1947 College Football Final Rankings

In 1947, there were five teams that did not suffer a single loss - three of them did have ties. Most of the debate of the day was between the Michigan Wolverines and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, both of whom finished their seasons undefeated and untied. Surprisingly, though, our analysis shows that the 10-1 Texas Longhorns had a better season than all of the undefeated teams. The Longhorns' only loss was on the road to the 10-0-2 and #5 ranked SMU Mustangs by a single point and they won their rest of their games by a comfortable margin. Michigan, meanwhile, won close games against Illinois and Minnesota, teams that finished ranked 29th and 33rd in our rankings. And Notre Dame only beat #52 Northwestern by a touchdown - a team that only won 3 games all season.

1. Texas Longhorns (10-1) - 1.6
2. Michigan Wolverines (10-0) - 1.8
3. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-0) - 2.6
4. Pennsylvania Relays (7-0-1) - 4.1
5. North Carolina Tar Heels (8-2) - 5.8
6. SMU Mustangs (9-0-2) - 6.8
7. Penn State Nittany Lions (9-0-1) - 7.3
8. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-1) - 7.9
9. USC Trojans (7-2-1) - 8.9
10. Ole Miss Rebels (9-2) - 11.1
11. Rice Owls (6-3-1) - 12.1
12. William & Mary Tribe (9-2) - 12.5
13. Army Black Knights (5-2-2) - 12.6
14. Alabama Crimson Tide (8-3) - 14.0
15. Kentucky Wildcats (8-3) - 14.7
16. California Golden Bears (9-1) - 15.5
17. Virginia Cavaliers (7-3) - 15.9
18. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (8-1) - 17.8
19. Kansas Jayhawks (8-1-2) - 18.8
20. Columbia Lions (7-2) - 19.1
21. Michigan State Spartans (7-2) - 22.2
22. Maryland Terrapins (7-2-2) - 22.5
23. UCLA Bruins (5-4) - 23.6
24. Arkansas Razorbacks (6-4-1) - 26.1
(tie) Wisconsin Badgers (5-3-1) - 26.1
26. San Francisco Dons (7-3) - 27.0
27. Georgia Bulldogs (7-4-1) - 27.6
28. Mississippi State Bulldogs (7-3) - 27.9
29. Illinois Fighting Illini (5-3-1) - 29.1
30. Oklahoma Sooners (7-2-1) - 29.2
31. NC State Wolfpack (5-3-1) - 32.1
32. Utah Utes (8-1-1) - 34.0
33. Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-3) - 34.1
(tie) Oregon Ducks (7-3) - 34.1
35. Missouri Tigers (6-4) - 36.0
36. Vanderbilt Commodores (6-4) - 36.5
37. LSU Tigers (5-3-1) - 36.7
38. TCU Horned Frogs (4-5-2) - 38.3
39. West Virginia Mountaineers (6-4) - 39.1
40. Hardin-Simmons Cowboys (8-3) - 39.8
41. Tennessee Volunteers (5-5) - 39.9
42. Duke Blue Devils (4-3-2) - 40.5
43. Purdue Boilermakers (5-4) - 42.4
44. Princeton Tigers (5-3) - 43.1
45. Villanova Wildcats (6-3-1) - 43.3
46. Nevada Wolf Pack (9-2) - 44.4
47. Detroit Mercy Titans (6-4) - 47.5
48. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-4) - 47.6
49. South Carolina Gamecocks (6-2-1) - 47.8
(tie) Yale Bulldogs (6-3) - 47.8
51. Indiana Hoosiers (5-3-1) - 49.9
52. Northwestern Wildcats (3-6) - 53.0
53. Boston College Eagles (5-4) - 53.9
54. Baylor Bears (5-5) - 54.9
55. Texas A&M Aggies (3-6-1) - 55.1
56. Oregon State Beavers (5-5) - 57.6
57. Washington Huskies (3-6) - 58.1
58. Dartmouth Big Green (4-4-1) - 59.0
59. Holy Cross Crusaders (4-4-2) - 59.8
60. Navy Midshipmen (1-7-1) - 60.8
61. Brown Bears (4-4-1) - 62.7
62. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (5-5) - 63.0
63. Arizona Wildcats (5-4-1) - 64.1
64. Denver Pioneers (5-4-1) - 65.3
65. Marquette Golden Eagles (4-5) - 66.1
66. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (7-4) - 66.6
67. Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-5) - 66.8
68. Montana Grizzlies (7-4) - 66.9
69. Harvard Crimson (4-5) - 69.3
70. Clemson Tigers (4-5) - 69.6
71. UTEP Miners (5-3-1) - 70.3
72. Boston University Terriers (5-3) - 71.0
73. Tulane Green Wave (2-5-2) - 71.3
74. Virginia Tech Hokies (4-5) - 72.8
75. Iowa Hawkeyes (3-5-1) - 73.7
76. Davidson Wildcats (6-3-1) - 75.0
77. Georgetown Hoyas (3-4-1) - 76.5
78. Cornell Big Red (4-5) - 76.9
79. Oklahoma State Cowboys (3-7) - 77.7
80. Washington & Lee Generals (5-5) - 79.3
81. Colorado Buffaloes (4-5) - 82.1
82. Washington State Cougars (3-7) - 82.2
83. VMI Keydets (3-5-1) - 83.7
84. Wichita State Shockers (7-4) - 84.1
85. Ohio State Buckeyes (2-6-1) - 84.7
86. Wyoming Cowboys (4-5) - 88.1
87. Utah State Aggies (6-5) - 88.3
88. Santa Clara Broncos (4-4) - 88.4
89. Colgate Raiders (1-5-2) - 89.1
90. Colorado State Rams (5-4-1) - 89.3
91. New Mexico Lobos (4-5-1) - 90.2
92. Florida Gators (4-5-1) - 90.3
93. Idaho Vandals (4-4) - 90.4
94. Tennessee-Chattanooga Mocs (4-6) - 92.7
95. Citadel Bulldogs (3-5) - 95.7
96. Miami Hurricanes (2-7-1) - 96.5
97. Iowa State Cyclones (3-6) - 97.5
98. Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-7) - 98.4
99. Syracuse Orange (3-6) - 98.8
100. BYU Cougars (3-7) - 101.2
101. Temple Owls (3-6) - 101.5
102. Montana State Bobcats (4-5) - 101.7
(tie) Richmond Spiders (3-7) - 101.7
104. St. Mary's Gaels (3-7) - 102.2
105. St. Louis Billikens (4-6) - 104.9
106. Arizona State Sun Devils (4-7) - 107.1
107. Furman Paladins (2-7) - 107.4
108. George Washington Colonials (1-7-1) - 107.8
109. Pittsburgh Panthers (1-8) - 108.7
110. Auburn Tigers (2-7) - 110.0
111. Drake Bulldogs (1-7-1) - 111.1
112. Stanford Cardinal (0-9) - 111.3
113. Portland Pilots (1-8) - 114.0
114. Duquesne Dukes (2-8) - 114.4
115. New York University Violets (2-5-1) - 115.3
116. New Mexico State Aggies (3-6) - 115.9
117. Fordham Rams (1-6-1) - 117.5
118. Kansas State Wildcats (0-10) - 118.5
119. Merchant Marine Mariners (2-9) - 119.8
120. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (1-7) - 121.0

Special thanks to James Howell's College Football Scores, which provided the data for our analysis.