Two human polls comprised the 1961 major 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 preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches 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
AP poll
The final AP poll was released on December 5, at the end of the regular season, weeks before the bowls. Starting in the 1961 season and until the 1967 season, the AP poll ranked only 10 teams.
UPI Coaches Poll The final United Press International (UPI) Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on December 5. Alabama received 18 of the 35 first-place votes; Ohio State received fifteen, Ole Miss one, and Colorado one. Ranking Team Conference Bowl 1 Alabama SEC Won Sugar, 10–3 2 Ohio State Big Ten none 3 LSU SEC Won Orange, 25–7 4 Texas Southwest Won Cotton, 12–7 5 Ole Miss SEC Lost Cotton, 7–12 6 Minnesota Big Ten Won Rose, 21–3 7 Colorado Big Eight Lost Orange, 7–25 8 Arkansas Southwest Lost Sugar, 3–10 9 Michigan State Big Ten none 10 Utah State Skyline Lost Gotham, 9–2411 Purdue Big Tennone Missouri Big Eight 13 Georgia Tech SEC Lost Gator, 15–30 14 Duke ACC none 15 Kansas Big Eight Won Bluebonnet, 33–7 16 Syracuse Independent Won Liberty, 15–14 17 Wyoming Skylinenone 18 Wisconsin Big Ten19 Miami (FL) Independent Lost Liberty, 14–15 Penn State Independent Won Gator, 30–15
Prior to the 1975 season, the Big Ten and AAWU (later Pac-8) conferences allowed only one postseason participant each, for the Rose Bowl. The Ivy League has prohibited its members from participating in postseason football since the league was officially formed in 1954.
See also
1961 College Football All-America Team
References