Two human polls comprised the 1972 NCAA University Division 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
UPI Coaches Poll
The final UPI Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, in early December. USC was a unanimous selection, with all 35 first-place votes. Ranking Team Conference Bowl 1 USC Pac-8 Won Rose, 42–17 2 Oklahoma Big Eight Won Sugar, 14–0 3 Ohio State Big Ten Lost Rose, 17–42 4 Alabama SEC Lost Cotton, 13–17 5 Texas Southwest Won Cotton, 17–13 6 Michigan Big Ten none 7 Auburn SEC Won Gator, 24–3 8 Penn State Independent Lost Sugar, 0–14 9 Nebraska Big Eight Won Orange, 40–6 10 LSU SEC Lost Bluebonnet, 17–24 11 Tennessee SEC Won Bluebonnet, 24–17 12 Notre Dame Independent Lost Orange, 6–40 13 Arizona State WAC Won Fiesta, 49–3514 Colorado Big Eight Lost Gator, 3–24 North Carolina ACC Won Sun, 32–28 16 Louisville MVCnone17 UCLA Pac-8 Washington State Pac-8 Utah State Independent 20 San Diego State PCAA
Prior to the 1975 season, the Big Ten and Pac-8 conferences allowed only one postseason participant each, for the Rose Bowl.
Notes
References