One human poll comprised the 1945 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 December 2, at the end of the 1945 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 1945 provided numerical rankings to more than 350 college and military football programs. The top 100 ranked teams were:
1. Army (9âÂÂ0)<br> 2. Navy (7âÂÂ1âÂÂ1)<br> 3. Alabama (10âÂÂ0)<br> 4. Camp Shoemaker<br> 5. El Toro Marines (8âÂÂ2)<br> 6. Army Air Forces Training Command<br> 7. Indiana (9âÂÂ0âÂÂ1)<br> 8. Michigan (7âÂÂ3)<br> 9. Jacksonville NAS (9âÂÂ2)<br> 10. Penn (6âÂÂ2)<br> 11. Third Air Force (7âÂÂ2âÂÂ1)<br> 12. Notre Dame (7âÂÂ2âÂÂ1)<br> 13. Ohio State (7âÂÂ2)<br> 14. First Air Force (3âÂÂ2âÂÂ3)<br> 15. Fourth Air Force (6âÂÂ3âÂÂ1)<br> 16. San Diego NTS (4âÂÂ2)<br> 17. Oklahoma A&M (9âÂÂ0)<br> 18. Air Transport Command<br> 19. Georgia (9âÂÂ2)<br> 20. Great Lakes Navy (6âÂÂ4âÂÂ1)<br> 21. Saint Mary's (7âÂÂ2)<br> 22. Purdue (7âÂÂ3)<br> 23. Duke<br> 24. Northwestern<br> 25. LSU<br> 26. Saint Mary's Pre-Flight<br> 27. Personnel Distribution Command<br> 28. Fort Benning<br> 29. Illinois<br> 30. Tulsa<br> 31. Wisconsin<br> 32. Corpus Christi NAS<br> 33. Second Air Force<br> 34. Minnesota<br> 35. Tennessee<br> 36. USC<br> 37. UCLA<br> 38. Texas<br> 39. Columbia<br> 40. Fort Pierce Navy<br> 41. Mississippi State<br> 42. Holy Cross<br> 43. Texas A&M<br> 44. SMU<br> 45. Miami (FL)<br> 46. Little Creek Amphibs<br> 47. Clemson<br> 48. Georgia Tech<br> 49. Keesler Field<br> 50. Hutchinson NAS<br> 51. Penn State<br> 52. Camp Peary<br> 53. California<br> 54. Marquette<br> 55. Temple<br> 56. Fort Warren<br> 57. Arizona<br> 58. Pittsburgh<br> 59. Wake Forest<br> 60. Maxwell Field<br> 61. Miami (OH)<br> 62. Michigan State<br> 63. Oklahoma<br> 64. Rice<br> 65. Washington State<br> 66. Missouri<br> 67. Iowa State<br> 68. Oberlin<br> 69. Yale<br> 70. Washington<br> 71. Baylor<br> 72. North Carolina<br> 73. Virginia<br> 74. Dartmouth<br> 75. Cornell<br> 76. Auburn<br> 77. Camp Lee<br> 78. New Mexico<br> 79. Colgate<br> 80. Detroit<br> 81. Drake<br> 82. Colorado<br> 83. Villanova<br> 84. Hondo Field<br> 85. TCU<br> 86. Oregon<br> 87. Bainbridge Navy<br> 88. Tulane<br> 89. Fort Bragg<br> 90. Denver<br> 91. Texas Tech<br> 92. Arkansas<br> 93. Florida<br> 94. Brown<br> 95. Syracuse<br> 96. William & Mary<br> 97. Pensacola Navy<br> 98. Princeton<br> 99. Olatine Navy<br> 100. NC State<br>