1973 NCAA Division I football rankings


Two human polls comprised the 1973 National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I 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

Final Coaches' poll

This was the last season in which the final UPI Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, in early December.
Alabama received 21 of the 34 first-place votes; Oklahoma received nine, Ohio State two, Notre Dame one, and Michigan one.
RankingTeamConferenceBowl
1AlabamaSECLost Sugar, 23–24
2OklahomaBig Eightnone
3Ohio StateBig TenWon Rose, 42–21
4Notre DameIndependentWon Sugar, 24–23
5Penn StateIndependentWon Orange, 16–9
6MichiganBig Tennone
7USCPac-8Lost Rose, 21–42
8TexasSouthwestLost Cotton, 3–19
9UCLAPac-8none
10Arizona StateWACWon Fiesta, 28–7
11NebraskaBig EightWon Cotton, 19–3
11Texas TechSouthwestWon Gator, 28–19
13HoustonIndependentWon Bluebonnet, 47–7
14LSUSECLost Orange, 9–16
15KansasBig EightLost Liberty, 18–31
15TulaneIndependentLost Bluebonnet, 7–47
17Miami Mid-AmericanWon Tangerine, 16–7
18MarylandACCLost Peach, 16–17
19San Diego StatePCAAnone
19FloridaSECLost Tangerine, 7–16

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