1968 NCAA University Division football rankings


Two human polls comprised the 1968 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

For the 1968 season, the AP Poll returned to ranking 20 teams per week, after ranking only 10 per week from 1962 to 1967. This was also the second time that the final AP Poll was conducted in January after the completion of bowl season, rather than at the end of the regular season. The final poll would continue to be conducted after bowl season from this season forward.

Final Coaches' poll

The final UPI Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, in early December.
Ohio State received 28 of the 34 first-place votes; USC received four and Penn State two.
RankingTeamConferenceBowl
1Ohio StateBig TenWon Rose, 27–16
2USCPac-8Lost Rose, 16–27
3Penn StateIndependentWon Orange, 15–14
4GeorgiaSECLost Sugar, 2–16
5TexasSouthwestWon Cotton, 36–13
6KansasBig EightLost Orange, 14–15
7TennesseeSECLost Cotton, 13–36
8Notre DameIndependentnone
9ArkansasSouthwestWon Sugar, 16–2
10OklahomaBig EightLost Bluebonnet, 27–28
11PurdueBig Tennone
12AlabamaSECLost Gator, 10–35
13Oregon StatePac-8none
14Florida StateIndependentLost Peach, 27–31
15MichiganBig Tennone
16SMUSouthwestWon Bluebonnet, 28–27
17MissouriBig EightWon Gator, 35–10
18OhioMid-AmericanLost Tangerine, 42–49
18MinnesotaBig Tennone
20HoustonIndependentnone
20StanfordPac-8none