The 1946 college football season was the 78th season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six Conference, the Southern Conference, the Southwestern Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs. The season saw the return of many programs which had suspended play during World War II, and also the enrollment of many veterans returning from the war.

The teams ranked highest in the final Associated Press poll in December 1946 were: The 1946 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team compiled an 8–0–1 record and was ranked No. 1 in the final AP poll. The Fighting Irish, led by consensus All-Americans Johnny Lujack at quarterback and George Connor at tackle, played a scoreless tie against No. 2 Army in a game billed as the "Game of the Century". Notre Dame also ranked first in the nation in total offense (441.3 yards per game), rushing offense (340.1 yards per game), and total defense (141.7 yards per game). The 1946 Army Cadets football team compiled a 9–0–1 and was ranked No. 2 in the final AP poll. Army had won consecutive national championships in 1944 and 1945 and was led by 1946 Heisman Trophy winner Glenn Davis and 1945 Heisman winner Doc Blanchard. The 1946 Georgia Bulldogs football team compiled a perfect 11–0 record, won the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship, was ranked No. 3 in the final AP poll, and defeated No. 9 North Carolina in the Sugar Bowl. The Bulldogs ranked second nationally in total offense (394.6 yards per game). They were led by Charley Trippi who tallied 1,366 yards of total offense and won the Maxwell Award as the best player in college football. The 1946 UCLA Bruins football team compiled a 10–0 record in the regular season, won the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) championship, was ranked No. 4 in the final AP poll, but lost to No. 5 Illinois in the Rose Bowl.

The year's statistical leaders included Rudy Mobley of Hardin–Simmons with 1,262 rushing yards, Travis Tidwell of Auburn with 1,715 yards of total offense, Bobby Layne of Texas with 1,122 passing yards, and Joe Carter of Florida N&I with 152 points scored.

Delaware compiled a 10–0 record and was recognized by the AP as the small college national champion. Morgan State (8–0) and Tennessee A&I (10–1) have been recognized as the black college national champions.

Conference and program changes

Conference establishments Four conferences began football play in 1946: College Conference of Illinois – an active NCAA Division III conference; now known as the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Dakota-Iowa Athletic Conference – a conference active through the 1948 season Mason-Dixon Conference – an NCAA Division III conference active through the 1974 season Mid-America Conference – an active NCAA Division I / FBS conference; now known as the Mid-American Conference

Membership changes School 1945 Conference 1946 Conference Houston Cougars Program Established Lone Star

Season timeline September Significant games played in September 1946 included the following:

September 21 Indiana was upset by Cincinnati, 15–6, at home in Bloomington. Indiana had won the Big Ten championship in 1945 with a No. 4 ranking in the final AP Poll. Houston played its first ever football game, losing by a 13–7 score against Southwestern Louisiana.

September 27–28 Oklahoma A&M, AFCA national champion in 1945, was tied 21–21 by Arkansas Army defeated Oklahoma, 21–7, at West Point. Notre Dame won at Illinois, 26–6. Illinois went on to win the Big Nine championship. Georgia defeated Clemson, 35–12, in their annual rivalry game. Indiana lost again, 21–0 at Michigan. Tennessee defeated Georgia Tech, 13–9, in their annual rivalry game. UCLA beat Oregon State, 50–7. UCLA and Oregon State finished the season in first and second place in the Pacific Coast Conference.

October

October 5 Army beat Cornell 46–21. Navy lost at Columbia and dropped the rest of its games, finishing 1–8–0. Oklahoma A&M lost 54–6 at Texas and would finish at 3–7–1. Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh 33–0. Michigan beat Iowa 14–7. UCLA won at Washington, 39–13.

The first AP Poll of the 1946 season was issued on October 7 with Texas ranked No. 1, Army No. 2, Notre Dame No. 3, Michigan No. 4 and UCLA No. 5.

October 12 In Dallas, No. 1 Texas beat Oklahoma 20–13. No. 2 Army and No. 4 Michigan met in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the visiting Cadets won 20–13. No. 3 Notre Dame beat Purdue 49–6. No. 5 UCLA beat No. 17 Stanford 26–6.

The next poll featured No. 1 Army, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Michigan.

October 19 No. 1 Army beat No. 11 Columbia 48–14. No. 2 Notre Dame was idle. No. 3 Texas beat No. 14 Arkansas 20–0. No. 4 UCLA won at California 13–6. No. 5 Michigan and No. 10 Northwestern played to a 14–14 tie. No. 9 Tennessee beat No. 7 Alabama 12–0.

Army, Notre Dame, and Texas stayed as the top three, ahead of No. 4 Tennessee and No. 5 UCLA.

October 26 At the Polo Grounds in New York, No. 1 Army beat No. 13 Duke 19–0. * No. 2 Notre Dame won at No. 17 Iowa, 49–6. In Houston, No. 3 Texas lost to No. 16 Rice, 18–13. No. 4 Tennessee lost to unranked Wake Forest, 19–6. No. 5 UCLA beat Santa Clara 33–7. No. 6 Penn beat Navy 32–19 No. 7 Georgia won at Furman, 70–7.

The next poll was No. 1 Army, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Penn, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Georgia.

November

November 2 No. 1 Army beat West Virginia, 19–0. In Baltimore, No. 2 Notre Dame defeated Navy, 28–0. No. 3 Penn lost to Princeton, 17–14. No. 5 Georgia beat No. 15 Alabama, 14–0. No. 4 UCLA beat St. Mary's, 46–20, in a Friday night game. No. 8 Rice beat Texas Tech 41–6

In the poll that followed No. 1 Army, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Rice.

November 9 A crowd of 74,000 turned out at New York's Yankee Stadium to watch No. 1 Army and No. 2 Notre Dame in a meeting of the nation's two unbeaten and untied teams. Both teams missed scoring opportunities. In the opening quarter, Army recovered a fumble on the Irish 24, but was stopped on fourth down at the 13 yard line. The Irish drove to the Army three yard line in the second quarter but no further. Army reached the Irish 20 yard line in the third quarter, but Notre Dame's Terry Brennan picked off a pass from Glenn Davis. In the last quarter, a bad punt was returned by Davis to the Irish 39 yard line, but Notre Dame forced a fumble and stopped any further scoring chances. The game ended in a scoreless tie, 0–0. ."Fighting Irish Battle Army to 0-0 Stalemate", The Post-Standard (Syracuse), Nov. 10, 1946, p13 In Jacksonville, No. 3 Georgia beat Florida 33–14. In Portland, No. 4 UCLA beat Oregon 14–0. No. 5 Rice lost in Little Rock to Arkansas, 7–0.

In the poll that followed, No. 9 Penn moved back up to No. 5 after beating Columbia in New York's "other" football game, 41–6. The top four remained the same.

November 16 In its third meeting against a Top Five team, No. 1 Army beat No. 5 Penn in Philadelphia, 34–7. No. 2 Notre Dame beat Northwestern, 27–0. No. 3 Georgia beat Auburn 41–0 in a neutral site in Columbus, Georgia. No. 4 UCLA beat Montana 61–7. No. 9 Illinois beat No. 13 Ohio State 16–7 and replaced Penn at No. 5.

November 23 No. 1 Army was idle. No. 2 Notre Dame beat Tulane in New Orleans, 41–0. No. 3 Georgia won at Chattanooga, 48–27. No. 4 UCLA defeated No. 10 USC 13–6. No. 5 Illinois won at Northwestern, 20–0, to close its season with an 8–1–0 record. No. 8 Michigan defeated Ohio State, 58–6, in Columbus.

The top five remained the same.

November 30 No. 1 Army barely beat a 1–7–0 Navy team, 21–18 No. 2 Notre Dame beat No. 16 USC 26–6. Army still had a 9–0–1 record and had been ranked No. 1 in 22 of the last 23 AP Polls dating back to 1944, but the results of the final games convinced the voters to move the Irish up to first place in the postseason poll and the Cadets down to second. No. 3 Georgia defeated No. 7 Georgia Tech 35–7 No. 4 UCLA beat Nebraska, 18–0, and accepted an invitation to face No. 5 Illinois in the Rose Bowl.

With the exception of Notre Dame leapfrogging Army, the rankings of the other top-five teams remained the same.

December On December 2, the final AP Poll was issued with Notre Dame at No. 1, Army at No. 2, Georgia at No. 3, UCLA at No. 4, Illinois at No. 5, Michigan at No. 6, Tennessee at No. 7, LSU at No. 8, North Carolina at No. 9, and Rice at No. 10.

Notable post-season games played in December included: December 7: Tennessee A&I defeated West Virginia State, 27–7, in the Derby Bowl December 7: Lincoln (PA) defeated Florida A&M, 20–14, in the Orange Blossom Classic December 7: Southern defeated Xavier of Louisiana, 35–0, in New Orleans December 7: Allen defeated Fayetteville State, 40–6, in the Piedmont Tobacco Bowl. December 14: Muhlenberg defeated St. Bonaventure, 26–25, in the Tobacco Bowl December 21: USC defeated Tulane, 20–13, in New Orleans December 23: Stanford defeated Hawaii, 18–7, in Honolulu. December 25: Southern defeated Tuskegee, 64–7, in the Yam Bowl December 28: Florida A&M and Wiley played to a 6–6 tie in the Angel Bowl.

New Year's Day bowl games Major bowls Wednesday, January 1, 1947 Bowl game Winning team Losing team Rose Bowl No. 5 Illinois 45 No. 4 UCLA 14 Sugar Bowl No. 3 Georgia 20 No. 9 North Carolina 10 Orange Bowl No. 10 Rice8 No. 7 Tennessee0 Cotton Bowl No. 16 Arkansas0 No. 8 LSU0 No. 1 Notre Dame (8–0–1), No. 2 Army (9–0–1), and No. 6 Michigan (6–2–1) were idle in bowl season.

Other bowls Wednesday, January 1, 1947 Bowl game Winning team Losing team Sun Bowl Cincinnati 18 VPI6 Gator Bowl No. 14 Oklahoma 34 No. 18 NC State 13 Tangerine Bowl Catawba 31 Maryville6 Oil Bowl No. 11 Georgia Tech 41 Saint Mary's 19 Raisin Bowl Utah State0 San Jose State 20 Harbor Bowl Montana State 13 New Mexico 13 Alamo Bowl ^ Hardin–Simmons 20 Denver0 Cigar Bowl No. 19 Delaware 20 3 ^

January 1: Tennessee A&I defeated Louisville Municipal, 32–0, in the Vulcan Bowl January 1: Lincoln (MO) defeated Prairie View A&M, 14–0, in the Prairie View Bowl. January 1: Arkansas AM&N defeated Lane, 7–0, in the Cattle Bowl. January 1: Pepperdine defeated Nebraska Wesleyan, 38–13, in the Will Rogers Bowl.

Conference standings Major conference standings

Major independents

Minor conferences