1952 NCAA football rankings
Two human polls comprised the 1952 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 1952 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.Final Coaches' Poll
The final UP Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on
Michigan State received 32 of the 35 first-place votes; one each went to Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma.
| Ranking | Team | Conference | Bowl |
| 1 | Michigan State | Independent | none |
| 2 | Georgia Tech | SEC | Won Sugar, 24–7 |
| 3 | Notre Dame | Independent | none |
| 4 | Oklahoma | Big Seven | none |
| 4 | USC | Pacific Coast | Won Rose, 7–0 |
| 6 | UCLA | Pacific Coast | none |
| 7 | Ole Miss | SEC | Lost Sugar, 7–24 |
| 8 | Tennessee | SEC | Lost Cotton, 0–16 |
| 9 | Alabama | SEC | Won Orange, 61–6 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | Lost Rose, 0–7 |
| 11 | Texas | Southwest | Won Cotton, 16–0 |
| 12 | Purdue | Big Ten | none |
| 13 | Maryland | Southern | none |
| 14 | Princeton | Independent | none |
| 15 | Ohio State | Big Ten | none |
| 15 | Pittsburgh | Independent | none |
| 17 | Navy | Independent | none |
| 18 | Duke | Southern | none |
| 19 | Houston | MVC | none |
| 19 | Kentucky | SEC | none |
