Two human polls comprised the 1951 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.
| 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 3, at the end of the 1951 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
[1]The final UP Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on
Tennessee received 23 of the 35 first-place votes; Michigan State received seven, Maryland two, and one each to Illinois, Georgia Tech,
| Ranking | Team | Conference | Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tennessee | SEC | Lost Sugar, 13–28 |
| 2 | Michigan State | Independent | none |
| 3 | Illinois | Big Ten | Won Rose, 40–7 |
| 4 | Maryland | Southern | Won Sugar, 28–13 |
| 5 | Georgia Tech | SEC | Won Orange, 17–14 |
| 6 | Princeton | Independent | none |
| 7 | Stanford | Pacific Coast | Lost Rose, 7–40 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | none |
| 9 | Baylor | Southwest | Lost Orange, 14–17 |
| 10 | TCU | Southwest | Lost Cotton, 7–20 |
| 11 | Oklahoma | Big Seven | none |
| 12 | California | Pacifie Coast | |
| 13 | Notre Dame | Independent | |
| 14 | Purdue | Big Ten | |
| San Francisco | Independent | ||
| Washington State | Pacific Coast | ||
| 17 | Holy Cross | Independent | |
| Kentucky | SEC | Won Cotton, 20–7 | |
| UCLA | Pacific Coast | none | |
| 20 | Kansas | Big Seven |
The Litkenhous Ratings released in mid-December 1951 provided numerical rankings to over 600 college football programs. The top 100 ranked teams were:[2] 1. Tennessee
2. Maryland
3. Michigan State
4. Oklahoma
5. California
6. Georgia Tech
7. Baylor
8. Illinois
9. Wisconsin
10. Kentucky
11. Stanford
12. UCLA
13. Texas
14. Notre Dame
15. Ole Miss
16. USC
17. TCU
18. SMU
19. Princeton
20. Texas A&M<br>21. Holy Cross
22. Washington State
23. Washington
24. Xavier
25. Oregon State
26. Arkansas
27. San Francisco
28. Rice
29. Michigan
30. Virginia
31. Ohio State
32. Tulsa
33. LSU
34. Cincinnati
35. Florida
36. Alabama
37. Purdue
38. Kansas
39. Penn
40. Texas Tech
41. Miami (FL)
42. Vanderbilt
43. Northwestern
44. Cornell
45. Clemson
46. Pacific
47. Colorado
48. Georgia
49. Navy
50. Mississippi State
51. Duke
52. Tulane
53. Marquette
54. Boston University
55. Indiana
56. Villanova
57. Wake Forest
58. Pittsburgh
59. Columbia
60. Penn State
61. Santa Clara
62. Wyoming
63. Houston
64. Bucknell
65. Syracuse
66. Washington & Lee
67. North Carolina
68. South Carolina
69. Iowa
70. North Texas
71. Dayton
72. Fordham
73. Auburn
74. Iowa State
75. Minnesota
76. Arizona State
77. Denver
78. Hardin Simmons
79. Dartmouth
80. Drake
81. Chattanooga
82. Memphis State
83. Miami (OH)
84. Oklahoma A&M<br>85. Boston College
86. Missouri
87. Arkansas State
88. Del Mar
89. Army
90. Rutgers
91. William & Mary
92. VMI
93. Nebraska
94. Colgate
95. Yale
96. Loyola Los Angeles
97. Tyler JC
98. Temple
99. Oregon
100. Toledo
The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1951 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was largely segregated. The rankings were published on December 8:[3]
The Associated Negro Press also published rankings on December 14:[4]