The 1956 college football rankings were an effort to rank the American football teams participating in the 1956 college football season. College football's governing body, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), did not issue rankings or conduct a championship game or playoffs to determine a national champion. The most widely-reported rankings were published by two of the major news agencies based on polling conducted on a weekly basis during the season.
At the end of the regular season, Oklahoma was ranked No. 1 in both the AP and UPI polls. Oklahoma did not participate in a bowl game. Neither agency conducted polling after the bowl games.
Though not as widely reported as the AP and UPI polls, some newspapers also reported on a mathematical ranking system developed by Vanderbilt University professor Edward Litkenhous. These were known as the Litkenhous Ratings. Oklahoma was also ranked No. 1 in the Litkenhouse Ratings. Whereas the AP and UPI polls ranked the top 20 teams, Litkenhouse ranked every college football team, and his rankings from 1 to 100 are included below.
The final AP poll was released on December 3, at the end of the regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP did not release poll after the bowl season regularly until 1968.
The final UPI poll was released prior to the bowl games, on December 4. <br>Oklahoma received 26 of the 35 first-place votes; Tennessee received five, Iowa three, and Miami one.
The final Litkenhous Ratings, released in December 1956, ranked over 600 teams. The top 100 teams as ranked by Litkenhous were:
1. Oklahoma<br> 2. Tennessee<br> 3. Georgia Tech<br> 4. Michigan State<br> 5. Michigan<br> 6. Iowa<br> 7. Texas A&M<br> 8. TCU<br> 9. Ohio State<br> 10. Minnesota<br> 11. Ole Miss<br> 12. Baylor<br> 13. Florida<br> 14. Miami (FL)<br> 15. Duke<br> 16. Texas Western<br> 17. Auburn<br> 18. USC<br> 19. Pittsburgh<br> 20. Oregon State<br> 21. Kentucky<br> 22. Syracuse<br> 23. Penn State<br> 24. Washington University<br> 25. Arizona State<br> 26. Houston<br> 27. Illinois<br> 28. Purdue<br> 29. UCLA<br> 30. Oregon<br> 31. Colorado<br> 32. Stanford<br> 33. Mississippi Southern<br> 34. Vanderbilt<br> 35. Tulane<br> 36. Northwestern<br> 37. Arkansas<br> 38. Rice<br> 39. Wisconsin<br> 40. California<br> 41. Navy<br> 42. Virginia Tech<br> 43. Clemson<br> 44. Florida State<br> 45. Army<br> 46. South Carolina<br> 47. Mississippi State<br> 48. LSU<br> 49. SMU<br> 50. Southeastern Louisiana<br> 51. Georgia<br> 52. Missouri<br> 53. West Texas<br> 54. Alabama<br> 55. Villanova<br> 56. Pacific<br> 57. Texas<br> 58. Wake Forest<br> 59. Maryland<br> 60. Tulsa<br> 61. North Carolina<br> 62.<br> 63.<br> 64. Kansas<br> 65. West Virginia<br> 66. Washington State<br> 67. Oklahoma A&M<br> 68. Yale<br> 69. Texas Tech<br> 70. Notre Dame<br> 71. Xavier<br> 72. NC State<br> 73. Wyoming<br> 74. <br> 75. Utah<br> 76. <br> 77. <br> 78. Virginia<br> 79.<br> 80. Hardin Simmons<br> 81. Arizona<br> 82. George Washington<br> 83. Boston College<br> 84. Miami (OH)<br> 85. Nebraska<br> 86. Indiana<br> 87. <br> 88. Bowling Green<br> 89. <br> 90. <br> 91. <br> 92. Memphis State<br> 93. Holy Cross<br> 94. Cincinnati<br> 95. <br> 96. Princeton<br> 97. Chattanooga 98. <br> 99. <br> 100. <br> 105. Air Force<br> 106. Colgate<br> 107. Utah State<br> 109. Kansas State<br> 110. Dayton<br> 117. Dartmouth<br> 118. Denver<br> 120. Wichita<br> 122. Furman<br> 123. Middle Tennessee<br> 126. VMI<br> 128. Louisville<br> 129. Boston University<br> 131. Iowa State<br> 132. Detroit<br> 135. Brown<br> 140. Davidson<br> 147. Citadel<br> 151. Arkansas State<br> 156. Richmond<br> 159. William & Mary<br> 160. Murray<br> 168. Harvard<br> 172. Ohio<br> 177. Tennessee Tech<br> 180. Florence<br> 183. Eastern Kentucky<br>