The 1950 college football season was the 82nd season of intercollegiate football in the United States. It concluded with four teams having a claim to the national championship:
Oklahoma finished the regular season undefeated (9–0) and was recognized as the national champion in the final Associated Press (AP) poll and the final United Press (UP) coaches poll. However, the Sooners lost to Kentucky in the Sugar Bowl on New Year's Day. The final polls were issued prior to the bowl games, leaving intact Oklahoma's claim as AP and UP national champion. Tennessee compiled an 11–1 record including a victory over No. 3 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. The Volunteers were ranked No. 4 in the final AP Poll but have been recognized as the 1950 national champion by the Billingsley Report, DeVold System, Dunkel System, College Football Researchers Association, and National Championship Foundation. Princeton compiled a perfect 9–0 record and was ranked No. 6 in the final AP Poll. The Tigers have been recognized as the national champions by the Poling System and Boand System. Princeton coach Charlie Caldwell won the AFCA Coach of the Year Award. Kentucky, coached by Bear Bryant, compiled an 11–1 record and defeated Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. Kentucky claims the 1950 national championship based on its No. 1 ranking in computer rankings released in 1990 by Jeff Sagarin. Kentucky quarterback Babe Parilli tallied 1,627 passing yards and finished fourth in voting for the 1950 Heisman Trophy.
Florida A&M (8–1–1) and Southern (10–0–1) were each recognized as black college national champions by at least one selector. In addition to Princeton, 16 other teams finished the season undefeated and untied, including Abilene Christian (11–0, Texas Conference and Refrigerator Bowl champion), Wyoming (10–0, AP No. 12 and Gator Bowl champion), Morris Harvey (10–0, Tangerine Bowl champion), Lehigh (9–0, Middle Three champion), Florida State (8–0, Dixie Conference champion), New Hampshire (8–0, Yankee Conference champion), and Maryland State (8–0 Furniture Bowl champion).
Ohio State halfback Vic Janowicz won the Heisman Trophy, and Penn halfback Reds Bagnell won the Maxwell Award. Individual statistical leaders in major college football included Johnny Bright of Drake (2,400 yards of total offense), Don Heinrich of Washington (1,846 passing yards), Wilford White of Arizona State (1,501 rushing yards), and Bobby Reynolds of Nebraska (157 points scored).
Conference and program changes Conference changes One conference began play during 1950: Oregon Collegiate Conference – a conference active through the 1965 season; also known as the Oregon Intercollegiate Conference
Membership changes School 1949 conference 1950 conference Butler Bulldogs MAC Independent Idaho State Bengals Independent Rocky Mountain Montana Grizzlies PCC Independent Portland Pilots Independent Dropped Program Saint Louis Billikens Missouri Valley Dropped Program West Virginia Mountaineers Independent SoCon
Season chronology September In the preseason AP poll released on September 25, 1950, the defending champion Fighting Irish of Notre Dame were the overwhelming choice for first, with 101 of 123 first place votes. Far behind were No. 2 Army, No. 3 Michigan, No. 4 Tennessee and No. 5 Texas (which had won at Texas Tech 28–14). As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.
On September 30 No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 20 North Carolina 14–7. No. 2 Army beat Colgate 28–0, No. 3 Michigan lost to No. 19 Michigan State 14–7. No. 4 Tennessee lost at Mississippi State, 7–0. No. 5 Texas beat Purdue, 34–26, but fell to 7th. No. 6 Oklahoma beat Boston College 28–0. No. 10 SMU, which had already beaten Georgia Tech 33–13, defeated No. 11 Ohio State 32–27. The next AP Poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Michigan State, No. 3 SMU, No. 4 Army, and No. 5 Oklahoma.
October October 7 No. 1 Notre Dame lost to Purdue, 28–14, and eventually finished with a 4–4–1 record. No. 2 Michigan State lost to Maryland, 34–7. No. 3 SMU won at Missouri 21–0. No. 4 Army beat Penn State 41–7 and was elevated to the first spot in the next poll. No. 5 Oklahoma beat Texas A&M 34–28. No. 6 Kentucky registered a fourth shutout and a 4–0 record, with a 40–0 win against Dayton. No. 7 Texas, which was idle, rose to 4th place behind Army, SMU, and Oklahoma and ahead of Kentucky.
October 14 No. 1 Army beat No. 18 Michigan 27–6 at Yankee Stadium. No. 2 SMU beat Oklahoma A&M 56–0. No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 4 Texas met in Dallas, with Oklahoma winning narrowly, 14–13. No. 5 Kentucky beat Cincinnati 41–7. No. 7 California, which had beaten USC 13–7, rose to 5th in the next poll behind Army, Oklahoma, SMU, and Kentucky.
October 21 All of the top five teams stayed undefeated with blowout victories. No. 1 Army won at Harvard 49–0. No. 2 Oklahoma beat Kansas State 58–0. In Houston, No. 3 SMU beat No. 15 Rice 42–21. In Philadelphia, No. 4 Kentucky beat Villanova 34–7. No. 5 California beat Oregon State in Portland 27–0. With their victory over a ranked opponent, SMU jumped to No. 1 in the next poll, ahead of Army, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and California.
October 28 No. 1 SMU was idle. No. 2 Army won at Columbia 34–0. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Iowa State 20–7. In Atlanta, No. 4 Kentucky beat Georgia Tech 28–14. No. 5 California beat St. Mary's 40–25, but still dropped in the next poll. They were replaced in the top five by No. 6 Ohio State, which had lost only to SMU and had just beaten Iowa 83–21; eventual Heisman winner Vic Janowicz accounted for six touchdowns and kicked eight extra points in the Iowa game. The Buckeyes were elevated to No. 4 behind SMU, Army, and Oklahoma and ahead of Kentucky.
November November 4 No. 1 SMU lost at No. 7 Texas, 23–20. No. 2 Army won at No. 15 Pennsylvania 28–13. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Colorado 27–18. No. 4 Ohio State won at Northwestern 32–0. No. 5 Kentucky beat No. 17 Florida 40–6. No. 7 Texas beat SMU 23–20, and returned to fifth place behind Army, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Kentucky.
November 11 No. 1 Army beat New Mexico 51–0. No. 2 Ohio State beat No. 15 Wisconsin 19–14. No. 3 Oklahoma won at No. 19 Kansas, 33–13. No. 4 Kentucky won at Mississippi State, 48–21. No. 5 Texas beat Baylor 27–20. No. 6 California, moved to 7–0–0 after a 35–0 win against No. 19 UCLA. The next AP Poll elevated Ohio State to No. 1 and Oklahoma to No. 2, with Army falling to 3rd even though they received the largest number of first-place votes. California moved up to No. 4, ahead of Kentucky and Texas.
November 18 No. 1 Ohio State lost at No. 8 Illinois, 14–7. No. 2 Oklahoma beat Missouri 41–7. No. 3 Army won at Stanford 7–0. No. 4 California defeated San Francisco 13–7. No. 5 Kentucky handed visiting North Dakota an 83–0 defeat to extend its record to 9–0–0, but still faced a final game against No. 9 Tennessee, whose only loss was by a single touchdown. No. 6 Texas won at TCU 21–7. The next poll featured No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 2 Army, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 4 California, and No. 5 Texas.
November 25 No. 1 Oklahoma beat No. 16 Nebraska 49–35. No. 2 Army was idle as it prepared for the Army–Navy Game. No. 3 Kentucky lost at No. 9 Tennessee, 7–0. No. 4 California and unranked Stanford played to a 7–7 tie in Berkeley. No. 5 Texas beat Texas A&M 21–6. Michigan beat No. 8 Ohio State in the famous Snow Bowl 9–3 and earned a berth in the Rose Bowl against California. The final AP poll was released on November 27, although some colleges had not completed their schedules. Undefeated Oklahoma and Army were chosen as No. 1 and No. 2, with Texas (whose only loss was to Oklahoma by one point) at No. 3. Tennessee and California rounded out the top five, with undefeated Princeton at No. 6 and Kentucky moving down to No. 7 after their loss to Tennessee.
On December 2, with its champion status assured, No. 1 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma A&M 41–14. No. 2 Army (9–0–0) was heavily favored to beat unranked, and 2–6–0, Navy. Instead, the Philadelphia game turned into a 14–2 win for the Midshipmen. No. 3 Texas played a game on December 9, beating LSU 21–6. The Coaches Poll, which waited until the end of the regular season to release its final rankings, kept Oklahoma at No. 1 but dropped Army to No. 5 behind Texas, Tennessee, and California.
Conference standings Major conference standings
Independents
Minor conferences ConferenceChampion(s)RecordAlabama Intercollegiate Conference Florence State 6–3–1California Collegiate Athletic Association San Diego State 3–0–1 Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association North Carolina A&T 5–0–1 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Kansas State Teachers 5–0 College Conference of Illinois Wheaton (IL) 5–0 Evergreen Conference Eastern Washington College 5–1 Far Western Conference San Francisco State 4–0 Gulf Coast Conference North Texas State 1–0–1 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Saint Ambrose 5–0 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Ottawa 6–0 Lone Star Conference Sul Ross State College 3–0–1 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Alma 4–0–1 Mid-American Conference Miami (OH) 4–0 Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference CoeKnoxRipon 5–1 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Gustavus Adolphus 6–0 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association Missouri School of Mines 4–1 Nebraska College Conference Doane 4–1–1 New Mexico Intercollegiate Conference Eastern New Mexico 5–1 North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference South Dakota State 5–0–1 North Dakota College Athletic Conference Valley City State 4–0 Ohio Athletic Conference Muskingum 6–0 Ohio Valley Conference Murray State 5–0–1 Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference Central State College (OK)Southwestern State Teachers (OK) 4–1 Oregon Collegiate Conference Oregon College — Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Chester State Teachers 4–0 Pacific Northwest Conference Lewis & Clark 5–0 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Colorado College 5–0 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference Northern State Teachers (SD) 4–0 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Pomona-PitzerRedlandsWhittier 3–1 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Florida A&M CollegeXavier (LA) 6–0 Southwestern Athletic Conference Southern 7–0 State Teacher's College Conference of Minnesota Bemidji State TeachersMankato State Teachers 3–0–1 Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference Abilene Christian 5–0 Upper Peninsula Conference Northern Michigan 4-3 Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference La Crosse State TeachersWhitewater State Teachers 4–04–0
Minor conference standings
Rankings
The final AP poll was released in late November and the final UP poll one week later.
+ AP Poll Rank Team 1st Points1Oklahoma (10–1)2132,9632Army (8–1)38 2,3803 Texas (9–2) 4 1,9884 Tennessee (11–1) 15 1,8065 California (9–1–1) 8 1,7876 Princeton (9–0) 6 1,4207 Kentucky (11–1) 7 1,1678 Michigan State (8–1) 3 8649 Michigan (6–3–1) - 49310 Clemson (9–0–1) 9 37411 Washington (8–2) 4 34312 Wyoming (10–0) 4 29713 Illinois (7–2) - 27514 Ohio State (6–3) - 24315 Miami (FL) (9–1–1) 1 22516 Alabama (9–2) 1 22117 Nebraska (6–2–1) 2 9618 Washington & Lee (8–3) 2 5419 Tulsa (9–1–1) - 5420 Tulane (6–2–1) - 48
+ UP poll Rank Team 1st Points1Oklahoma323462Texas -2503Tennessee -2364California -2335Army - 1656Michigan -1627Kentucky -1548Princeton 1 1179Michigan State 1 7710Ohio State -7011Illinois 5512Clemson5113Miami (FL)2814Wyoming11614Baylor (7–3) 1614Washington1617Alabama818Washington & Lee719Navy (3–6)319Cornell (7–2)319Nebraska319Wisconsin (6–3)323Maryland (7–2–1)123Georgia Tech (5–6)123Penn (6–3)1
Bowl games Major bowls Bowl game Winning team Losing teamSugar Bowl No. 7 Kentucky 13 No. 1 Oklahoma7Cotton Bowl No. 4 Tennessee 20 No. 3 Texas 14Rose Bowl No. 9 Michigan 14 No. 5 California6Orange Bowl No. 10 Clemson 15 No. 15 Miami (FL) 14
Other bowls