Several major systems have determined the 1941 college football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, did not itself bestow a national championship.
The AP poll and most other methods rank Minnesota as the national champion. One method ranks Alabama and two rank Texas.
Note: AP Poll, Boand System, Dunkel System, Helms Athletic Foundation, Houlgate System, Litkenhous Ratings, Poling System, and Williamson System were given contemporarily. All other methods were given retroactively.
The final AP Poll was released on December 1, at the end of the 1941 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
The Boand System rankings (also known as "Azzi Ratem") released after games played on November 29 were as follows:
1. Minnesota (81.6)<br> 2. Navy (80.3)<br> 3. Notre Dame (79.4)<br> 4. Texas (78.9)<br> 5. Penn (77.6)<br> 6. Duke (77.5)<br> 7. Duquesne (77.4)<br> 8. Michigan (78.8)<br> 9. Missouri (76.4)<br> 10. Texas A&M (76.3)<br> 11. Ohio State (75.6)<br> 12. Alabama (74.6)<br> 13. Georgia (74.5)<br> 14. Fordham (73.7)<br> 15. TCU (73.4)<br> 16. Tennessee (73.3)<br> 17. Mississippi State (73.2)<br> 18. Oregon State (72.7)<br> 19. Northwestern (72.6)<br> 20. Harvard (72.0)<br>
The final Dunkel System rankings released in December 1941 were as follows:
1. Minnesota (100.7)<br> 2. Duke (98.5)<br> 3. Texas (94.5)<br> 4. Georgia (93.4)<br> 5. Tennessee (92.6)<br> 6. Michigan (92.4)<br> 7. Northwestern (92.2)<br> 8. Missouri (92.1)<br> 9. Texas A&M (92.1)<br> 10. Duquesne (91)<br> 11. Notre Dame (90.2)<br> 12. Alabama (89.5)<br> 13. Penn (89.1)<br> 14. Navy (88.9)<br> 15. TCU (88.9)<br> 16. Washington State (88.5)<br> 17. Oregon State (88.2)<br> 18. SMU (88.2)<br> 19. Rice (88.1)<br> 20. Vanderbilt (88.1)<br> 21. <br> 22. Ohio State (87.4)<br> 23. Mississippi State (87)<br> 24. <br> 25. <br> 26. <br> 27. Ole Miss (86)<br>
The Houlgate System's final selections released in early December 1941 were as follows:
1. Minnesota<br> 2. Navy<br> 3. Alabama<br> 4. Duquesne<br> 5. Notre Dame<br> 6. Michigan<br> Mississippi State<br> Texas<br> 9. Duke<br> 10. Pennsylvania<br> 11. Tennessee<br> 12. TCU<br> 13. Georgia<br> 14. Ohio State<br> Oregon State<br> Temple<br> 17. Missouri<br> Texas A&M<br> Texas Tech<br> 20. Vanderbilt<br> 21. Fordham<br> 22. Boston College<br> Harvard<br> 24. Virginia<br> 25. Penn State<br>
The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1941 provided numerical rankings for 681 college football programs. The top 100 ranked teams were:
1. Minnesota<br> 2. Texas<br> 3. Duke<br> 4. Michigan<br> 5. Texas A&M<br> 6. Alabama<br> 7. Notre Dame<br> 8. Navy<br> 9. Northwestern<br> 10. Georgia<br> 11. Tulane<br> 12. Penn<br> 13. Tennessee<br> 14. Vanderbilt<br> 15. Ohio State<br> 16. Missouri<br> 17. Fordham<br> 18. Duquesne<br> 19. Mississippi State<br> 20. Oklahoma<br> 21. Cornell<br> 22. LSU<br> 23. TCU<br> 24. SMU<br> 25. Oregon State<br> 26. Washington State<br> 27. Boston College<br> 28. Stanford<br> 29. Ole Miss<br> 30. Rice<br> 31. Washington<br> 32. Harvard<br> 33. California<br> 34. Syracuse<br> 35. Virginia<br> 36. Santa Clara<br> 37. Colgate<br> 38. Auburn<br> 39. Clemson<br> 40. Georgia Tech<br> 41. Penn State<br> 42. Columbia<br> 43. Michigan State<br> 44. Detroit<br> 45. Army<br> 46. Texas Tech<br> 47. Dartmouth<br> 48. Indiana<br> 49. Arkansas<br> 50. Purdue<br> 51. Iowa<br> 52. Xavier<br> 53. Marshall<br> 54. Oregon<br> 55. Baylor<br> 56. Kentucky<br> 57. Wisconsin<br> 58. Nebraska<br> 59. Villanova<br> 60. Marquette<br> 61. Texas A&I<br> 62. Utah<br> 63. Miami (FL)<br> 64. USC<br> 65. William & Mary<br> 66. Tulsa<br> 67. Florida<br> 68. Temple<br> 69. Hawaii<br> 70. Georgetown<br> 71. Illinois<br> 72. Wake Forest<br> 73. Holy Cross<br> 74. Pittsburgh<br> 75. South Carolina<br> 76. Princeton<br> 77. UCLA<br> 78. Yale<br> 79. Manhattan<br> 80. Dayton<br> 81. Saint Mary's (CA)<br> 82. San Francisco<br> 83. Rollins<br> 84. Chattanooga<br> 85. Western Michigan<br> 86. Denver<br> 87. Arizona<br> 88. Panzer<br> 89. Oklahoma A&M<br> 90. West Virginia<br> 91. West Texas State<br> 92. Cincinnati<br> 93. HardinâÂÂSimmons<br> 94. S.W. Tennessee<br> 95. Lafayette<br> 96. Western Reserve<br> 97. Bradley<br> 98. Brown<br> 99. Willamette<br> 100. North Carolina
The final Williamson System rankings for 1940 were issued in January 1942, after the bowl games.
1. Texas (99.2)<br> 2. Minnesota (97.9)<br> 3. Notre Dame (96.2)<br> 4. Fordham (95.8)<br> 5. Navy (95.6)<br> 6. Missouri (95.4)<br> 7. Michigan (95.1)<br> 8. Penn (94.9)<br> 9. Duquesne (94.7)<br> 10. Mississippi State (94.2)<br> 11. Oregon State (94.1)<br> 12. Alabama (94.0)<br> 13. Duke (93.8)<br> 14. Texas A&M (93.7)<br> 15. Tennessee (93.6)<br> 16. Vanderbilt (93.5)<br> 17. Georgia (93.4)<br> 18. Northwestern (93.2)<br> 19. TCU (93.1)<br> 20. Ohio State (93.0)<br> 21. Ole Miss (92.6)<br> 22. Cornell (92.4)<br> 23. Harvard (92.2)<br> 24. Washington State (91.9)<br> 25. Oklahoma (91.5)<br> 26. LSU (91.2)<br> 27. Rice (91.1)<br> 28. Stanford (91.0)<br> 29. Tulane (90.9)<br> 30. SMU (90.8)<br> 31. Oregon (90.8)<br> 32. Santa Clara (90.7)<br> 33. Auburn (90.6)<br> 34. Washington (90.4)<br> 35. Army (90.1)<br> 36. California (90.0)<br> 37. William & Mary (89.8)<br> 38. Dartmouth (89.7)<br> 39. Clemson (89.6)<br> 40. Tulsa (89.5)<br> 41. Colgate (89.4)<br> 42. Boston College (89.3)<br> 43. Michigan State (89.1)<br> 44. Temple (89.0)<br> 45. Columbia (88.9)<br> 46. Penn State (88.6)<br> 47. Syracuse (88.3)<br> 48. Manhattan (88.2)<br>