Two human polls comprised the 1955 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 final AP Poll was released on November 28, at the end of the 1955 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
The final UP Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on November 28. <br>Oklahoma received 24 of the 35 first-place votes; Michigan State received seven, and two each to Maryland and UCLA.
The Litkenhous Ratings included rankings of over 650 teams. The top 200 teams in the Litkehous analysis were:
1. Oklahoma (11-0) - 109.2<br> 2. UCLA (9-2) - 107.5<br> 3. TCU (9-2) - 107.2<br> 4. Maryland (10-1) - 107.0<br> 5. Michigan State (9-1) - 106.9<br> 6. Georgia Tech (9-1-1) - 101.7<br> 7. Ohio State (7-2) - 100.9<br> 8. Ole Miss (10-1) - 100.5<br> 9. USC (6-4) - 99.9<br> 10. Notre Dame (8-2) - 99.0<br> 11. Michigan (7-2) - 98.3<br> 12. Stanford (6-3-1)195 - 98.2<br> 13. Texas A&M (7-2-1) -98.2<br> 14. Miami (FL) (9-0) - 97.2<br> 15. Vanderbilt (8-3) - 96.9<br> 16. Tennessee (6-3-1) - 95.7<br> 17. Army (6-3) - 95.4<br> 18. Pittsburgh (7-4) - 95.3<br> 19. Duke (7-2-1) - 95.2<br> 20. Navy (6-2-1) - 94.5<br> 21. Iowa (3-5-1) - 93.3<br> 22. West Virginia (8-2) - 93.0<br> 23. Auburn (8-2-1) - 92.6<br> 24. LSU (3-5-2) - 92.1<br> 25. Texas (5-5) - 92.1<br> 26. Kentucky (6-3-1) - 92.0<br> 27. Illinois (5-3-1) - 91.9<br> 28. Purdue (5-3-1) - 91.9<br> 29. Miami (OH) - 91.3<br> 30. SMU (4-6) - 91.1<br> 31. Washington (5-4-1) - 90.8<br> 32. Wisconsin (4-5) - 90.6<br> 33. Arkansas (5-4-1) - 90.0<br> 34. Clemson (7-3) - 89.6<br> 35. Xavier (7-2) - 89.5<br> 36. Baylor (5-5) - 88.8<br> 37. Mississippi State (6-4) - 88.8<br> 38. Tulane (5-4-1) - 87.8<br> 39. Florida (4-6) - 87.6<br> 40. Syracuse (5-3) - 87.6<br> 41. Georgia (4-6) - 87.3<br> 42. Mississippi Southern (9-1) - 86.6<br> 43. Oregon (6-4) - 86.5<br> 44. Minnesota (3-6) - 85.9<br> 45. Pacific (5-4) - 85.5<br> 46. Texas Tech (7-3-1) - 85.5<br> 47. Rice (2-7-1) - 84.5<br> 48. Colorado (6-4) - 83.9<br> 49. Boston College (5-2-1) - 83.4<br> 50. Arizona State (8-2-1) - 83.3<br> 51. Indiana (3-6) - 82.9<br> 52. Texas Western (6-2-2) - 82.7<br> 53. Oregon State (6-3) - 81.7<br> 54. Wichita (7-2-1) - 81.0<br> 55. Yale (7-2) - 81.0<br> 56. Denver (8-2) - 80.9<br> 57. Penn State (5-4) - 80.3<br> 58. Colgate (6-3) - 79.8<br> 59. Houston (6-4) - 79.7<br> 60. Nebraska (5-5) - 79.2<br> 61. Trinity (TX) (9-0) - 78.3<br> 62. North Carolina (3-7) - 78.0<br> 63. Utah (6-3) - 77.7<br> 64. Wake Forest (5-4-1) - 77.6<br> 65. George Washington - 76.8<br> 66. Chattanooga (5-4-1) - 76.7<br> 67. Delaware (8-1) - 76.7<br> 68. California (2-7-1) - 76.3<br> 69. North Texas (5-4-1) - 76.3<br> 70. San Jose State (5-3-1) - 76.2<br> 71. Virginia Tech (6-3-1) - 75.9<br> 72. Kent State (6-2-1)<br> 73. Bowling Green (7-1-1) - 75.7<br> 74. Arizona (5-4-1) - 75.2<br> 75. Missouri (1-9) - 75.0<br> 76. Princeton (7-2) - 74.8<br> 77. Kansas State (4-6) - 74.1<br> 78. Louisiana Tech (9-1) - 73.9<br> 79. NC State (4-5-1) - 73.6<br> 80. Colorado A&M (8-2) - 73.4<br> 81. West Texas (4-4-1) - 73.0<br> 82. Alabama (0-10) - 72.9<br> 83. Wyoming (8-3) - 72.8<br> 84. Detroit (5-3-1) - 72.4<br> 85. Lafayette (6-2) - 72.4<br> 86. Boise (7-2) - 72.3<br> 87. Louisville (7-2) - 72.1<br> 88. Northwestern (0-8-1) - 72.0<br> 89. Compton (11-0) - 71.9<br> 90. Ohio (5-4) - 71.9<br> 91. Dayton (3-6-1) - 71.4<br> 92. Florida State (5-5) - 71.3<br> 93. Cornell (5-4) - 71.0<br> 94. HardinâÂÂSimmons (5-5) - 70.7<br> 95. Tennessee Tech (7-3) - 69.9<br> 96. Kansas (3-6-1) - 69.5<br> 97. Oklahoma A&M (2-8) - 69.2<br> 98. Harvard (3-4-1) - 69.0<br> 99. Richmond (4-3-2) - 68.7<br> 100. Central Michigan (8-1) - 68.6<br> 101. South Carolina (3-6) - 68.6<br> 102. Tampa (7-2) - 68.6<br> 103. Virginia (1-9) - 68.6<br> 104. Southwest Texas (6-1-2) - 68.5<br> 105. Idaho (2-7) - 68.2<br> 106. Rhode Island (6-1-2) - 68.2<br> 107. Trinity (CT) (7-0) - 67.8<br> 108. Gettysburg - 67.7<br> 109. William & Mary (1-7-1) - 67.7<br> 110. Marquette (2-6-1) - 67.6<br> 111. Dartmouth (3-6) - 66.7<br> 112. Lehigh (7-2) - 66.6<br> 113. Sam Houston (6-1-2) - 66.6<br> 114. Villanova (1-9) - 66.6<br> 115. Iowa State - 66.4<br> 116. Washington State (1-7-2) - 66.4<br> 117. Marshall (3-6) - 66.2<br> 118. Utah State (4-6) - 66.2<br> 119. Maine (5-1-1) - 65.6<br> 120. McNeese (7-1-1) - 65.5<br> 121. Cincinnati (1-6-2) - 65.1<br> 122. Holy Cross (6-4) - 65.1<br> 123. Memphis State (2-7) - 64.8<br> 124. Tulsa (2-7-1) - 64.2<br> 125. Youngstown - 64.0<br> 126. Muskingum (8-0) - 63.7<br> 127. Northeast Oklahoma A&M - 63.4<br> 128. Fresno State (9-1) - 63.2<br> 129. Brown (2-7) - 63.1<br> 130. Hawaii (7-4) - 62.8<br> 131. East Texas (5-4-1) - 62.8<br> 132. Abilene Christian (3-5-2) - 62.4<br> 133. Arkansas State (6-3) - 62.2<br> 134. Connecticut (4-4) - 61.8<br> 135. Southeastern Louisiana - 61.5<br> 136. Cal Poly (7-3) - 61.0<br> 137. Akron (6-2) - 60.7<br> 138. Howard Payne - 60.7<br> 139. Florence 60.1<br> 140. Heidelberg (9-0) - 60.0<br> 141. Murray - 59.8<br> 142. McMurry - 59.6<br> 143. Boston University (2-6) - 59.0<br> 144. Tufts - 58.8<br> 145. <br> 146. Jacksonville - 58.2<br> 147. Eastern Montana - 58.2<br> 148. Mt. San Antonio - 58.2<br> 149. New Hampshire (2-4-2) - 58.2<br> 150. Middle Tennessee (7-2-1) - 58.1<br> 151. Northwestern Louisiana - 57.9<br> 152. Rutgers (3-5) - 57.9<br> 153. Cameron State - 57.8<br> 154. Southwestern Louisiana (5-4) - 57.2<br> 155. Bucknell (2-6-1) - 57.0<br> 156. Yuba - 57.0<br> 157. Eastern Kentucky - 56.6<br> 158. Lenoir Rhyne - 56.6<br> 159. Tyler JC - 56.5<br> 160. William Carey - 56.5<br> 161. Penn (0-9) - 56.4<br> 162. Stephen F. Austin (5-4) - 56.4<br> 163. South Dakota State (6-2-1) - 55.8<br> 164. Hillsdale (9-0) - 55.6<br> 165. Toledo (3-5-1) - 55.5<br> 166. Springfield - 55.4<br> 167. Idaho State (8-1) - 55.2<br> 168. Morris Harvey - 55.2<br> 169. Westminster (PA) - 55.1<br> 170. Alfred - 55.0<br> 171. Concordia (MN) - 55.0<br> 172. Lewis & Clark - 55.0<br> 173. Worcester Poly - 55.0<br> 174. Columbia (1-8) - 54.9<br> 175. Moravian - 54.9<br> 176. Omaha - 54.9<br> 177. St. Joseph (IN) - 54.8<br> 178. Midwestern - 54.7<br> 179. San Francisco CC - 54.7<br> 180. Evansville (6-3) - 54.6<br> 181. Antelope Valley - 54.3<br> 182. Texas A&I (4-6) - 54.2<br> 183. Menlo JC<br> 184. Iowa State Teachers (8-1) - 53.5<br> 185. Davidson (5-4) - 53.4<br> 186. Kilgore JC<br> 187. Wofford<br> 188. VMI (1-9) - 53.2<br> 189. Porterville - 53.1<br> 190. Michigan State Normal (7-2) - 53.0<br> 191. St. Cloud - 53.0<br> 192. St. Olaf - 52.8<br> 193. UMass (4-4) - 52.7<br> 194. Western Kentucky (3-6) - 52.4<br> 195. New Mexico (2-8) - 52.4<br> 196. Juniata (8-0-1) - 52.2<br> 197. Lamar Tech (4-6) - 52.1<br> 198. Wharton City - 52.1<br> 199. Newberry - 51.9<br> 200. El Camino - 51.5<br> 215. Drake (4-4) - 53.0<br> 224. Montana (3-7) - 48.7<br> 225. South Dakota (4-4) - 48.7<br> 232. North Dakota (6-3) - 46.3<br> 254. New Mexico A&M (3-7) - 46.3<br> 255. BYU (1-9) - 46.2<br> 262. Washington University (5-4) - 45.9<br>
The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1955 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was largely segregated. The rankings were published on December 10:
The Associated Negro Press also published rankings on December 8: