# 1939 college football rankings

One human poll comprised the 1939 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 11, at the end of the 1939 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
| | Week 1 Oct 16 | Week 2 Oct 23 | Week 3 Oct 30 | Week 4 Nov 6 | Week 5 Nov 13 | Week 6 Nov 20 | Week 7 Nov 27 | Week 8 Dec 4 | Week 9 (Final) Dec 11 | |
| 1. | Pittsburgh (3–0) (25) | Tennessee (4–0) (83) | Tennessee (5–0) (67) | Tennessee (6–0) (81) | Tennessee (7–0) (66) | Texas A&M (9–0) (38) | Texas A&M (9–0) (27) т | Tennessee (9–0) (19) | Texas A&M (10–0) (55) | 1. |
| 2. | Notre Dame (3–0) (16) | Notre Dame (4–0) (12) | Michigan (4–0) (20) | Texas A&M (7–0) (6) | Texas A&M (8–0) | Tennessee (8–0) (33) | USC (6–0–1) (25) т | Texas A&M (10–0) (28) | Tennessee (10–0) (26) | 2. |
| 3. | Oklahoma (2–0–1) (10) | Michigan (3–0) (8) | Cornell (4–0) (18) | Notre Dame (6–0) (11) | USC (5–0–1) (10) | Cornell (7–0) (20) | Cornell (8–0) (34) | USC (7–0–1) (18) | USC (7–0–2) (9) | 3. |
| 4. | Tulane (3–0) (14) | Ohio State (3–0) (5) | Notre Dame (5–0) (12) | USC (4–0–1) (5) | Cornell (6–0) (3) | USC (5–0–1) (11) | Tennessee (8–0) (18) | Cornell (8–0) (15) | Cornell (8–0) (16) | 4. |
| 5. | Tennessee (3–0) (26.5) | Texas A&M (5–0) (6) | Texas A&M (6–0) (6) | Cornell (5–0) (1) | Oklahoma (6–0–1) (2) | Tulane (6–0–1) (3) | Tulane (7–0–1) (4) | Tulane (8–0–1) (5) | Tulane (8–0–1) | 5. |
| 6. | Michigan (2–0) (10) | Oklahoma (3–0–1) (2) | Oklahoma (4–0–1) (2) | Oklahoma (5–0–1) (3) | Tulane (5–0–1) (2) | Ohio State (6–1) (1) | Duquesne (8–0) | Duke (8–1) (1) | Missouri (8–1) | 6. |
| 7. | USC (2–0–1) | Cornell (3–0) (1) | USC (3–0–1) (1) | Tulane (4–0–1) | North Carolina (7–0–1) (1) | Notre Dame (7–1) | Duke (8–1) (2) | Missouri (8–1) | UCLA (6–0–4) | 7. |
| 8. | Alabama (3–0) (2.5) | USC (2–0–1) | Tulane (4–0–1) (1) | North Carolina (6–0–1) (1) | Ohio State (5–1) | Duke (7–1) (2) | Missouri (8–1) | Iowa (6–1–1) | Duke (8–1) (2) | 8. |
| 9. | Texas A&M (4–0) (5) | Tulane (3–0–1) (1) | North Carolina (5–0–1) (1) | Ohio State (4–1) | Notre Dame (6–1) | Iowa (6–1) (1) | Iowa (6–1–1) | UCLA (6–0–3) | Iowa (6–1–1) | 9. |
| 10. | Ohio State (2–0) (11) | Nebraska (3–0–1) | Nebraska (4–0–1) | Michigan (4–1) | Duquesne (7–0) | Missouri (7–1) | Holy Cross (7–1) | Duquesne (8–0–1) | Duquesne (8–0–1) | 10. |
| 11. | Oregon (2–0–1) (2) | Duquesne (4–0) | Oregon State (5–0) | UCLA (5–0–1) | UCLA (5–0–1) | Holy Cross (7–1) | Notre Dame (7–2) | Notre Dame (7–2) | Boston College (9–1) | 11. |
| 12. | Cornell (2–0) (1) | Duke (3–1) | Duke (4–1) | Duquesne (6–0) | Missouri (6–1) | Duquesne (7–0) | Ohio State (6–2) | Ohio State (6–2) | Clemson (8–1) | 12. |
| 13. | Duke (2–1) | North Carolina (4–0–1) | Duquesne (5–0) | SMU (3–1–1) | Duke (6–1) | UCLA (5–0–2) | UCLA (5–0–3) | Georgia Tech (7–2) | Notre Dame (7–2) | 13. |
| 14. | North Carolina (4–0) | Ole Miss (4–0) | Ohio State (3–1) | Dartmouth (5–0–1) | Santa Clara (4–1–2) | Oklahoma (6–1–1) | Clemson (8–1) (1) | Boston College (9–1) | Santa Clara (5–1–3) | 14. |
| 15. | Carnegie Tech (3–0) | Oregon State (4–0) | Kentucky (5–0) | Duke (5–1) | Iowa (5–1) | Clemson (7–1) (1) | Michigan (6–2) | Clemson (8–1) (1) | Ohio State (6–2) | 15. |
| 16. | Nebraska (2–0–1) | Penn (3–0) | SMU (2–1–1) | Santa Clara (3–1–2) | Clemson (6–1) (1) | Georgetown (7–0–1) | North Carolina (7–1–1) | Santa Clara (5–1–3) | Georgia Tech (8–2) | 16. |
| 17. | Ole Miss (3–0) | SMU (2–1–1) | NYU (4–1) | NYU (5–1) | SMU (3–2–1) | North Carolina (7–1–1) т | Georgetown (7–0–1) | Nebraska (7–1–1) | Fordham (6–2) | 17. |
| 18. | SMU (1–1–1) | Pittsburgh (3–1) | LSU (4–1) | Kentucky (5–0–1) | Holy Cross (6–1) | Santa Clara (4–1–3) т | Nebraska (7–1–1) | Fordham (6–2) т | Nebraska (7–1–1) | 18. |
| 19. | Baylor (3–0) | NYU (3–1) | Alabama (4–1) т | Ole Miss (5–1) | Oregon State (6–1) | Georgia Tech (5–2) т | San Jose State (12–0) | San Jose State (13–0) т | Oklahoma (6–2–1) | 19. |
| 20. | St. Mary's (2–0) | Alabama (3–1) | UCLA (4–0–1) т | Alabama (4–1–1) | Dartmouth (5–1–1) тMinnesota (2–3–1) т | Princeton (6–1) т | Santa Clara (5–1–3) | Georgetown (7–0–1) | Michigan (6–2) | 20. |
| | Week 1 Oct 16 | Week 2 Oct 23 | Week 3 Oct 30 | Week 4 Nov 6 | Week 5 Nov 13 | Week 6 Nov 20 | Week 7 Nov 27 | Week 8 Dec 4 | Week 9 (Final) Dec 11 | |
| | | Dropped: BaylorCarnegie TechOregonSt. Mary's | Dropped: Ole MissPennPittsburgh | Dropped: LSUNebraskaOregon State | Dropped: AlabamaKentuckyMichiganOle MissNYU | Dropped: DartmouthMinnesotaOregon StateSMU | Dropped: Georgia TechOklahomaPrinceton | Dropped: Holy CrossMichiganNorth Carolina | Dropped: GeorgetownSan Jose State | |

## Boand System

The Boand System rankings (also known as "Azzi Ratem") were the only ratings released after the bowl games. Released in early January 1940, Boand's final rankings were as follows:
1. Texas A&M 2. Cornell 3. USC 4. Tulane 5. Duke 6. Tennessee 7. Georgia Tech 8. Clemson 9. Notre Dame 10. UCLA

## Dickinson System

The Dickinson System rankings released in December 1939 were as follows:
1. USC (25.73) 2. Texas A&M (25.43) 3. Cornell (25.26) 4. Tulane (23.61) 5. Tennessee (22.61) 6. Notre Dame (22.59) 7. Michigan (22.50) 8. Duke (22.34) 9. Missouri (22.29) 10. UCLA (21.91) 11. Iowa (21.02) . Duquesne . Georgia Tech . Ohio State . Princeton . Santa Clara

## Litkenhous Ratings

The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1939 provided numerical rankings to more than 600 college football programs. The top 100 ranked teams were:
1. Cornell 2. Tennessee 3. Texas A&M 4. Tulane 5. Ohio State 6.Duke 7. North Carolina 8. Oklahoma 9. Minnesota 10. USC 11. Holy Cross 12. SMU 13. Fordham 14. Georgia Tech 15. Missouri 16. Michigan 17. Ole Miss 18. Boston College 19. Mississippi State 20. Clemson 21.
22. Alabama 23. Nebraska 24. Princeton 25. Santa Clara 26. Iowa 27. Kentucky 28. Wake Forest 29. Dartmouth 30. Northwestern 31. Duquesne 32. Villanova 33. Purdue 34. UCLA 35. Pittsburgh 36. Baylor 37. San Jose State 38. LSU 39. Auburn 40. Utah 41. Columbia 42. Georgetown 43. Texas 44. Detroit 45.
46. Arkansas 47. TCU 48. Penn 49. NYU 50. Oregon 51. Penn State 52. North Texas 53. Oregon State 54. Catholic Univ. 55. Carnegie Tech 56. Navy 57. Harvard 58. Colgate 59. Fresno State 60. Butler 61. Kansas State 62. Brown 63. Illinois 64. Marshall 65. Arizona State 66. Marquette 67. Saint Mary's (CA) 68. VMI 69. Georgia 70. Rice 71. Temple 72. Scranton 73. Yale 74. Michigan State 75. Syracuse 76. Richmond 77. Virginia 78. Wisconsin 79. George Washington 80. Gonzaga 81. Washington Univ. 82. Washington 83. Manhattan 84. Vanderbilt 85. Hardin–Simmons 86. Canisius 87. La Salle 88. Miami (FL) 89. Furman 90. Texas Tech 91. Army 92. San Francisco 93. Colorado Mines 94. Bucknell 95. Florida 96. San Diego Marines 97. Lafayette 98. Rollins 99. Oklahoma A&M 100. Tulsa

## Williamson System

The Williamson System rankings released in December 1939 were as follows:
1. Texas A&M 2. Tulane 3. Cornell 4. Tennessee 5. USC 6. Clemson 7. Duke 8. Missouri 9. Nebraska 10. Iowa 11. Boston College 12. Notre Dame 13. Georgia Tech 14. Princeton 15. UCLA 16. Oregon State 17. Alabama 18. Duquesne 19. Fordham 20. Penn 21. Oklahoma 22. SMU 23. Ohio State 24. Pittsburgh 25. Santa Clara 26. North Carolina 27. Purdue 28. Kentucky 29. Northwestern 30. Auburn 31. Mississippi State 32. Minnesota 33. Baylor 34. Villanova 35. Ole Miss 36. Michigan 37. St. Anselm 38. LSU 39. Catholic Univ. 40. Georgetown 41. Detroit 42. Holy Cross 43. San Jose State 44. Washington Univ. 45. Manhattan 46. Arkansas 47. Wake Forest 48. Texas 49. Oregon 50. Indiana