1942 college football season The 1942 college football season saw the Buckeyes of Ohio State University named as the nation ’ s # 1 team by a majority of the voters in the AP poll , followed by the Georgia Bulldogs as the runner - up . For the second time in the history of the AP Poll , a team that had lost a game was the mythical national champion ; Minnesota had been the first AP champion in 1936 . In 1942 , as many as 156 sportswriters participated in the AP poll , more than ever before . Each writer listed his choice for the top ten teams , and points were tallied based on 10 for first place , 9 for second , etc . , and the AP then ranked the twenty teams with the highest number of points . The United States had entered the Second World War , and able - bodied men of college age had volunteered for , or been drafted into , the armed forces . “ Service teams ” , many of which had former college players who had entered the Army or the Navy , played games against the college programs . In 1942 , teams were fielded by Georgia Pre - Flight , the Great Lakes Naval Station , Iowa Pre - Flight , Jacksonville NAS , and St . Mary ’ s Preflight . September . On September 19 , in Louisville , Georgia defeated Kentucky , 7 - 6 . The following Friday , Georgia defeated the Jacksonville Naval Air Station , 14 - 0 , in Macon . The soldiers at the Flight School at the University of Iowa , organized as the Iowa Pre - Flight Seahawks , overwhelmed Kansas , 61 - 0 . Most schools got their seasons underway on September 26 Defending champion Minnesota beat Pittsburgh , 50 - 7 . Duke beat Davidson 21 - 0 . Notre Dame and Wisconsin played to a 7 - 7 tie in Madison . Illinois beat South Dakota 46 - 0 . In Montgomery , Alabama beat South Louisiana Institute ( later University of Louisiana at Lafayette ) , 54 - 0 . Texas beat the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station , 18 - 7 . Michigan beat the Great Lakes Naval Training Station , 9 - 0 . Before its smallest crowd since 1933 ( 22 , 555 ) Ohio State defeated a service team , the Fort Knox Armoraiders , 59 - 0 . Iowa Pre - Flight won again , at Northwestern , 20 - 12 . October . October 3 Minnesota ’ s winning streak ended when the defending national champs lost their first game in almost four years , to the Seahawks of Iowa Pre - Flight ( who just happened to be coached that season by " former " Minnesota head coach Bernie Bierman who had taken leave from Minnesota to serve as an officer in the military during World War II ) , 7 - 6 . Ohio State beat Indiana 32 - 21 . Michigan beat Michigan State 20 - 0 . Illinois defeated Butler 67 - 0 . Texas beat LSU 27 - 14 . Notre Dame lost to Georgia Tech 13 - 6 . Georgia defeated Furman 40 - 7 . Alabama beat Mississippi State 21 - 6 . Duke lost at Wake Forest , 20 - 7 . October 10 Minnesota lost at Illinois , 20 - 13 . Ohio State beat visiting , USC 28 - 12 . Michigan lost to Iowa Pre - Flight , 26 - 14 . Georgia beat Ole Miss , 48 - 13 , at Memphis . In Mobile , Alabama defeated the Pensacola NAS , 27 - 0 . Texas lost at Tulane , 18 - 7 . In the poll that followed , the Top Five consisted of three teams from the Big Nine ( # 1 Ohio State , # 3 Michigan , and # 5 Illinois ) and two from the SEC ( # 2 Georgia and # 4 Alabama ) . October 17 # 1 Ohio State beat Purdue 26 - 0 . # 2 Georgia beat Tulane 40 - 0 . # 3 Michigan defeated Northwestern 34 - 16 . In Birmingham , # 4 Alabama beat # 15 Tennessee , 8 - 0 . # 5 Illinois won at # 19 Iowa , 12 - 7 . Losing also that day was Iowa Pre - Flight , which sustained its first loss at Notre Dame , 28 - 0 . In the next poll , the Top Five shuffled slightly , with Alabama and Michigan trading places : 1 . Ohio State 2 . Georgia 3 . Alabama 4 . Michigan 5 . Illinois October 24 # 1 Ohio State won at Northwestern 20 - 6 . # 2 Georgia won at Cincinnati 35 - 13 . # 3 Alabama won at Kentucky , 14 - 0 . # 4 Michigan lost at # 13 Minnesota , 16 - 14 . # 5 Illinois lost to # 8 Notre Dame , 21 - 14 . # 6 Georgia Tech won at Navy , 21 - 0 . In the poll that followed , Notre Dame and Georgia Tech replaced Michigan and Illinois : 1 . Ohio State 2 . Georgia 3 . Alabama 4 . Notre Dame 5 . Georgia Tech October 31 # 1 Ohio State lost at # 6 Wisconsin , 17 - 7 . In Atlanta , # 2 Georgia beat # 3 Alabama , 21 - 10 . # 4 Notre Dame beat Navy in Cleveland , 9 - 0 . # 5 Georgia Tech won at Duke , 26 - 7 . # 7 Boston College beat Georgetown , 47 - 0 . The Georgia Bulldogs took over first place in the poll that followed , and Wisconsin and Boston College moved in while Ohio State and Alabama fell out : 1 . Georgia 2 . Wisconsin 3 . Georgia Tech 4 . Notre Dame 5 . Boston College . November . November 7 In Jacksonville , # 1 Georgia beat Florida , 75 - 0 . # 2 Wisconsin lost at unranked Iowa , 6 - 0 # 3 Georgia Tech beat Kentucky 47 - 7 . # 4 Notre Dame beat Army 13 - 0 at Yankee Stadium . # 5 Boston College beat Temple , 28 - 0 . # 8 Alabama beat South Carolina 29 - 0 and moved in to the Top Five as Wisconsin dropped out . The nation ’ s top two teams were Georgia and Georgia Tech : 1 . Georgia 2 . Georgia Tech 3 . Boston College 4 . Notre Dame 5 . Alabama . November 14 # 1 Georgia won at Chattanooga , 40 - 0 . In Atlanta , # 2 Georgia Tech beat # 5 Alabama 7 - 0 . # 3 Boston College beat Fordham at home , 56 - 6 . # 4 Notre Dame lost to # 6 Michigan , 32 - 20 , while in Cleveland , # 10 Ohio State beat # 13 Illinois 44 - 20 . The poll : 1 . Georgia 2 . Georgia Tech 3 . Boston College 4 . Michigan 5 . Ohio State November 21 In Columbus , GA , # 1 Georgia lost to unranked Auburn , 27 - 13 . # 2 Georgia Tech beat Florida 20 - 7 . # 3 Boston College defeated Boston University , 37 - 0 . # 4 Michigan and # 5 Ohio State met in Columbus , with OSU winning 21 - 7 , capturing the Big Nine championship , and finishing its season at 9 - 1 - 0 . # 7 Wisconsin beat # 10 Minnesota 21 - 6 to finish its season at 8 - 1 - 1 . In the next poll , the Boston College Eagles were number one : 1 . Boston College 2 . Georgia Tech 3 . Ohio State 4 . Wisconsin 5 . Georgia November 28 # 1 Boston College lost to unranked Holy Cross , 55 - 12 . # 2 Georgia Tech visited # 5 Georgia , and lost 34 - 0 . # 3 Ohio State defeated the Iowa Pre - Flight Seahawks , 41 - 12 , finishing 9 - 1 - 0 and capturing the # 1 ranking in the final AP poll . Conference standings . The following is an incomplete list of conference standings : Final Associated Press Poll . Prior to 1968 the final AP Poll was released before the bowl games were played .