1947 NCAA football rankings


One human poll comprised the 1947 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. The Coaches' Poll began operation in 1950; in addition, the AP Poll did not begin conducting preseason polls until that same year.

Legend

AP Poll

The final official AP Poll was released on December 8, at the end of the 1947 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.

Unofficial Final Poll

The official final AP poll, taken before the bowls, had Notre Dame No. 1 and Michigan No. 2. Michigan won the Rose Bowl 49–0 over USC while Notre Dame did not play in a bowl game. Detroit Free Press sports editor Lyall Smith arranged an unofficial post-bowl poll with only Michigan or Notre Dame as choices. Michigan won that poll 266–119.