Vanderbilt (7–3–1)
34. Maryland (7–2–2)
35. Ole Miss (9–3)
36. Iowa (4–2–2)
37. Dartmouth (8–2)
38. Baylor (8–3)
39. Tie: Detroit (6–3), Yale (6–3)
41. Northwestern (4–3–1)
42. Clemson (6–3)
43. Georgia (6–4)
44. Tie: Colgate (7–3), Washington
46. Tie: NC State (6–4), Tulane (6–4)
48. Duquesne (6–3)
49. Boston College (6–3)
50. Tie: Indiana (4–3–1), Michigan (4–4), Navy (5–4), Penn State (4–4), Western Maryland
[11]