One human poll comprised the 1943 college 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 preseasonâÂÂthe AP Poll and the Coaches' Poll. The Coaches' Poll began operation in 1950; in addition, the AP Poll did not begin conducting preseason polls until that same year.
The final AP Poll was released on November 29, at the end of the 1943 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1943 provided numerical rankings for 253 college and military service football programs. The top 100 ranked teams were:
1. Notre Dame (131.9)<br> 2. Michigan (127.6)<br> 3. Northwestern (120.9)<br> 4. Duke (118.3)<br> 5. Iowa Pre-Flight (113.5)<br> 6. Navy (112.8)<br> 7. Great Lakes Navy (112.3)<br> 8. Purdue (112.1)<br> 9. Georgia Tech (108.8)<br> 10. Memphis NATTC (108.3)<br> 11. Army (104.9)<br> 12. SW Louisiana (104.3)<br> 13. Texas (103.9)<br> 14. 176th Infantry (103.6)<br> 15. Fort Riley (100.7)<br> 16. Indiana (100.7)<br> 17. Ohio State (99.3)<br> 18. North Carolina (97.0)<br> 19. Penn (97.0)<br> 20. Del Monte Pre-Flight (96.8)<br> 21. Minnesota (96.4)<br> 22. Camp Grant (95.6)<br> 23. Marquette (94.9)<br> 24. Bainbridge NTS (94.7)<br> 25. March Field (94.6)<br> 26. Arkansas A&M (93.6)<br> 27. Dartmouth (92.9)<br> 28. Southwestern (TX) (92.0)<br> 29. Tulsa (91.7)<br> 30. 300th Infantry (91.6)<br> 31. Pacific (91.6)<br> 32. Saint Mary's Pre-Flight (90.5)<br> 33. Colorado College (90.2)<br> 34. Iowa (90.2)<br> 35. Illinois (89.6)<br> 36. Texas A&M (88.6)<br> 37. Tulane <br> 38. Camp Lejeune <br> 39. Oberlin <br> 40. Georgia Pre-Flight <br> 41. Oklahoma <br> 42. Washington <br> 43. Holy Cross <br> 44. Emory and Henry <br> 45. USC <br> 46. Wisconsin <br> 47. Fourth Air Force <br> 48. Randolph Field <br> 49. Bunker Hill NAS <br> 50. Miami (OH) <br> 51. DePauw <br> 52. Jacksonville NATTC <br> 53. San Diego NTS <br> 54. LSU <br> 55. Alameda Coast Guard <br> 56. Missouri <br> 57. Cornell <br> 58. Penn State <br> 59. Western Michigan <br> 60. Colgate <br> 61. Kessler Field <br> 62. Colorado <br> 63. Camp Davis <br> 64. Miami (FL)<br> 65. Pittsburgh <br> 66. South Carolina <br> 67. LSU ASTU <br> 68. Fort Warren <br> 69. North Texas <br> 70. Iowa State <br> 71. SMU <br> 72. Georgia <br> 73. Pittsburg State<br> 74. Ottumwa NAS <br> 75. Rochester <br> 76. California <br> 77. Richmond <br> 78. Villanova <br> 79. North Carolina Pre-Flight <br> 80. Wake Forest <br> 81. 124th Infantry <br> 82. New Mexico <br> 83. Franklin & Marshall <br> 84. Sampson NTS <br> 85. Norman NAS <br> 86. Yale <br> 87. Kenyon <br> 88. Lowry Field <br> 89. Bucknell <br> 90. Rice <br> 91. Arkansas <br> 92. UCLA <br> 93. TCU <br> 94. Texas Tech <br> 95. Swarthmore <br> 96. Brown <br> 97. Saint Mary's <br> 98. Lubbock AAF <br> 99. Kirtland Field <br> 100. St. Joseph ATC