Two human polls and several math systems comprised the 1950 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.
This was the first season that the AP released a preseason poll before any games were played in August. The final AP Poll was released on November 27, near the end of the 1950 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
This was the first year for the UP Coaches Poll, and its final edition was released prior to the bowl games, on <br />Oklahoma received 32 of the 35 first-place votes, with one vote each to Princeton, Michigan State,
The Litkenhous Ratings released in mid-December 1950 provided numerical rankings to over 600 college football programs. The top 100 ranked teams were:
1. Oklahoma<br /> 2. Tennessee<br /> 3. Texas<br /> 4. Kentucky<br /> 5. Army<br /> 6. Texas A&M<br /> 7. Clemson<br /> 8. Illinois<br /> 9. Tulane<br /> 10. Alabama<br /> 11. Ohio State<br /> 12. California<br /> 13. Princeton<br /> 14. Penn<br /> 15. Michigan State<br /> 16. Michigan<br /> 17. Baylor<br /> 18. UCLA<br /> 19. Wisconsin<br /> 20. SMU<br /> 21. Washington<br /> 22. Tulsa<br /> 23. Stanford<br /> 24. Pacific<br /> 25. Miami (FL)<br /> 26. LSU<br /> 27. Arkansas<br /> 28. San Francisco<br /> 29. Wyoming<br /> 30. Northwestern<br /> 31. TCU<br /> 32. Mississippi State<br /> 33. Maryland<br /> 34. Rice<br /> 35. Loyola-Los Angeles<br /> 36. John Carroll<br /> 37. Wake Forest<br /> 38. Miami (OH)<br /> 39. Ole Miss<br /> 40. Georgia<br /> 41. Nebraska<br /> 42. Cornell<br /> 43. Kansas<br /> 44. Indiana<br /> 45. Vanderbilt<br /> 46. Duke<br /> 47. Notre Dame<br /> 48. Marquette<br /> 49. Xavier<br /> 50. Navy<br /> 51. Virginia<br /> 52. Lehigh<br /> 53. Purdue<br /> 54. Georgia Tech<br /> 55. Washington & Lee<br /> 56. Cincinnati<br /> 57. North Carolina<br /> 58. Colorado<br /> 59. Texas Tech<br /> 60. Iowa<br /> 61. Santa Clara<br /> 62. Hardin Simmons<br /> 63. Missouri<br /> 64. Minnesota<br /> 65. St. Bonaventure<br /> 66. Villanova<br /> 67. Syracuse<br /> 68. South Carolina<br /> 69. USC<br /> 70. Detroit<br /> 71. Dartmouth<br /> 72. Houston<br /> 73. Arizona State<br /> 74. Florida<br /> 75. West Texas<br /> 76. San Jose State<br /> 77. Drake<br /> 78. Colgate<br /> 79. Holy Cross<br /> 80. Oregon State<br /> 81. Penn State<br /> 82. Iowa State<br /> 83. Rutgers<br /> 84. Oklahoma A&M<br /> 85. Washington State<br /> 86. Pittsburgh<br /> 87. Yale<br /> 88. North Texas<br /> 89. Columbia<br /> 90. Fordham<br /> 91. Memphis State<br /> 92. Georgetown<br /> 93. George Washington<br /> 94. Dayton<br /> 95. Baldwin Wallace<br /> 96. Oregon<br /> 97. Temple<br /> 98. William & Mary<br /> 99. Abilene Christian<br /> 100. Bucknell<br />
The Williamson System rankings for 1950 were as follows:
1. Oklahoma<br /> 2. Texas<br /> 3. Princeton<br /> 4. Tennessee<br /> 5. California<br /> 6. Kentucky<br /> 7. Michigan State<br /> 8. Army<br /> 9. Clemson<br /> 10. Miami (FL)<br /> 11. Illinois<br /> 12. Wyoming<br /> 13. Baylor<br /> 14. Alabama<br /> 15. Michigan<br /> 16. Washington<br /> 17. Cornell<br /> 18. Wake Forest<br /> 19. SMU<br /> 20. Penn<br /> 21. Ohio State<br /> 22. Wisconsin<br /> 23. Tulane<br /> 24. Nebraska<br /> 25. Maryland<br /> 26. Northwestern<br /> 27. Duke<br /> 28. UCLA<br /> 29. Virginia<br /> 30. Indiana<br /> 31. Mississippi State<br /> 32. Rice<br /> 33. Texas A&M<br /> 34. Stanford<br /> 35. Georgia Tech<br /> 36. LSU<br /> 37. Georgia<br /> 38. Iowa<br /> 39. Washington & Lee<br /> 40. USC<br /> 41. Notre Dame<br /> 42. North Carolina<br /> 43. Loyola-Los Angeles<br /> 44. Miami (OH)<br /> 45. South Carolina<br /> 46. Fordham<br /> 47. San Francisco<br /> 48. Navy<br /> 49. Yale<br /> 50. Ole Miss<br /> 51. Lehigh<br /> 52. Colgate<br /> 53. TCU<br /> 54. Tulsa<br /> 55. Florida<br /> 56. Cincinnati<br /> 57. Missouri<br /> 58. Vanderbilt<br /> 59. West Texas<br /> 60. Xavier<br /> 61. St. Bonaventure<br /> 62. Hardin Simmons<br /> 63. John Carroll<br /> 64. <br /> 65. Syracuse<br /> 66. <br /> 67. George Washington<br /> 68. Kansas<br /> 69. Marquette<br /> 70. Detroit<br /> 71. Penn State<br /> 72. Pittsburgh<br /> 73. Oklahoma A&M<br /> 74. Minnesota<br /> 75. Arkansas<br /> 76. Texas Tech<br /> 77. Washington State<br /> 78. Colorado<br /> 79. Arizona State<br /> 80. Pacific<br /> 81. Emory & Henry<br /> 82. VMI<br /> 83. <br /> 84. Appalachian<br /> 85. Houston<br /> 86. Texas Western<br /> 87. Rutgers<br /> 88. Dartmouth<br /> 89. Memphis State<br /> 90. Arizona<br /> 91. Wichita<br /> 92. Drake<br /> 93.<br /> 94.<br /> 95. Oregon State<br /> 96. Iowa State<br /> 97.<br /> 98. Florida State<br /> 99. Furman<br /> 100. Santa Clara<br /> 101. Purdue<br /> 102. Colorado A&M<br /> 103. Villanova<br /> 104. Columbia<br /> 105. Georgetown<br /> 106. Jacksonville State<br /> 107. Holy Cross<br /> 108. William & Mary<br /> 109. Sul Ross<br /> 110. NC State<br />
The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1950 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 2:
The Associated Negro Press also published rankings on December 16: