| Season: | 1940 |
| Champions: | Minnesota |
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.
| Increase in ranking | |||
| Decrease in ranking | |||
| Not ranked previous week | |||
| National champion | |||
| Win–loss record | |||
| Number of first place votes | |||
| Tied with team above or below also with this symbol |
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.
A. Only 19 teams received votes in the final poll.
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:[1]
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)
The final Dickinson System rankings released in December 1940 were as follows:[2]
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)
The final Dunkel System rankings released in December 1940 were as follows:[3]
1. Tennessee
2. Minnesota
3. Michigan
4. Boston College
5. Stanford
6. Washington
7. Mississippi State
8. Northwestern
9. Texas A&M
10. Georgetown
11. SMU
12. Texas
13. LSU
14. Penn
15. Santa Clara
16. Cornell
17. Duke
18. Fordham
19. Nebraska
20. Oregon
The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1940 provided numerical rankings to 697 college football programs. The top 100 ranked teams were:[4] 1. Minnesota
2. Tennessee
3. Michigan
4. Northwestern
5. Penn
6. Stanford
7. Cornell
8. Boston College
9. Texas A&M
10. Washington
11. Duke
12. Georgetown
13. Texas
14. Santa Clara
15. Nebraska
16. Mississippi State
17. Fordham
18. Ohio State
19. SMU
20. Notre Dame
21. Rice
22. Michigan State
23. Ole Miss
24. Alabama
25. Iowa
26. Indiana
27. Wisconsin
28. Tulane
29. Purdue
30. Pittsburgh
31. Auburn
32. Oregon
33. LSU
34. Marshall
35. Temple
36. Oregon State
37. Missouri
38. Detroit
39. Baylor
40. California
41. USC
42. TCU
43. Colgate
44. Kentucky
45. Oklahoma
46. Navy
47. North Carolina
48. Duquesne
49. Saint Mary's
50. Tulsa
51. Harvard
52. Penn State
53. Georgia
54. Clemson
55. Hardin–Simmons
56. Villanova
57. Wake Forest
58. Princeton
59. Georgia Tech
60. UCLA
61. Columbia
62. Illinois
63. Vanderbilt
64. Florida
65. Syracuse
66. Utah
67. Arkansas
68. Colorado
69. Lafayette
70. Texas Tech
71. Washington State
72. Dartmouth
73. Manhattan
74. San Jose State
75. Holy Cross
76. Arizona
77. Denver
78. Chattanooga
79. Mississippi College
80. Oklahoma A&M
81. Furman
82. Marquette
83. NC State
84. San Diego Marines
85. VMI
86. North Texas State Teachers
87. William & Mary
88. Boston University
89. San Francisco
90. Dayton
91. Creighton
92. Southwest Missouri State
93. George Washington
94. Gonzaga
95. West Virginia
96. Rollins
97. Virginia
98. VPI
99. Eastern Kentucky
100. Rutgers
The final Williamson System rankings for 1940 were as follows:[5]
1. Stanford
2. Boston College
3. Minnesota
4. Michigan
5. Mississippi State
6. Tennessee
7. Texas A&M<br>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