| Season: | 1958 |
| Preseason Number 1: | Ohio State |
| Champions: | LSU |
Two human polls comprised the 1958 NCAA University Division 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 1, at the end of the 1958 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
The final UPI Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on
LSU received 29 of the 35 first-place votes; Iowa received four, and one each went to Army and Air Force.[1]
| Ranking | Team | Conference | Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LSU | SEC | Won Sugar, 7–0 |
| 2 | Iowa | Big Ten | Won Rose, 38–12 |
| 3 | Army | Independent | none |
| 4 | Auburn | SEC | |
| 5 | Oklahoma | Big Eight | Won Orange, 21–6 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | none |
| 7 | Ohio State | Big Ten | |
| 8 | Air Force | Independent | Tied Cotton, 0–0 |
| 9 | TCU | Southwest | Tied Cotton, 0–0--> |
| 10 | Syracuse | Independent | Lost Orange, 6–21 |
| 11 | Purdue | Big Ten | none |
| 12 | Ole Miss | SEC | Won Gator, 7–3 |
| 13 | Clemson | ACC | Lost Sugar, 0–7 |
| 14 | Notre Dame | Independent | none |
| 15 | Florida | SEC | Lost Gator, 3–7 |
| 16 | California | Pacific Coast | Lost Rose, 12–38 |
| 17 | Northwestern | Big Ten | none |
| 18 | SMU | Southwest | |
The final Litkenhous Ratings, released in December 1958, ranked over 650 teams. The top 50 teams as ranked by Litkenhous were:[2] 1. LSU
2. Army
3. Oklahoma
4. Iowa
5. Wisconsin
6. Ole Miss
7. Syracuse
8. Purdue
9. TCU
10. Ohio State
11. Northwestern
12. SMU
13. Auburn
14. Notre Dame
15. Rice
16. Georgia
17. Florida
18. Penn State
19. Illinois
20. Air Force
21. Pittsburgh
22. Texas
23. North Carolina
24. Vanderbilt
25. Alabama
26. Washington State
27. Kentucky
28. Georgia Tech
29. Mississippi Southern
30. Arkansas
31. Oregon
32. Michigan State
33. Oklahoma State
34. Mississippi State
35. Houston
36. South Carolina
37. Trinity (TX)
38. USC
39. Minnesota
40. West Virginia
41. Florida State
42. Duke
43. Navy
44. Tulsa
45. Colorado
46. Tennessee
47. Texas East
48. Missouri
49. Indiana
50. California