1961 NCAA University Division football rankings


Two human polls comprised the 1961 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 5, at the end of the 1961 regular season, weeks before the bowls. For the 1961 season, the AP Poll ranked 10 teams during the regular season and 20 teams for the final poll. The poll would commit to only ten teams for all polls from 1962 to 1967.

Final Coaches' poll

The final UPI Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on December 5.
Alabama received 18 of the 35 first-place votes; Ohio State received fifteen, Ole Miss one, and Colorado one.
RankingTeamConferenceBowl
1AlabamaSECWon Sugar, 10–3
2Ohio StateBig Tennone
3LSUSECWon Orange, 25–7
4TexasSouthwestWon Cotton, 12–7
5Ole MissSECLost Cotton, 7–12
6MinnesotaBig TenWon Rose, 21–3
7ColoradoBig EightLost Orange, 7–25
8ArkansasSouthwestLost Sugar, 3–10
9Michigan StateBig Tennone
10Utah StateSkylineLost Gotham, 9–24
11PurdueBig Tennone
11MissouriBig Eightnone
13Georgia TechSECLost Gator, 15–30
14DukeACCnone
15KansasBig EightWon Bluebonnet, 33–7
16SyracuseIndependentWon Liberty, 15–14
17WyomingSkylinenone
18WisconsinBig Tennone
19Miami IndependentLost Liberty, 14–15
19Penn StateIndependentWon Gator, 30–15

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