One human poll and several ranking methods determined the 1938 college football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, did not itself bestow a national championship.
Champions (by ranking) The AP Poll and three other major rankings consider TCU as the season's champion. Eight major rankings consider Tennessee the season's champion. The Dickinson System considers Notre Dame the season's champion: AP poll: TCU Berryman QPRS: Tennessee Billingsley Report: Tennessee Boand System: Tennessee College Football Researchers Association: Tennessee Dickinson System: Notre Dame Dunkel System: Tennessee Helms Athletic Foundation: TCU Houlgate System: Tennessee Litkenhous Ratings: Tennessee National Championship Foundation: TCU Poling System: Tennessee Sagarin Ratings Elo chess method: Tennessee Sagarin Ratings Predictor method: Tennessee Williamson System: TCU Note: AP poll, Boand System, Dickinson System, Dunkel System, Houlgate System, Litkenhous Ratings, Poling System, and Williamson System were given contemporarily. All other methods were given retroactively.
AP Poll Legend Increase in ranking Decrease in ranking Not ranked previous week National champion Win–loss record Number of first place votes Tied with team above or below also with this symbol The scheduled final AP Poll was released on November 29, with Notre Dame No. 1, prior to their season-end game against Southern California.
The poll was extended for one week due to the "select quality of last Saturday's games, three of which had a direct bearing on the ranking".
The revised final AP Poll was released on December 6, at the end of the regular season, still weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
Houlgate System
Litkenhous Ratings The top teams in the Litkenhous Ratings for 1938 were as follows:
1. Tennessee 2. TCU 3. USC 4. Notre Dame 5. Holy Cross 6. Pittsburgh 7. Cornell 8. Fordham 9. Minnesota 10. Michigan 11. Northwestern 12. California
Boand/Azzi Ratem
1. Tennessee 2. Notre Dame 3. TCU 4. USC 5. California 6. Oklahoma 7. Duke 8. Pittsburgh 9. Holy Cross 10. Minnesota 11. Villanova 12. Michigan
Poling
1. Tennessee 2. TCU 3. USC 4. Notre Dame 5. California 6. Oklahoma 7. Duke 8. Holy Cross 9. Pittsburgh 10. Minnesota 11. Alabama 12. Carnegie Tech
Williamson
1-2. Tennessee 1-2. TCU 3. Notre Dame 4. Carnegie Tech 5. Holy Cross 6. Alabama 7. USC 8. Duke 9. Oklahoma 10. Pittsburgh 11. Minnesota 12. Villanova
See also
1938 College Football All-America Team
Notes
References