1931 College Football Final Rankings

1931 is the first of three consecutive years in which our analysis shows that the USC Trojans had the best season in the country. Amazingly, this year's Rose Bowl featured the #1 and #2 teams from our system as well as the Dickinson System that was used to award the Knute Rockne trophy to the national champion. (Coach Rockne had died earlier that year in a plane crash.) USC won that game 21-12, solidifying their position as the top team in America.

1. USC Trojans (10-1) - 1.5
2. Tulane Green Wave (11-1) - 1.7
3. Tennessee Volunteers (9-0-1) - 3.0
4. Pittsburgh Panthers (8-1) - 3.8
5. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-2-1) - 5.0
6. Northwestern Wildcats (7-1-1) - 7.1
7. Georgia Bulldogs (8-2) - 7.2
8. Army Black Knights (8-2-1) - 8.5
9. Alabama Crimson Tide (9-1) - 8.7
10. Utah Utes (7-2) - 9.5
11. Harvard Crimson (7-1) - 12.0
12. Purdue Boilermakers (9-1) - 12.7
13. New York University Violets (6-3-1) - 14.8
14. Colgate Raiders (8-1) - 15.1
(tie) Columbia Lions (7-1-1) - 15.1
16. Cornell Big Red (7-1) - 15.2
17. Michigan Wolverines (8-1-1) - 16.6
18. Vanderbilt Commodores (5-4) - 18.1
19. Yale Bulldogs (5-1-2) - 20.8
20. California Golden Bears (8-2) - 22.5
21. Kansas State Wildcats (8-2) - 22.6
22. Oregon State Beavers (6-3-1) - 23.1
23. Fordham Rams (6-1-2) - 23.2
24. Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-3) - 25.0
25. SMU Mustangs (9-1-1) - 26.1
26. Texas A&M Aggies (7-3) - 27.6
27. Syracuse Orange (7-1-1) - 27.7
28. Oregon Ducks (6-2-2) - 28.1
29. Nebraska Cornhuskers (8-2) - 28.4
30. St. Mary's Gaels (8-2) - 28.7
31. Ohio State Buckeyes (6-3) - 29.3
32. Stanford Cardinal (7-2-2) - 29.5
33. Washington Huskies (5-3-1) - 30.2
34. Marquette Golden Eagles (8-1) - 31.6
35. Michigan State Spartans (5-3-1) - 34.8
36. Temple Owls (8-1-1) - 36.5
37. Bucknell Bison (6-0-3) - 36.8
38. Dartmouth Big Green (5-3-1) - 38.6
39. Kentucky Wildcats (5-2-2) - 39.5
40. Texas Longhorns (6-4) - 40.5
41. Auburn Tigers (5-3-1) - 40.7
42. Washington State Cougars (6-4) - 41.3
43. Maryland Terrapins (8-1-1) - 41.4
44. Utah State Aggies (6-2) - 44.7
45. Rice Owls (6-4) - 45.0
46. Carnegie Mellon Tartans (3-5-1) - 47.1
(tie) TCU Horned Frogs (9-2-1) - 47.1
48. Colorado State Rams (5-4) - 47.7
49. UCLA Bruins (3-4-1) - 48.7
50. Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-2-1) - 49.1
51. Colorado Buffaloes (5-3) - 50.8
52. Pennsylvania Relays (6-3) - 51.4
53. Wisconsin Badgers (5-4-1) - 53.5
54. Washington & Jefferson Presidents (6-4) - 54.4
55. Detroit Mercy Titans (7-2-1) - 54.8
56. North Carolina Tar Heels (4-3-3) - 55.4
57. South Carolina Gamecocks (5-4-1) - 56.7
58. Duke Blue Devils (5-3-2) - 58.2
59. Wyoming Cowboys (6-4) - 60.0
60. Brown Bears (7-3) - 60.4
61. Oklahoma Sooners (4-7-1) - 62.1
62. Iowa State Cyclones (5-3) - 62.8
63. Kansas Jayhawks (5-5) - 63.2
64. LSU Tigers (5-4) - 64.0
65. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (2-7-1) - 65.9
66. Navy Midshipmen (5-5-1) - 66.7
67. Centenary Gents (5-5) - 67.3
68. Villanova Wildcats (4-3-2) - 67.8
69. Idaho Vandals (3-4) - 68.8
70. Arizona State Sun Devils (6-2) - 69.6
71. Florida Gators (2-6-2) - 70.3
72. Gonzaga Bulldogs (3-4) - 71.0
73. Grinnell Pioneers (5-3) - 71.6
74. Drake Bulldogs (5-6) - 74.9
75. Georgetown Hoyas (4-5-1) - 75.1
76. Colorado College Tigers (4-4) - 75.4
77. West Virginia Mountaineers (4-6) - 77.1
78. Baylor Bears (3-6) - 79.4
79. BYU Cougars (4-4) - 80.2
80. Creighton Bluejays (4-5) - 80.5
(tie) Sewanee Tigers (6-3-1) - 80.5
82. Denver Pioneers (4-6) - 80.9
(tie) New Mexico State Aggies (6-4) - 80.9
84. Indiana Hoosiers (2-5-1) - 83.2
85. Northern Colorado Bears (2-4-1) - 83.7
86. Arkansas Razorbacks (3-5-1) - 85.5
87. Virginia Tech Hokies (3-4-2) - 86.5
88. New Mexico Lobos (3-3-1) - 87.7
89. Illinois Fighting Illini (2-6) - 89.4
90. Washington & Lee Generals (4-5-1) - 90.3
91. NC State Wolfpack (3-6) - 91.2
92. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (3-5) - 93.9
93. Missouri Tigers (2-8) - 94.0
94. Davidson Wildcats (4-4-2) - 94.2
95. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-4) - 94.4
96. Iowa Hawkeyes (1-6-1) - 97.6
97. Arizona Wildcats (3-5-1) - 98.2
98. Chicago Maroons (2-6-1) - 99.2
99. VMI Keydets (3-6-1) - 101.1
100. Montana Grizzlies (1-6) - 101.5
101. Ole Miss Rebels (2-6-1) - 102.0
102. Virginia Cavaliers (1-7-2) - 103.4
103. Clemson Tigers (1-6-2) - 103.6
(tie) Colorado Mines Orediggers (1-5-1) - 103.6
105. Western State Mountaineers (1-6) - 105.1
106. Montana State Bobcats (1-5-1) - 106.4
(tie) Princeton Tigers (1-7) - 106.4
108. Penn State Nittany Lions (2-8) - 109.4
109. Mississippi State Bulldogs (2-6) - 109.6
110. Washington (MO) Bears (2-7) - 111.0

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