1929 College Football Final Rankings

Our national champion for 1929 does not even show up anywhere in the ranking systems of the time. Yet the Utah Utes of 1929 won all of their games by an average score of 31-3. Perhaps because they only played teams from the Rocky Mountains - it was 1929 after all, and transportation wasn't anything like it is today - the Utes did not capture much national attention, despite their gaudy performance, which even outshines their undefeated seasons in 2004 and 2008. Although they went undefeated and untied, they weren't even ranked in the Top 11 by the Dickinson System, which granted its national championship to - who else? - Notre Dame. There were three other undefeated and untied teams in 1929 - Notre Dame, Purdue and Tulane, but none of them had quite as dominating as season, in our analysis, as the Utah Utes.

1. Utah Utes (7-0) - 1.6
2. USC Trojans (10-2) - 2.0
3. Tennessee Volunteers (9-0-1) - 2.8
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (9-0) - 4.6
5. Purdue Boilermakers (8-0) - 6.1
6. TCU Horned Frogs (9-0-1) - 6.5
7. Pittsburgh Panthers (9-1) - 6.9
8. North Carolina Tar Heels (9-1) - 7.5
9. Tulane Green Wave (9-0) - 8.5
10. Colgate Raiders (8-1) - 9.6
11. Kentucky Wildcats (6-1-1) - 11.4
12. Stanford Cardinal (9-2) - 11.6
13. Illinois Fighting Illini (6-1-1) - 13.2
14. Vanderbilt Commodores (7-2) - 14.6
15. Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-2) - 16.8
16. Texas Longhorns (5-2-2) - 17.4
17. Dartmouth Big Green (7-2) - 18.1
(tie) Texas A&M Aggies (5-4) - 18.1
19. Iowa Hawkeyes (4-2-2) - 19.4
20. Washington State Cougars (10-2) - 21.0
21. Alabama Crimson Tide (6-3) - 22.5
22. Florida Gators (8-2) - 22.7
23. California Golden Bears (7-1-1) - 24.0
24. SMU Mustangs (6-0-4) - 24.4
25. Fordham Rams (7-0-2) - 26.7
26. Carnegie Mellon Tartans (5-3-1) - 26.9
27. Colorado Buffaloes (5-1-1) - 28.0
28. Nebraska Cornhuskers (4-1-3) - 29.2
29. VMI Keydets (8-2) - 30.1
30. Arkansas Razorbacks (7-2) - 30.5
31. Denver Pioneers (5-1-1) - 30.8
32. Detroit Mercy Titans (7-1-1) - 31.7
33. Navy Midshipmen (6-2-2) - 31.9
34. Michigan Wolverines (5-3-1) - 32.8
35. Harvard Crimson (5-2-1) - 33.9
36. Missouri Tigers (5-2-1) - 34.0
37. Wisconsin Badgers (4-5) - 36.7
38. Army Black Knights (6-4-1) - 37.7
39. Colorado College Tigers (4-3) - 38.7
40. Oregon State Beavers (5-4) - 41.0
41. Cornell Big Red (6-2) - 41.4
42. Clemson Tigers (8-3) - 41.7
43. Yale Bulldogs (5-2-1) - 42.2
44. Northwestern Wildcats (6-3) - 42.9
45. Pennsylvania Relays (7-2) - 43.8
46. Georgia Bulldogs (6-4) - 44.5
47. Colorado State Rams (5-4) - 44.8
48. Ohio State Buckeyes (4-3-1) - 50.5
49. Drake Bulldogs (5-3-1) - 50.9
50. Oregon Ducks (7-3) - 51.1
51. New York University Violets (7-3) - 52.7
52. Kansas Jayhawks (4-4) - 52.8
53. Syracuse Orange (6-3) - 53.1
54. South Carolina Gamecocks (6-5) - 54.1
55. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (3-6) - 54.3
56. Washington & Jefferson Presidents (5-2-2) - 55.6
57. Oklahoma Sooners (3-3-2) - 55.8
58. Utah State Aggies (3-4) - 56.4
59. Chicago Maroons (7-3) - 56.6
60. Virginia Tech Hokies (5-4) - 60.8
61. Michigan State Spartans (5-3) - 61.8
62. Baylor Bears (7-3-1) - 62.9
63. Idaho Vandals (4-5) - 63.6
64. Virginia Cavaliers (4-3-2) - 65.1
65. Kansas State Wildcats (3-5) - 66.3
66. Maryland Terrapins (4-4-2) - 66.8
67. Grinnell Pioneers (5-1-2) - 67.8
68. Oklahoma State Cowboys (4-3-2) - 68.4
69. Colorado Mines Orediggers (2-5) - 69.9
70. Washington (MO) Bears (3-4-1) - 71.0
71. LSU Tigers (6-3) - 72.2
72. UCLA Bruins (4-4) - 72.5
73. Columbia Lions (4-5) - 73.6
74. Montana State Bobcats (6-2) - 74.4
75. Georgetown Hoyas (5-2-2) - 74.8
76. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-3) - 75.5
77. Marquette Golden Eagles (4-3-1) - 75.7
78. Washington Huskies (2-6-1) - 76.5
79. BYU Cougars (5-3) - 77.4
80. Princeton Tigers (2-4-1) - 79.3
81. Montana Grizzlies (3-5-1) - 79.8
82. Northern Colorado Bears (4-3) - 81.6
83. Washington & Lee Generals (3-5-1) - 82.6
84. Indiana Hoosiers (2-6-1) - 82.8
85. West Virginia Mountaineers (4-3-3) - 83.0
86. Brown Bears (5-5) - 84.6
87. Iowa State Cyclones (1-7) - 85.5
88. Duke Blue Devils (4-6) - 86.8
89. Davidson Wildcats (5-5) - 86.9
90. Western State Mountaineers (2-5) - 90.1
91. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-5-1) - 90.4
92. Regis Rangers (2-7) - 91.8
93. Ole Miss Rebels (1-6-2) - 93.6
94. Wyoming Cowboys (1-7) - 94.3
95. Creighton Bluejays (2-6) - 94.6
96. Auburn Tigers (2-7) - 95.5
97. Sewanee Tigers (2-5-2) - 97.4
98. Mississippi State Bulldogs (1-5-2) - 97.5
99. NC State Wolfpack (1-8) - 97.9
100. Rice Owls (2-7) - 100.9

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