One human poll comprised the 1949 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 28, at the end of the 1949 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 1949 ranked the following as the top 100 teams:
1. Notre Dame (10âÂÂ0)<br> 2. California (10âÂÂ1)<br> 3. Oklahoma (11âÂÂ0)<br> 4. Minnesota (7âÂÂ2)<br> 5. Stanford (7âÂÂ3âÂÂ1)<br> 6. Army (9âÂÂ0)<br> 7. Michigan (6âÂÂ2âÂÂ1)<br> 8. Ohio State (7âÂÂ1âÂÂ2)<br> 9. Michigan State<br> 10. USC (5âÂÂ3âÂÂ1)<br> 11. Wisconsin (5âÂÂ3âÂÂ1)<br> 12. Rice (10âÂÂ1)<br> 13. Kentucky (9âÂÂ3)<br> 14. LSU (8âÂÂ3)<br> 15. Texas (6âÂÂ4)<br> 16. UCLA (6âÂÂ3)<br> 17. SMU (5âÂÂ4âÂÂ1)<br> 18. Baylor (8âÂÂ2)<br> 19. Tulane (7âÂÂ2âÂÂ1)<br> 20. Illinois (3âÂÂ4âÂÂ2)<br> 21. Maryland (9âÂÂ1)<br> 22. Purdue (4âÂÂ5)<br> 23. Missouri (7âÂÂ4)<br> 24. Northwestern (4âÂÂ5)<br> 25. Pacific (11âÂÂ0)<br> 26. Oregon State (7âÂÂ3)<br> 27. Tennessee (7âÂÂ2âÂÂ1)<br> 28. Villanova (8âÂÂ1)<br> 29. Iowa (4âÂÂ5)<br> 30. Santa Clara (8âÂÂ2âÂÂ1)<br> 31. Duke (6âÂÂ3)<br> 32. San Francisco (7âÂÂ3)<br> 33. TCU (6âÂÂ3âÂÂ1)<br> 34. Oregon (4âÂÂ6)<br> 35. Georgia Tech (7âÂÂ3)<br> 36. Alabama (6âÂÂ3âÂÂ1)<br> 37. Pittsburgh (6âÂÂ3)<br> 38. Arkansas (5âÂÂ5)<br> 39. North Carolina (7âÂÂ4)<br> 40. Miami (FL) (6âÂÂ3)<br> 41. Kansas (5âÂÂ5) <br> 42. Xavier (10âÂÂ1)<br> 43. Miami (OH) (5âÂÂ4)<br> 44. Penn (4âÂÂ4)<br> 45. Georgia (4âÂÂ6âÂÂ1)<br> 46. Vanderbilt (5âÂÂ5)<br> 47. Boston University (6âÂÂ2)<br> 48. Washington (3âÂÂ7)<br> 49. Iowa State (5âÂÂ3âÂÂ1)<br> 50. William & Mary (6âÂÂ4)<br> 51. Virginia (7âÂÂ2)<br> 52. Dayton (6âÂÂ3)<br> 53. Cincinnati (7âÂÂ4)<br> 54. Cornell (8âÂÂ1)<br> 55. Indiana (1âÂÂ8)<br> 56. Ole Miss (4âÂÂ5âÂÂ1)<br> 57. Navy (3âÂÂ5âÂÂ1)<br> 58. Wyoming (9âÂÂ1)<br> 59. Boston College (4âÂÂ4âÂÂ1)<br> 60. Penn State (5âÂÂ4)<br> 61. Wake Forest (4âÂÂ6)<br> 62. St. Bonaventure (6âÂÂ3)<br> 63. Princeton (6âÂÂ3)<br> 64. San Jose State (9âÂÂ4)<br> 65. Washington State (3âÂÂ6)<br> 66. Nebraska (4âÂÂ5)<br> 67. Nevada (5âÂÂ5)<br> 68. Oklahoma A&M (4âÂÂ4âÂÂ2)<br> 69. Texas A&M (1âÂÂ8âÂÂ1)<br> 70. Auburn (2âÂÂ4âÂÂ3)<br> 71. Florida (4âÂÂ5âÂÂ1)<br> 72. Texas Tech (7âÂÂ5)<br> 73. Hardin Simmons (6âÂÂ4âÂÂ1)<br> 74. Brown (8âÂÂ1)<br> 75. South Carolina (4âÂÂ6)<br> 76. Rutgers (6âÂÂ3)<br> 77. Texas Western (8âÂÂ2âÂÂ1)<br> 78. Dartmouth (6âÂÂ2)<br> 79. McMurry<br> 80. Louisville (8âÂÂ3)<br> 81. Hardin (10âÂÂ1)<br> 82. North Texas (8âÂÂ4)<br> 83. Saint Mary's (3âÂÂ6âÂÂ1)<br> 84. Detroit (5âÂÂ4)<br> 85. Houston (5âÂÂ4âÂÂ1)<br> 86. Fordham (5âÂÂ3)<br> 87. Tulsa (5âÂÂ5âÂÂ1)<br> 88. Marquette (4âÂÂ5)<br> 89. Memphis State (9âÂÂ1)<br> 90. Loyola [Los Angeles] (6âÂÂ4)<br> 91. Tyler (10âÂÂ1)<br> 92. John Carroll (6âÂÂ3)<br> 93. Kansas State (2âÂÂ8)<br> 94. West Texas (5âÂÂ4)<br> 95. Clemson (4âÂÂ4âÂÂ2)<br> 96. Syracuse (4âÂÂ5)<br> 97. Mississippi Southern (0âÂÂ8âÂÂ1)<br> 98. Bucknell (6âÂÂ2)<br> 99. Idaho (3âÂÂ5)<br> 100. Delaware (8âÂÂ1)<br>
The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1949 teams from historically black colleges and universities using the Dickinson System in an era when college football was largely segregated. The rankings were published on December 10.