1938 College Football Final Rankings

1938 was the first year out of three consecutive years in which the Tennessee Volunteers finished the regular season undefeated and untied. Amazingly, not once during those three years was Tennessee awarded the national championship in the AP poll. In 1938, that championship went to the TCU Horned Frogs. Our analysis shows that Tennessee actually had the best season in the country two of those three years - and 1938 was one of them.

Here are the final rankings:

1. Tennessee Volunteers (11-0) - 1.1
2. TCU Horned Frogs (11-0) - 1.9
3. Pittsburgh Panthers (8-2) - 4.3
4. Carnegie Mellon Tartans (7-2) - 4.8
5. Holy Cross Crusaders (8-1) - 5.3
(tie) Oklahoma Sooners (10-1) - 5.3
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-1) - 7.4
8. California Golden Bears (10-1) - 8.9
9. Duke Blue Devils (9-1) - 9.5
10. USC Trojans (9-2) - 11.1
11. Alabama Crimson Tide (7-1-1) - 11.9
(tie) Tulane Green Wave (7-2-1) - 11.9
13. Fordham Rams (6-1-2) - 13.8
14. Villanova Wildcats (8-0-1) - 14.4
15. Clemson Tigers (7-1-1) - 15.3
16. Michigan Wolverines (6-1-1) - 16.8
17. Dartmouth Big Green (7-2) - 18.0
18. Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-2) - 18.4
19. Georgetown Hoyas (8-0) - 18.9
(tie) St. Mary's Gaels (6-2) - 18.9
21. Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-1) - 19.8
22. Cornell Big Red (5-1-1) - 21.4
23. Northwestern Wildcats (4-2-2) - 23.2
24. Santa Clara Broncos (6-2) - 23.6
25. Army Black Knights (8-2) - 24.2
26. Ole Miss Rebels (9-2) - 24.3
27. North Carolina Tar Heels (6-2-1) - 26.6
28. Utah Utes (7-1-2) - 27.0
29. Iowa State Cyclones (7-1-1) - 29.8
30. Purdue Boilermakers (5-1-2) - 30.7
31. UCLA Bruins (7-4-1) - 32.3
32. Vanderbilt Commodores (6-3) - 32.4
33. Michigan State Spartans (6-3) - 34.1
34. Wisconsin Badgers (5-3) - 34.6
35. Brown Bears (5-3) - 35.9
36. Navy Midshipmen (4-3-2) - 37.2
37. Baylor Bears (7-2-1) - 37.9
38. LSU Tigers (6-4) - 39.9
39. Miami Hurricanes (8-2) - 40.0
40. Oregon State Beavers (5-3-1) - 41.0
41. Texas A&M Aggies (4-4-1) - 41.1
42. Ohio State Buckeyes (4-3-1) - 41.3
43. Idaho Vandals (6-3-1) - 45.7
44. SMU Mustangs (6-4) - 47.0
45. New Mexico Lobos (8-3) - 47.1
46. Harvard Crimson (4-4) - 47.4
47. Creighton Bluejays (6-1-1) - 47.7
48. Detroit Mercy Titans (6-4) - 47.8
49. Missouri Tigers (6-3) - 48.1
50. Auburn Tigers (4-5-1) - 48.3
51. Washington Huskies (3-5-1) - 51.6
52. Stanford Cardinal (3-6) - 51.7
53. Boston College Eagles (6-1-2) - 52.9
54. South Carolina Gamecocks (6-4-1) - 54.8
55. Pennsylvania Relays (3-2-3) - 55.6
56. VMI Keydets (6-1-4) - 56.0
57. Syracuse Orange (5-3) - 56.2
58. Nebraska Cornhuskers (3-5-1) - 57.5
59. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-4-3) - 58.2
60. BYU Cougars (4-3-1) - 58.6
61. Rice Owls (4-6) - 62.3
62. Georgia Bulldogs (5-4-1) - 63.0
63. Drake Bulldogs (5-4-1) - 63.4
64. San Francisco Dons (5-2-1) - 63.9
65. Oregon Ducks (4-5) - 64.1
66. Columbia Lions (3-6) - 65.8
67. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (4-5-1) - 66.8
68. Arkansas Razorbacks (2-7-1) - 67.1
69. Colgate Raiders (2-5) - 68.5
70. Bucknell Bison (5-3) - 68.7
71. Montana Grizzlies (5-3-1) - 71.9
72. New York University Violets (4-4) - 72.0
73. Temple Owls (3-6-1) - 72.6
74. UTEP Miners (6-3) - 73.0
75. Kansas State Wildcats (4-4-1) - 73.4
76. Colorado Buffaloes (3-4-1) - 75.5
77. NC State Wolfpack (3-7-1) - 78.2
78. George Washington Colonials (5-4) - 79.4
79. Utah State Aggies (4-4) - 79.6
80. New Mexico State Aggies (7-2) - 79.7
81. Kansas Jayhawks (3-6) - 80.8
82. Penn State Nittany Lions (3-4-1) - 83.8
83. Denver Pioneers (4-4-1) - 84.1
84. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (4-5-1) - 84.2
85. Citadel Bulldogs (6-5) - 85.4
86. Washington (MO) Bears (6-3-1) - 86.4
87. West Virginia Mountaineers (4-5-1) - 86.6
88. Virginia Tech Hokies (3-5-2) - 87.2
89. Richmond Spiders (6-3-1) - 88.4
90. Centenary Gents (7-4) - 89.7
91. Manhattan Jaspers (5-4) - 89.9
92. Princeton Tigers (3-4-1) - 90.9
93. Yale Bulldogs (2-6) - 91.4
94. Duquesne Dukes (4-6) - 91.7
95. Virginia Cavaliers (4-4-1) - 91.9
96. Washington State Cougars (2-8) - 95.4
97. Wyoming Cowboys (2-5-1) - 97.7
98. Davidson Wildcats (4-6) - 98.0
(tie) Indiana Hoosiers (1-6-1) - 98.0
100. Marquette Golden Eagles (1-7) - 99.2
(tie) Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-6) - 99.2
102. Texas Longhorns (1-8) - 101.1
103. Arizona Wildcats (3-6) - 102.0
104. Washington & Lee Generals (4-4-1) - 102.8
105. Florida Gators (4-6-1) - 103.5
106. Kentucky Wildcats (2-7) - 107.9
107. St. Louis Billikens (3-5-2) - 108.3
108. Furman Paladins (2-7-1) - 108.6
(tie) Iowa Hawkeyes (1-6-1) - 108.6
110. Colorado State Rams (1-5-2) - 109.3
111. Gonzaga Bulldogs (1-7) - 110.6
112. Loyola Marymount Lions (4-5) - 111.2
113. Illinois Fighting Illini (3-5) - 112.1
114. Maryland Terrapins (2-7) - 113.6
115. Washburn Ichabods (6-3) - 113.9
116. Oklahoma State Cowboys (2-8) - 115.5
117. Hampden-Sydney Tigers (2-6) - 117.9
118. William & Mary Tribe (3-7) - 118.5
119. Chicago Maroons (1-6-1) - 119.5
120. Sewanee Tigers (1-8) - 120.6
121. Arizona State Sun Devils (3-6) - 120.9
122. Northern Arizona Lumberjacks (2-6-1) - 122.6

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