The following polls and rankings composed the 1937 college 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 selectors.
Champions (by ranking) Most major rankings (both contemporary and retroactive) have found Pittsburgh to have been the 1937 national champion. However, two major rankings (the contemporary Dunkel and retroactive Helms rankings) instead find California to have been the champion. AP poll: Pittsburgh Berryman QPRS: Pittsburgh Billingsley Report: Pittsburgh Boand System: Pittsburgh College Football Researchers Association: Pittsburgh Dickinson System: Pittsburgh Dunkel System: California Helms Athletic Foundation: California Houlgate System: Pittsburgh Litkenhous Ratings: Pittsburgh National Championship Foundation: Pittsburgh Poling System: Pittsburgh Sagarin Ratings Elo chess method: Pittsburgh Sagarin Ratings Predictor method: Pittsburgh Williamson System: Pittsburgh Note: AP poll, Boand System, Dickinson System, Dunkel System, Houlgate System, Litkenhous Ratings, Poling System, and Williamson System were given contemporarily. All other methods were given retroactively.
AP Poll
Legend Increase in ranking Decrease in ranking Not ranked previous week National champion Win–loss record Number of first place votes Tied with team above or below also with this symbol The final AP Poll was released on November 29, at the end of the 1937 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
Boand System rankings The final post-bowl Boand System rankings for 1937 were: Pittsburgh (83.6 pts) California (82.4 pts) Fordham (79.3 pts) Santa Clara (78.7 pts) Villanova (77.4 pts) Dartmouth (76.9 pts) Yale (76.2 pts) Alabama (75.4 pts) Nebraska (75.3 pts) Louisiana State (75.1 pts) Holy Cross (75.0 pts) Notre Dame (74.1 pts) Minnesota (73.7 pts) Auburn (73.5 pts) Michigan State (73.4 pts) Ohio State (73.3 pts) Rice (71.9 pts) North Carolina (71.6 pts) Vanderbilt (70.7 pts) Army (70.6 pts)
Litkenhous Ratings The top 26 teams in the Litkenhous Ratings for 1937 were as follows:
1. Pittsburgh (9–0–1) - 98.8 2. Alabama (9–1) - 95.6 3. Fordham (7–0–1) - 93.5 4. LSU (9–2) - 92.5 5. Minnesota (6–2) - 86.7 6. Dartmouth (7–0–2) - 86.6 7. Auburn (6–2–3) - 85.7 8. Duke (7–2–1) - 84.8 9. Villanova (8–0–1) - 84.8 10. Ohio State (6–2) - 84.7 11. California (10–0–1) - 84.6 12. Arkansas (6–2–2) - 83.8 13. Tennessee (6–3–1) - 83.4 14. Santa Clara (9–0) - 82.3 15. Georgia Tech (6–3–1) - 82.2 16. Vanderbilt (7–2) - 81.8 17. North Carolina (7–1–1) - 81.8 18. Detroit (7–3) - 81.8 19. Tulane (5–4–1) - 81.5 20. Rice (6–3–2) - 81.4 21. Harvard (5–2–1) - 80.6 22. Notre Dame (6–2–1) - 80.4 23. Tulsa (6–2–2) - 80.4 24. TCU (4–4–2) - 80.1 25. Baylor (7–3) - 79.5 26. Yale (6–1–1) - 79.3
Notes
See also 1937 College Football All-America Team
References