# 1945 college football rankings

One human poll comprised the 1945 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. The Coaches' Poll began operation in 1950; in addition, the AP Poll did not begin conducting preseason polls until that same year.

## Legend

| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| | National champion |
| (#–#) | Win–loss record |
| (Italics) | Number of first place votes |
| т | Tied with team above or below also with this symbol |

## AP Poll

The final AP Poll was released on December 2, at the end of the 1945 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
| | Week 1 Oct 7 | Week 2 Oct 14 | Week 3 Oct 21 | Week 4 Oct 28 | Week 5 Nov 4 | Week 6 Nov 11 | Week 7 Nov 18 | Week 8 Nov 25 | Week 9 (Final) Dec 2 | |
| 1. | Army (2–0) (86) | Army (3–0) (90) | Army (4–0) (101) | Army (5–0) (91) | Army (6–0) (86) | Army (7–0) (91) | Army (8–0) (81) | Army (8–0) (80) | Army (9–0) (116) | 1. |
| 2. | Navy (2–0) (14) | Navy (3–0) (14) | Notre Dame (4–0) (4) | Notre Dame (5–0) (6) | Notre Dame (5–0–1) (3) | Navy (6–0–1) (5) | Navy (7–0–1) | Navy (7–0–1) | Navy (7–1–1) | 2. |
| 3. | Notre Dame (2–0) (3) | Notre Dame (3–0) | Navy (4–0) (5) | Navy (5–0) (3) | Alabama (6–0) (4) | Alabama (6–0) (5) | Alabama (7–0) (1) | Alabama (8–0) (1) | Alabama (9–0) | 3. |
| 4. | Ohio State (2–0) (3) | Ohio State (3–0) (1) | Purdue (5–0) | Alabama (5–0) (4) | Navy (5–0–1) (3) | Indiana (7–0–1) | Indiana (8–0–1) | Indiana (9–0–1) (1) | Indiana (9–0–1) | 4. |
| 5. | Minnesota (2–0) (2) | Minnesota (3–0) | Minnesota (4–0) (1) | Indiana (5–0–1) | St. Mary's (6–0) (2) | St. Mary's (6–0) (4) | Notre Dame (6–1–1) | Notre Dame (7–1–1) | Oklahoma A&M (8–0) | 5. |
| 6. | USC (3–0) (1) | Alabama (3–0) | Alabama (4–0) | Ohio State (4–1) | Indiana (6–0–1) (3) | Penn (5–1) | Oklahoma A&M (7–0) | Oklahoma A&M (8–0) | Michigan (7–3) | 6. |
| 7. | Alabama (2–0) | Penn (3–0) | Penn (3–0) | Penn (3–1) | Michigan (5–2) | Notre Dame (5–1–1) | Ohio State (7–1) | Michigan (7–3) | St. Mary's (7–1) | 7. |
| 8. | Indiana (2–0–1) | Indiana (3–0–1) | Indiana (4–0–1) | St. Mary's (5–0) (2) | Ohio State (5–1) | Oklahoma A&M (6–0) | Michigan (6–3) | Penn (6–2) | Penn (6–2) | 8. |
| 9. | Michigan (3–1) (1) | Purdue (4–0) | Texas (5–0) | Oklahoma A&M (5–0) | Penn (4–1) | Ohio State (6–1) | St. Mary's (6–1) | St. Mary's (7–1) | Notre Dame (7–2–1) | 9. |
| 10. | Texas (3–0) | Texas (4–0) | St. Mary's (5–0) (1) | Michigan (4–2) | Columbia (6–0) | Holy Cross (7–0) | Texas (8–1) | Texas (8–1) | Texas (9–1) | 10. |
| 11. | Penn (2–0) | St. Mary's (4–0) | Columbia (4–0) | Holy Cross (5–0) | Oklahoma A&M (5–0) | Purdue (7–1) | Penn (5–2) | Duke (6–2) | USC (7–3) | 11. |
| 12. | Holy Cross (2–0) | Georgia (4–0) | Ohio State (3–1) | Columbia (5–0) | Purdue (6–1) | Penn State (5–1) | UCLA (5–2) (1) | Ohio State (7–2) | Ohio State (7–2) | 12. |
| 13. | Duke (2–1) | Michigan (3–2) | LSU (3–1) | Purdue (5–1) | Holy Cross (6–0) | Virginia (6–0) | Virginia (7–0) | Holy Cross (8–1) | Duke (6–2) | 13. |
| 14. | Oklahoma A&M (2–0) | USC (3–1) | Tulsa (4–0) | Oklahoma (4–2) | LSU (5–1) | Michigan (5–3) т | Tennessee (6–1) | Missouri (6–3) т | Tennessee (8–1) | 14. |
| 15. | Purdue (3–0) | Oklahoma A&M (3–0) | Holy Cross (4–0) | Mississippi State (4–0) | Virginia (5–0) | Oklahoma (5–3) т | Duke (5–2) | Tulsa (6–2) т | LSU (7–2) | 15. |
| 16. | Tulsa (3–0) | Duke (3–1) | Michigan (3–2) | Minnesota (4–1) | Duke (4–2) | Mississippi State (5–1) | Missouri (5–3) | USC (6–3) | Holy Cross (8–1) | 16. |
| 17. | Texas A&M (3–0) | Columbia (3–0) | Oklahoma A&M (4–0) | LSU (4–1) | Texas (6–1) | Texas (7–1) | Tulsa (5–2) | Tennessee (7–1) | Tulsa (7–2) | 17. |
| 18. | Tennessee (2–0) | Tulsa (3–0) | Mississippi State (4–0) | Duke (3–2) т | Washington (5–1) | Tennessee (6–1) | Purdue (7–2) | Clemson (6–2–1) | Georgia (8–2) | 18. |
| 19. | St. Mary's (3–0) | Holy Cross (3–0) | Duke (3–1) | Washington (4–1) т | Tulsa (4–1) | Tulsa (4–2) | LSU (6–2) | Columbia (8–1) | Wake Forest (4–3–1) | 19. |
| 20. | Mississippi State (2–0) тVirginia (3–0) т | Mississippi State (3–0) | USC (4–1) | Northwestern (2–2–1) | Minnesota (4–2) | Duke (5–2) | Mississippi State (6–1) | Virginia (7–1) | Columbia (8–1) | 20. |
| | Week 1 Oct 7 | Week 2 Oct 14 | Week 3 Oct 21 | Week 4 Oct 28 | Week 5 Nov 4 | Week 6 Nov 11 | Week 7 Nov 18 | Week 8 Nov 25 | Week 9 (Final) Dec 2 | |
| | | Dropped: TennesseeTexas A&MVirginia | Dropped: Georgia | Dropped: TexasTulsaUSC | Dropped: Mississippi StateNorthwesternOklahoma | Dropped: ColumbiaLSUMinnesotaWashington | Dropped: Holy CrossOklahomaPenn State | Dropped: LSUMississippi StatePurdueUCLA | Dropped: ClemsonMissouriVirginia | |

## Litkenhous Ratings

The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1945 provided numerical rankings to more than 350 college and military football programs. The top 100 ranked teams were:
1. Army (9–0) 2. Navy (7–1–1) 3. Alabama (10–0) 4. Camp Shoemaker 5. El Toro Marines (8–2) 6. Army Air Forces Training Command 7. Indiana (9–0–1) 8. Michigan (7–3) 9. Jacksonville NAS (9–2) 10. Penn (6–2) 11. Third Air Force (7–2–1) 12. Notre Dame (7–2–1) 13. Ohio State (7–2) 14. First Air Force (3–2–3) 15. Fourth Air Force (6–3–1) 16. San Diego NTS (4–2) 17. Oklahoma A&M (9–0) 18. Air Transport Command 19. Georgia (9–2) 20. Great Lakes Navy (6–4–1) 21. Saint Mary's (7–2) 22. Purdue (7–3) 23. Duke 24. Northwestern 25. LSU 26. Saint Mary's Pre-Flight 27. Personnel Distribution Command 28. Fort Benning 29. Illinois 30. Tulsa 31. Wisconsin 32. Corpus Christi NAS 33. Second Air Force 34. Minnesota 35. Tennessee 36. USC 37. UCLA 38. Texas 39. Columbia 40. Fort Pierce Navy 41. Mississippi State 42. Holy Cross 43. Texas A&M 44. SMU 45. Miami (FL) 46. Little Creek Amphibs 47. Clemson 48. Georgia Tech 49. Keesler Field 50. Hutchinson NAS 51. Penn State 52. Camp Peary 53. California 54. Marquette 55. Temple 56. Fort Warren 57. Arizona 58. Pittsburgh 59. Wake Forest 60. Maxwell Field 61. Miami (OH) 62. Michigan State 63. Oklahoma 64. Rice 65. Washington State 66. Missouri 67. Iowa State 68. Oberlin 69. Yale 70. Washington 71. Baylor 72. North Carolina 73. Virginia 74. Dartmouth 75. Cornell 76. Auburn 77. Camp Lee 78. New Mexico 79. Colgate 80. Detroit 81. Drake 82. Colorado 83. Villanova 84. Hondo Field 85. TCU 86. Oregon 87. Bainbridge Navy 88. Tulane 89. Fort Bragg 90. Denver 91. Texas Tech 92. Arkansas 93. Florida 94. Brown 95. Syracuse 96. William & Mary 97. Pensacola Navy 98. Princeton 99. Olatine Navy 100. NC State