1954 college football rankings explained

Season:	1954
Preseason Number 1:	Notre Dame
Champions:	Ohio State (AP) UCLA (Coaches)

Two human polls comprised the 1954 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.

Legend

		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

AP Poll

The final AP Poll was released on November 29, at the end of the 1954 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.

Final Coaches Poll

The final UP Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on November 29.^[1]
UCLA received 21 of the 35 first-place votes; Ohio State received eleven, and one each to Oklahoma, Notre Dame, and Navy.^[1]

Ranking	Team	Conference	Bowl
1		Pacific Coast	none
2		Big Ten	Won Rose, 20–7
3		Big Seven	none
4		Independent
5		Independent	Won Sugar, 21–0
6	Ole Miss	SEC	Lost Sugar, 0–21
7	Army	Independent	none
8	Arkansas	Southwest	Lost Cotton, 6–14
9	Miami (FL)	Independent	none
10	Wisconsin	Big Ten
11	USC	Pacific Coast	Lost Rose, 7–20
12	Maryland	ACC	none
13	Georgia Tech	SEC	Won Cotton, 14–6
14	Duke	ACC	Won Orange, 34–7
15	Michigan	Big Ten	none
	Penn State	Independent
17	SMU	Southwest
18	Denver	Skyline
	Rice	Southwest
20	Minnesota	Big Ten

^{[1] [2] [3]}

• The NCAA record book lists USC, Maryland, and Georgia Tech in a tie for 11th place,^[4] while contemporary sources list them in 11th, 12th, and 13th respectively.
• Prior to the 1975 season, the Big Ten and Pacific Coast (later AAWU / Pac-8) conferences allowed only one postseason participant each, for the Rose Bowl.

Litkenhous Ratings

The Litkenhous Ratings released in mid-December 1954 provided numerical rankings to over 600 college football programs. The top 50 ranked teams were:^[5] 1. UCLA
2. Ohio State
3. Oklahoma
4. Maryland
5. Notre Dame
6. Wisconsin
7. Iowa
8. Ole Miss
9. Purdue
10. Michigan
11. Miami (FL)
12. Navy
13. Arkansas
14. Baylor
15. Minnesota
16. Auburn
17. Army
18. Michigan State
19. Rice
20. USC
21. SMU
22. Colorado
23. Georgia Tech
24. Texas Tech
25. Texas
26. California
27. TCU
28. Indiana
29. Duke
30. Miami (OH)
31. Northwestern
32. Florida
33. Penn State
34. Pittsburgh
35. Nebraska
36. Kentucky
37. West Virginia
38. Southeastern Louisiana
39. Alabama
40. Arizona
41. Mississippi State
42. Wichita
43. Cincinnati
44. Missouri
45. LSU
46. Oregon
47. Illinois
48. Georgia
49. Texas A&M<br>50. Oklahoma A&M<br>

HBCU rankings

The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1954 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was largely segregated. The rankings were published on December 11:^[6]

• 1. Tennessee A&I (10–1)
• 2. Florida A&M (8–1)
• 3. Southern (10–1)
• 4. North Carolina College (7–1–1)
• 5. Virginia State (7–2)
• 6. Maryland State (6–1–1)
• 7. Prairie View A&M (10–1)
• 8. South Carolina State (8–2)
• 9. Morris Brown (5–3)
• 10. Alcorn State (5–2–2)
• 11. Lincoln (MO) (4–3–1)
• 12. Xavier (LA) (6–2)
• 13. Morgan State (6–3)
• 14. Texas Southern (4–3–2)
• 15. Grambling (4–2–2)

The Associated Negro Press also published rankings on December 25:^[7]

• 1. Tennessee A&I (10–1)
• 2. Florida A&M (8–1)
• 3. Prairie View A&M (10–1)
• 4. Southern (10–1)
• 5. N.C. College (7–1–1)
• 6. Maryland State (6–1–1)
• 7. Xavier (LA) (6–2)
• 8. Virginia State (7–2)
• 9. South Carolina State (8–2)
• 10. Bluefield State (7–2)
• 11. Miles (8–0)
• 12. Virginia Union (5–3)
• 13. Texas Southern (5–4–2)
• 14. Allen (5–4)
• 15. Bethune-Cookman (7–3)
• 16. Lincoln (MO) (4–3–1)
• 17. Alcorn (6–2–2)
• 18. St. Augustine's (6–2)
• 19. Central State (4–4)
• 20. Kentucky State (5–3)
• 21. Morris Brown (5–3)
• 22. Grambling (4–3–2)
• 23. Morgan State (5–3)
• 24. North Carolina A&T (4–5)
• 25. Mississippi Vocational (6–2)
• 26. Delaware State (7–1)
• 27. Elizabeth City (5–1)
• 28. Fort Valley State (5–4)
• 29. Langston (4–4–1)
• 30. Claflin (6–3)
• 31. Knoxville (5–3–1)
• 32. Alabama State (4–3–1)
• 33. Hampton (4–5–1)
• 34. Dillard (4–4)
• 35. Tuskegee (3–5)
• 36. Texas College (4–5)
• 37. Morehouse (4–3)
• 38. West Virginia State (3–6)
• 39. Lincoln (PA) (4–3–1)
• 40. Wiley (5–5)
• 41. Fisk (4–4)
• 42. Arkansas A&M (2–7–2)
• 43. Mississippi Industrial (2–3)
• 44. Winston-Salem State (2–7)
• 45. Fayetteville State (3–6)
• 46. Paul Quinn (2–5–1)
• 47. Florida Normal (3–1–1)
• 48. Livingstone (4–1)
• 49. Clark (1–7)
• 50. Howard (2–6–1)
• 51. Jackson State (1–7–1)
• 52. Tougaloo (3–5)
• 53. Johnson C. Smith (1–5–2)
• 54. Saint Paul's (1–7)
• 55. Albany State (1–3–1)
• 56. Morris College (2–3)
• 57. Philander Smith (1–4)
• 58. Savannah State (1–6)
• 59. Alabama A&M (1–7)
• 60. Benedict (0–8)
• 61. Shaw (0–7–1)
• 62. Lane (1–4)
• 63. Bishop (1–7)
• 64. Paine (0–5)
• 65. Rust (0–5)
• 66. Morristown (0–4)

Notes and References

1. News: UCLA stays on top in voting of coaches . Pittsburgh Press . United Press . November 30, 1954 . 29.
2. News: U.P. Poll of Coaches Ranks UCLA No. 1 Over Buckeyes . The Atlanta Constitution . November 30, 1954 . 10.
3. News: Coaches' Ballots Pick Bruins No. 1. The Philadelphia Inquirer. 30. November 30, 1954. limited. Newspapers.com.
4. Web site: 2018 NCAA Division I FBS record book. 148. NCAA.
5. News: Final Litkenhous Ratings. The Journal and Courier. December 14, 1954. 23. Newspapers.com.
6. News: The National Parade. The Pittsburgh Courier. December 11, 1954. 12. Newspapers.com.
7. Web site: Luix Virgil Overbea. December 25, 1954. Pigskin Huddle. Baltimore Afro-American (p. 16).