| Season: | 1965 |
| Preseason Number 1: | Nebraska |
| Champions: | Alabama (AP) Michigan State (Coaches) |
Two human polls comprised the 1965 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 |
For the first time in its history, the final AP Poll was released in January, after the bowl games.[1] [2] This practice would not be repeated again for the next two seasons, but has been the standard since the 1968 season.
The AP Poll ranked only the top ten teams from 1962 through 1967. Entering New Year's Day, the top three teams (Michigan State, Arkansas, Nebraska) were all 10–0,[3] but all three lost.[2]
The final UPI Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, in late November.[4]
Michigan State received 28 of the 35 first-place votes; Arkansas received five and Nebraska two.[5]
| Ranking | Team | Conference | Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan State | Big Ten | Lost Rose, 12–14 |
| 2 | Arkansas | Southwest | Lost Cotton, 7–14 |
| 3 | Nebraska | Big Eight | Lost Orange, 28–39 |
| 4 | Alabama | SEC | Won Orange, 39–28 |
| 5 | UCLA | AAWU (Pac-8) | Won Rose, 14–12 |
| 6 | Missouri | Big Eight | Won Sugar, 20–18 |
| 7 | Tennessee | SEC | Won Bluebonnet, 27–6 |
| 8 | Notre Dame | Independent | none |
| 9 | USC | AAWU (Pac-8) | |
| 10 | Texas Tech | Southwest | Lost Gator, 21–31 |
| 11 | Ohio State | Big Ten | none |
| 12 | Florida | SEC | Lost Sugar, 18–20 |
| 13 | Purdue | Big Ten | none |
| 14 | LSU | SEC | Won Cotton, 14–7 |
| 15 | Georgia | SEC | none |
| 16 | Tulsa | MVC | Lost Bluebonnet, 6–27 |
| 17 | Mississippi | SEC | Won Liberty, 13–7 |
| 18 | Kentucky | SEC | none |
| 19 | Syracuse | Independent | |
| 20 | Colorado | Big Eight | |
1. Michigan State - 114.0
2. Arkansas - 107.2
3. Nebraska - 104.8
4. Notre Dame
5. UCLA - 104.2
6. USC - 104.0
7. Alabama - 104.1
8. Purdue - 101.5
9. Tennessee - 101.1
10. Illinois - 100.1
11. Florida - 99.4
12. Missouri - 98.7
13. Ole Miss - 97.6
16. Ohio State
20. Michigan