1953 College Football Final Rankings

In 1953, the major polls - the AP and UPI polls - both awarded the national championship to the Maryland Terrapins before they lost to the #4 Oklahoma Sooners in the Orange Bowl. These polls did not have a post-bowl vote, so the question remains whether Maryland still deserved the title or not. Our analysis, which weights bowl games equally to the rest of the games of the season, says yes, they still deserved to be national champions:

1. Maryland Terrapins (10-1) - 1.0
2. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-0-1) - 2.3
3. Texas Tech Red Raiders (11-1) - 2.7
4. Oklahoma Sooners (9-1-1) - 4.0
5. Rice Owls (9-2) - 5.2
6. Michigan State Spartans (9-1) - 6.2
7. UCLA Bruins (8-2) - 8.3
8. Illinois Fighting Illini (7-1-1) - 8.7
9. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-2-1) - 8.8
10. Wisconsin Badgers (6-2-1) - 9.4
11. Ole Miss Rebels (7-2-1) - 11.5
12. Kentucky Wildcats (7-2-1) - 12.6
13. Duke Blue Devils (7-2-1) - 13.2
14. Mississippi State Bulldogs (5-2-3) - 14.6
(tie) Texas Longhorns (7-3) - 14.6
16. Iowa Hawkeyes (5-3-1) - 15.3
17. West Virginia Mountaineers (8-2) - 18.1
18. Auburn Tigers (7-3-1) - 18.7
19. Army Black Knights (7-1-1) - 19.4
20. Utah Utes (8-2) - 20.1
21. Michigan Wolverines (6-3) - 20.8
22. Baylor Bears (7-3) - 21.2
23. Syracuse Orange (5-3-1) - 25.2
24. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-3) - 25.6
25. Marquette Golden Eagles (6-3-1) - 25.7
26. USC Trojans (6-3-1) - 25.9
27. South Carolina Gamecocks (7-3) - 26.5
28. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-3) - 28.2
29. Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-4-1) - 28.9
30. Stanford Cardinal (6-3-1) - 29.4
31. Oklahoma State Cowboys (7-3) - 29.9
32. LSU Tigers (5-3-3) - 33.0
33. Tennessee Volunteers (6-4-1) - 33.7
34. UTEP Miners (8-2) - 33.8
35. SMU Mustangs (5-5) - 34.2
36. Kansas State Wildcats (6-3-1) - 36.4
37. Navy Midshipmen (4-3-2) - 36.6
38. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-3-3) - 38.5
39. California Golden Bears (4-4-2) - 40.1
40. Boston University Terriers (5-3-1) - 40.4
41. Detroit Mercy Titans (6-4) - 42.1
42. Houston Cougars (4-4-1) - 42.2
43. Florida Gators (3-5-2) - 42.4
44. Wyoming Cowboys (5-4-1) - 43.3
45. Texas A&M Aggies (4-5-1) - 44.0
46. Colorado Buffaloes (6-4) - 45.9
47. Utah State Aggies (8-3) - 47.7
48. Missouri Tigers (6-4) - 48.1
49. Furman Paladins (7-2) - 50.0
50. Arkansas Razorbacks (3-7) - 50.7
51. Arizona Wildcats (4-5-1) - 50.9
52. Miami Hurricanes (4-5) - 51.7
53. Fordham Rams (4-5) - 53.0
(tie) Pennsylvania Relays (3-5-1) - 53.0
55. TCU Horned Frogs (3-7) - 55.0
56. Cornell Big Red (4-3-2) - 56.1
57. Colorado State Rams (4-5) - 57.0
58. Boston College Eagles (5-3-1) - 57.1
59. Purdue Boilermakers (2-7) - 58.0
60. New Mexico Lobos (5-3-1) - 60.0
61. Oregon Ducks (4-5-1) - 60.2
62. Harvard Crimson (6-2) - 62.8
63. Washington Huskies (3-6-1) - 63.1
64. Clemson Tigers (3-5-1) - 65.0
(tie) Holy Cross Crusaders (5-5) - 65.0
66. Northwestern Wildcats (3-6) - 65.8
67. Wichita State Shockers (4-4-1) - 66.5
68. Pittsburgh Panthers (3-5-1) - 67.7
69. Pacific Tigers (4-4-2) - 67.8
70. George Washington Colonials (5-4) - 68.7
71. Yale Bulldogs (5-2-2) - 72.0
72. Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-6-1) - 73.1
73. Columbia Lions (4-5) - 75.3
74. Hardin-Simmons Cowboys (6-5) - 75.5
75. North Carolina Tar Heels (4-6) - 76.1
76. Washington State Cougars (4-6) - 76.9
77. Arizona State Sun Devils (4-5-1) - 77.2
78. Colgate Raiders (3-4-2) - 78.8
79. Villanova Wildcats (4-6) - 79.0
80. Richmond Spiders (5-3-1) - 79.1
81. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (3-6-1) - 79.9
82. Virginia Tech Hokies (5-5) - 80.1
83. Kansas Jayhawks (2-8) - 81.6
84. Indiana Hoosiers (2-7) - 82.2
85. Denver Pioneers (3-5-2) - 84.2
86. Princeton Tigers (5-4) - 85.1
87. Dartmouth Big Green (2-7) - 87.9
88. Vanderbilt Commodores (3-7) - 88.9
89. Georgia Bulldogs (3-8) - 89.1
90. North Texas Mean Green (3-6-1) - 90.8
91. Washington & Lee Generals (4-6) - 91.7
92. San Jose State Spartans (4-4-1) - 92.3
93. William & Mary Tribe (5-4-1) - 93.0
94. Oregon State Beavers (3-6) - 93.1
95. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (3-7) - 93.9
96. VMI Keydets (5-5) - 94.0
97. BYU Cougars (2-7-1) - 95.2
98. Iowa State Cyclones (2-7) - 98.4
99. Brown Bears (3-5-1) - 98.7
100. Montana Grizzlies (3-5) - 98.9
101. Tulane Green Wave (1-8-1) - 100.4
102. Drake Bulldogs (4-4) - 102.4
(tie) Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2-6) - 102.4
104. Virginia Cavaliers (1-8) - 104.9
105. Idaho Vandals (1-8) - 106.5
106. NC State Wolfpack (1-9) - 107.5
107. West Texas A&M Buffaloes (1-8-1) - 108.4
108. New Mexico State Aggies (2-7) - 108.7
109. Citadel Bulldogs (2-7) - 108.9
110. Davidson Wildcats (0-9) - 111.0

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