Two human polls comprised the 1953 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football rankingsnational 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
Increase in ranking
Decrease in ranking
Not ranked previous week
National champion
(#–#)
Win–loss record
(Italics)
Number of first place votes
т
Tied with team above or below also with this symbol
AP Poll
The final AP Poll was released on November 30, at the end of the 1953 regular season , weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968 .
Preseason[ 1] Week 1[ 2] Week 2[ 3] Week 3[ 4] Week 4[ 5] Week 5[ 6] Week 6[ 7] Week 7[ 8] Week 8[ 9] Week 9[ 10] Week 10 (Final)[ 11] 1. Notre Dame (84) Notre Dame (1–0) (71) Notre Dame (2–0) (84) Notre Dame (2–0) (74) Notre Dame (3–0) (51) Notre Dame (4–0) (82) Notre Dame (5–0) (90) Notre Dame (6–0) (79) Notre Dame (7–0) (93) Maryland (10–0) (154) Maryland (10–0) (187) 1. 2. Michigan State (24) Michigan State (1–0) (6) Michigan State (2–0) (15) Michigan State (3–0) (14) Michigan State (4–0) (31) Maryland (6–0) (18) Maryland (7–0) (21) Maryland (8–0) (24) Maryland (9–0) (42) Notre Dame (7–0–1) (47) Notre Dame (8–0–1) (141) 2. 3. Georgia Tech (24) Maryland (2–0) (5) Ohio State (2–0) (11) Maryland (4–0) (21) Maryland (5–0) (27) Baylor (5–0) (2) Baylor (6–0) (7) Illinois (6–0–1) (4) Michigan State (7–1) (3) Michigan State (8–1) (8) Michigan State (8–1) (8) 3. 4. UCLA (12) Michigan (1–0) (3) Maryland (3–0) (8) UCLA (4–0) (8) Georgia Tech (4–0–1) (3) Illinois (4–0–1) Illinois (5–0–1) Michigan State (6–1) (1) Oklahoma (6–1–1) (3) Oklahoma (7–1–1) (9) Oklahoma (8–1–1) (10) 4. 5. Alabama (18) UCLA (2–0) (3) Michigan (2–0) (4) Michigan (3–0) Michigan (4–0) West Virginia (5–0) (15) Michigan State (5–1) Georgia Tech (6–1–1) UCLA (7–1) UCLA (8–1) (4) UCLA (8–1) (1) 5. 6. Oklahoma (3) Ohio State (1–0) (2) UCLA (3–0) (2) Georgia Tech (3–0–1) Baylor (4–0) (1) Michigan State (4–1) Georgia Tech (5–1–1) Oklahoma (5–1–1) (1) Texas (6–3) Illinois (7–1–1) Rice (8–2) (2) 6. 7. Ohio State (3) USC (2–0) (1) USC (3–0) (2) Duke (4–0) (3) Illinois (3–0–1) (1) USC (5–0–1) West Virginia (6–0) (10) UCLA (6–1) Illinois (6–1–1) Texas (6–3) Illinois (7–1–1) 7. 8. USC Oklahoma (0–1) Duke (3–0) (4) Baylor (3–0) West Virginia (4–0) (12) Georgia Tech (4–1–1) Oklahoma (4–1–1) (1) West Virginia (7–0) (11) Wisconsin (6–2) (2) Rice (7–2) Georgia Tech (7–2–1) 8. 9. Maryland (1) Georgia Tech (1–0–1) Baylor (2–0) Illinois (2–0–1)Oklahoma (2–1–1) Oklahoma (3–1–1) (1) UCLA (6–1) (1) Baylor (6–1) USC (6–1–1) Iowa (5–3–1) (6) Iowa (5–3–1) (10) 9. 10. Duke (2) Baylor (1–0) Georgia Tech (2–0–1) West Virginia (3–0) (9) Navy (3–0–1) UCLA (5–1) (1) Duke (6–1) Texas (5–3) Rice (6–2) Georgia Tech (7–2–1) West Virginia (8–1) (14) 10. 11. Texas Mississippi State (2–0) (1) Rice (2–0) Rice (3–0) USC (4–0–1) SMU (3–1) Stanford (5–2) (1) Ole Miss (7–1) (2) Alabama (5–1–3) (1) West Virginia (8–1) (17) Texas (7–3) 11. 12. Rice Duke (2–0) (1) West Virginia (2–0) (5) Oklahoma (1–1–1) (1) UCLA (4–1) Rice (4–1) Ole Miss (6–1) (1) USC (6–1–1) Georgia Tech (6–2–1) Wisconsin (6–2–1) Texas Tech (10–1) 12. 13. Navy West Virginia (1–0) (4) Mississippi State (3–0) (3) USC (3–0–1) SMU (2–1)Duke (5–1) Minnesota (3–3) Kentucky (5–2–1) (1) Kentucky (6–2–1) (3) Kentucky (7–2–1) (5) Alabama (6–2–3) (1) 13. 14. California Rice (1–0) LSU (2–0–1) Navy (2–0–1) LSU (3–0–2) Minnesota (2–3)Kentucky (4–2–1) Duke (6–1–1) Auburn (6–1–1) (1) Texas Tech (9–1) Army (7–1–1) 14. 15. Florida Ole Miss (2–0)Texas (2–1) Pittsburgh (1–1–1) Texas A&M (4–0–1) (1) Army (4–1)Auburn (4–1–1) Minnesota (4–3) Duke (6–1–1) South Carolina (7–2) Wisconsin (6–2–1) 15. 16. West Virginia Wisconsin (1–0)Oklahoma (0–1–1) California (3–1) Duke (4–1) т Michigan (4–1) (1) Ohio State (5–1) Rice (5–2) т Stanford (6–3) Auburn (7–1–1) (1) Kentucky (7–2–1) (3) 16. 17. Pittsburgh тTexas (1–1) Pittsburgh (0–1–1) Ohio State (2–1) т Kentucky (2–2–1) тStanford (4–2) Michigan (5–1) т Stanford (5–3) т Texas Tech (8–1) Baylor (7–2) Auburn (7–2–1) 17. 18. Tennessee тGeorgia (2–0)Northwestern (2–0)Mississippi Southern (4–0) (1) т Pittsburgh (1–2–1) Ole Miss (5–1) USC (5–1–1) т Tennessee (4–2–1) South Carolina (6–2)Army (6–1–1) Duke (7–2–1) 18. 19. Princeton LSU (1–0–1)Holy Cross (2–0) Auburn (2–0–1)Mississippi Southern (5–0) Kentucky (3–2–1) Texas (4–3) Texas Tech (7–1)West Virginia (7–1) (1) Stanford (6–3–1) Stanford (6–3–1) 19. 20. Baylor Holy Cross (1–0)Mississippi State (3–0–1) Stanford (3–2)Navy (3–1–1) Alabama (3–1–3) Auburn (5–1–1) Iowa (5–3) (1) USC (6–2–1) Michigan (6–3) (1) 20. Preseason[ 1] Week 1[ 2] Week 2[ 3] Week 3[ 4] Week 4[ 5] Week 5[ 6] Week 6[ 7] Week 7[ 8] Week 8[ 9] Week 9[ 10] Week 10 (Final)[ 11] Dropped: Alabama California Florida Navy Pittsburgh Princeton Tennessee Dropped: Dropped: Holy Cross LSU Northwestern Penn Texas Dropped: Auburn California Mississippi State Ohio State Rice Dropped: LSU Pittsburgh Mississippi Southern Texas A&M Dropped: Dropped: Alabama Michigan Ohio State Dropped: Baylor Minnesota Ole Miss Tennessee Dropped: Dropped:
Final Coaches Poll
The final UP Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on November 30.[ 12] [ 12]
Litkenhous Ratings
The Litkenhous Ratings released in mid-December 1953 provided numerical rankings to over 683 college football programs. The top 50 ranked teams were:[ 13]
1. Notre Dame
HBCU rankings
The Pittsburgh Courier , a leading African American newspaper , ranked the top 1953 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was largely segregated. The rankings were published on December 19:[ 14]
The Associated Negro Press also published rankings on December 25:[ 15]
See also
References
^ "1953 Preseason AP Football Poll" . College Poll Archive . Retrieved March 25, 2017 .^ "September 28, 1953 AP Football Poll" . College Poll Archive . Retrieved March 25, 2017 .^ "October 5, 1953 AP Football Poll" . College Poll Archive . Retrieved March 25, 2017 .^ "October 12, 1953 AP Football Poll" . College Poll Archive . Retrieved March 25, 2017 .^ "October 19, 1953 AP Football Poll" . College Poll Archive . Retrieved March 25, 2017 .^ "October 26, 1953 AP Football Poll" . College Poll Archive . Retrieved March 25, 2017 .^ "November 2, 1953 AP Football Poll" . College Poll Archive . Retrieved March 25, 2017 .^ "November 9, 1953 AP Football Poll" . College Poll Archive . Retrieved March 25, 2017 .^ "November 16, 1953 AP Football Poll" . College Poll Archive . Retrieved March 25, 2017 .^ "November 23, 1953 AP Football Poll" . College Poll Archive . Retrieved March 25, 2017 .^ "1953 Final AP Football Poll" . College Poll Archive . Retrieved March 25, 2017 .^ a b "Maryland keeps top spot in nation's college ratings" . Pittsburgh Press . United Press. December 1, 1953. p. 24.^ "Notre Dame Tagged national Champ In Litkenhous' Final Grid Ratings" . The Chattanooga Times . December 15, 1953. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com .^ "Prairie View's 26.57 rating Secures Nat'l Title" . The Pittsburgh Courier . December 19, 1953. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com .^ "Final Conference Football Standings" . The Kansas City Call (p. 11) . December 25, 1953.
Pre-divisional NCAA University Division NCAA Division I NCAA Division I-A/FBS NCAA Division I-AA/FCS Small college NCAA Division II NCAA Division III Polls