1958 NCAA University Division football rankings
Two human polls comprised the 1958 National Collegiate Athletic Association 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
AP Poll
The final AP Poll was released on December 1, at the end of the 1958 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.The final UPI Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on
LSU received 29 of the 35 first-place votes; Iowa received four, and one each went to Army and Air Force.
| Ranking | Team | Conference | Bowl |
| 1 | LSU | SEC | Won Sugar, 7–0 |
| 2 | Iowa | Big Ten | Won Rose, 38–12 |
| 3 | Army | Independent | none |
| 4 | Auburn | SEC | none |
| 5 | Oklahoma | Big Eight | Won Orange, 21–6 |
| 6 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | none |
| 7 | Ohio State | Big Ten | none |
| 8 | Air Force | Independent | Tied Cotton, 0–0 |
| 9 | TCU | Southwest | Tied Cotton, 0–0 |
| 10 | Syracuse | Independent | Lost Orange, 6–21 |
| 11 | Purdue | Big Ten | none |
| 12 | Ole Miss | SEC | Won Gator, 7–3 |
| 13 | Clemson | ACC | Lost Sugar, 0–7 |
| 14 | Notre Dame | Independent | none |
| 15 | Florida | SEC | Lost Gator, 3–7 |
| 16 | California | Pacific Coast | Lost Rose, 12–38 |
| 17 | Northwestern | Big Ten | none |
| 18 | SMU | Southwest | none |
