1954 college football season

1954 NCAA football season
Total # of teams	111
Preseason AP #1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Number of bowls	7
Champions	Ohio State Buckeyes (AP) UCLA Bruins (Coaches)
Heisman	Alan Ameche, Wisconsin FB
College football seasons « 1953 1955 »

The 1954 NCAA football season saw three teams finish unbeaten and untied, with Ohio State Buckeyes and the UCLA Bruins sharing the national championship as the #1 picks of the AP Poll and the UPI Poll, respectively. Although the winners of the Big Ten and the Pacific conferences normally met in the Rose Bowl, a "no repeat" prevented the two champions from meeting. UCLA, which had been in the Rose Bowl earlier in the year, was replaced by conference runner-up USC.

During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the college football teams that would later be described as "Division I-A". The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of "wire service" (AP and UPI) polls. The extent of that recognition came in the form of acknowledgment in the annual NCAA Football Guide of the "unofficial" national champions. The AP poll in 1954 consisted of the votes of as many as 419 sportswriters.

Though not all writers voted in every poll, each would give their opinion of the twenty best teams. Under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined. Although the rankings were based on the collective opinion of the representative sportswriters, the teams that remained "unbeaten and untied" were generally ranked higher than those that had not. A defeat, even against a strong opponent, tended to cause a team to drop in the rankings, and a team with two or more defeats was unlikely to remain in the Top 20. Generally, the top teams played on New Year's Day in the four major postseason bowl games: the Rose Bowl (near Los Angeles at Pasadena), the Sugar Bowl (New Orleans), the Orange Bowl (Miami), and the Cotton Bowl (Dallas).

In 1954, a limit of 10 games per season, excluding a bowl game, was imposed on all teams, with the exception that existing contracts would not be changed.

Conference and program changes

• The ACC voted to add Virginia as its eighth football-playing member in December 1953.

School	1953 Conference	1954 Conference
Virginia Cavaliers	Independent	ACC

September

In the preseason poll released on September 13, 1954, #1 Notre Dame had the most points, although #2 Oklahoma had more first place votes (74 vs. 52). Rounding out the Top Five were defending champion #3 Maryland, #4 Texas and #5 Illinois. As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.

September 18, #2 Oklahoma won at #12 California 27-13, and #3 Maryland won at Kentucky, 20-0. Notre Dame and Texas, #1 and #4, were preparing to meet at South Bend to open their seasons. Oklahoma replaced Notre Dame as #1 in the first regular poll. #7 Georgia Tech, which beat Tulane 28-0 in Atlanta, replaced Illinois in the Top Five. Defying high expectations, the Illini would lose their opener to Penn State, 14-12, and finish the season with a 1-8-0 record. The poll: 1.Oklahoma 2.Notre Dame 3.Maryland 4.Texas 5.Georgia Tech.

September 25 #2 Notre Dame hosted #4 Texas and won 21-0. #1 Oklahoma beat #20 Texas Christian (TCU) 21-16. #3 Maryland was idle, and #5 Georgia Tech lost to Florida, 13-12. Notre Dame took back over the top spot from O.U., and Texas, Maryland and Georgia Tech were replaced by #8 UCLA (32-7 over Kansas), #10 Wisconsin (52-14 over Marquette) and #11 Iowa (14-10 over #7 Michigan State). The poll: 1.Notre Dame 2.Oklahoma 3.Iowa 4.UCLA 5.Wisconsin

October

In a Friday game, #4 UCLA beat #6 Maryland 12-7. The next day, October 2, #1 Notre Dame was upset by #19 Purdue, 27-14. #2 Oklahoma which was idle, moved to the top as Notre Dame dropped out. #3 Iowa defeated visiting Montana, 48-6, and #5 Wisconsin beat #13 Michigan State 6-0. In Columbia, the #15 South Carolina Gamecocks fell 26-6 against unranked West Virginia. The poll: 1.Oklahoma 2.UCLA 3.Wisconsin 4.Iowa 5.Purdue

October 9 #1 Oklahoma won its annual game in Dallas against #15 Texas, 14-7. #2 UCLA edged Washington 21-20. #3 Wisconsin beat #11 Rice 13-7. #4 Iowa lost to unranked Michigan, 14-13, and #5 Purdue was tied by #6 Duke, 13-13 (in the next poll, they stayed at #5 and #6). #10 Ohio State, which had won at Illinois 40-7, entered the Top Five: 1.Oklahoma 2.Wisconsin 3.UCLA 4.Ohio State 5.Purdue.

October 16 #2 Wisconsin hosted #5 Purdue and won 20-6. #1 Oklahoma visited Kansas and annihilated it, 65-0, while #3 UCLA went one better in beating Stanford 72-0. #4 Ohio State beat #13 Iowa 20-14. #14 West Virginia Mountaineers knocked off the #9 Penn State Nittany Lions 19-14 at Beaver Stadium. #7 Ole Miss, which had beaten Tulane 34-7, entered the Top Five: 1.Oklahoma 2.Wisconsin 3.UCLA 4.Ohio State 5.Mississippi.

October 23 #2 Wisconsin faced its second top-ranked opponent in a week, visiting Big Ten rival and #4 Ohio State. OSU won, 31-14, to take the #1 spot. #1 Oklahoma beat Kansas State 21-0, and #3 UCLA beat Oregon State 61-0. #5 Mississippi lost to #7 Arkansas at Little Rock, 6-0. #9 Army, which had won 67-12 at Columbia, moved up. The poll: 1.Ohio State 2.Oklahoma 3.UCLA 4.Arkansas 5.Army

October 30 #1 Ohio State won at Northwestern, 14-7. #2 Oklahoma won 13-6 at Colorado. #3 UCLA won at California 27-6 and was given top billing in the next poll. #4 Arkansas won 14-7 at Texas A & M. #5 Army, which got to stay home, edged Virginia 21-20. #6 Notre Dame, which beat #15 Navy 6-0 in Baltimore, moved up. The poll: 1.UCLA 2.Ohio State 3.Oklahoma 4.Arkansas 5.Notre Dame.

November

November 6 #1 UCLA won at Oregon 41-0. #2 Ohio State beat visiting #20 Pittsburgh, 26-0. #3 Oklahoma won at #12 Iowa 40-0. #4 Arkansas, playing at Little Rock, beat #15 Rice 28-15, and #5 Notre Dame won at Penn, 42-7.

November 13 #1 UCLA had the week off, while #2 Ohio State won at Purdue 28-6 and got back the top rung. #3 Oklahoma beat Missouri 34-13. #4 Arkansas lost to #19 SMU, 21-14. #5 Notre Dame beat North Carolina, 42-13. #6 Army, which at won at Penn 35-0, came back to the Top Five: 1.Ohio State 2.UCLA 3.Oklahoma 4.Notre Dame 5.Army.

November 20 #1 Ohio State beat #12 Michigan 21-7. In Los Angeles, #2 UCLA beat its crosstown rival, #8 USC, 34-0. #3 Oklahoma beat Nebraska 55-7. #4 Notre Dame won at Iowa 34-18. #5 Army had the day, preparing for the Army-Navy game.

November 27 #1 Ohio State and #2 UCLA had finished their seasons. #3 Oklahoma won its annual season-closer at Oklahoma State, 14-0. #4 Notre Dame beat #17 USC 23-17. In Philadelphia, #5 Army was beaten by #6 Navy, 27-20, with the Midshipmen taking Army's spot in the poll.

Conference standings

The following is an incomplete list of conference standings:

1954 ACC football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #14 Duke $ 4 – 0 – 0     8 – 2 – 1 #8 Maryland 4 – 0 – 1     7 – 2 – 1 North Carolina 4 – 2 – 0     4 – 5 – 1 South Carolina 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Clemson 1 – 2 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Wake Forest 1 – 4 – 1     2 – 7 – 1 Virginia 0 – 2 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 NC State 0 – 4 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1954 Big 7 football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #3 Oklahoma $ 6 – 0 – 0     10 – 0 – 0 Nebraska 4 – 2 – 0     6 – 5 – 0 Colorado 3 – 2 – 1     7 – 2 – 1 Missouri 3 – 2 – 1     4 – 5 – 1 Kansas State 3 – 3 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Iowa State 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Kansas 0 – 6 – 0     0 – 10 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1954 Big Ten football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #1 Ohio State $ 7 – 0 – 0     10 – 0 – 0 #9 Wisconsin 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 #15 Michigan 5 – 2 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 Minnesota 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 2 – 0 Iowa 4 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Purdue 3 – 3 – 0     5 – 3 – 1 Indiana 2 – 4 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Michigan State 1 – 5 – 0     3 – 6 – 0 Northwestern 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 Illinois 0 – 6 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
1954 Missouri Valley Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Wichita State $ 4 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Houston 3 – 1 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Oklahoma A&M 2 – 2 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 Detroit 1 – 3 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 Tulsa 0 – 4 – 0     0 – 11 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1954 PCC football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #1/2 UCLA $ 6 – 0 – 0     9 – 0 – 0 #17 USC 6 – 1 – 0     8 – 4 – 0 Oregon 5 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 California 4 – 3 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Washington State 3 – 4 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Stanford 2 – 4 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Idaho 1 – 2 – 0     4 – 5 – 0 Washington 1 – 6 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 Oregon State 1 – 6 – 0     1 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from Coaches' Poll/ AP Poll	1954 SEC football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #6 Ole Miss $ 5 – 1 – 0     9 – 2 – 0 Georgia Tech 6 – 2 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Florida 5 – 2 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 Kentucky 5 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 Georgia 3 – 2 – 1     6 – 3 – 1 #13 Auburn 3 – 3 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 Mississippi State 3 – 3 – 0     6 – 4 – 0 Alabama 3 – 3 – 2     4 – 5 – 2 LSU 2 – 5 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 Tulane 1 – 6 – 1     1 – 6 – 3 Vanderbilt 1 – 5 – 0     2 – 7 – 0 Tennessee 1 – 5 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll
1954 Southern Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #12 West Virginia $ 3 – 0 – 0     8 – 1 – 0 Furman 2 – 0 – 0     5 – 5 – 0 #16 Virginia Tech 3 – 0 – 1     8 – 0 – 1 Davidson 2 – 1 – 0     6 – 3 – 0 VMI 4 – 3 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Richmond 2 – 3 – 0     5 – 4 – 0 William & Mary 1 – 2 – 2     4 – 4 – 2 George Washington 0 – 4 – 1     1 – 7 – 1 The Citadel 0 – 4 – 0     2 – 8 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll	1954 Southwest Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T #10 Arkansas $ 5 – 1 – 0     8 – 3 – 0 SMU 4 – 1 – 1     6 – 3 – 1 #19 Rice 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 3 – 0 #18 Baylor 4 – 2 – 0     7 – 4 – 0 Texas 2 – 3 – 1     4 – 5 – 1 TCU 1 – 5 – 0     4 – 6 – 0 Texas A&M 0 – 6 – 0     1 – 9 – 0 $ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Final AP Poll

AP ranked Ohio State as #1, while the UPI coaches' poll gave the top spot to UCLA. Both wire services' rankings were made at the end of the regular season, and were unaffected by the postseason bowl games. The AP rankings:

Ranking	Team	Record	Conference
1	Ohio State	9-0-0	Big 10
2	UCLA	9-0-0	PCC
3	Oklahoma	10-0-0	Big 7
4	Notre Dame	8-1-0	Indep.
5	Navy	7-2-0	Indep.
6	Mississippi	9-1-0	SEC
7	Army	7-2-0	Indep.
8	Maryland	7-2-1	ACC
9	Wisconsin	7-2-0	Big 10
10	Arkansas	8-2-0	SWC
11	Miami (Florida)	8-1-0	Indep.
12	West Virginia	8-1-0	Southern
13	Auburn	7-3-0	SEC
14	Duke	7-2-1	ACC
15	Michigan	6-3-0	Big 10
16	Virginia Tech	8-0-1	ACC
17	USC	8-3-0	PCC
18	Baylor	7-3-0	SWC
19	Rice	7-3-0	SWC
20	Penn State	7-2-0	Indep.

Final Coaches Poll

The United Press International poll, taken from a panel of 35 coaches, had UCLA as the number one team beginning with the poll released on October 26. A rival to the AP poll, the UPI prefaced its release with the statement, "The men who know the game the best, the coaches themselves, voted UCLA to the top spot by the slender margin of seven points over Ohio State, the perfect record champions of the Big 10 Conference," The UPI poll was a Top Ten, with a first place vote by a coach being worth 10 points, second worth 9 points, etc. With 350 being the maximum number of points, and 315 being the total for 35 second place votes, the panel was split on whether UCLA or Ohio State was the best team in the nation. The UPI Top Ten

Ranking	Team
1	UCLA
2	Ohio State
3	Oklahoma
4	Notre Dame
5	Navy
6	Mississippi
7	Army
8	Arkansas
9	Miami (Fla.)
10	Wisconsin
11 (t)	USC
11 (t)	Maryland
11 (t)	Georgia Tech
14	Duke
15	Michigan
16	Penn State
17	SMU
18	Denver
19	Rice
20	Minnesota

Bowl games

ROSE BOWL	#1 Ohio State Buckeyes	20	#17 USC Trojans	7
SUGAR BOWL	#5 Navy Midshipmen	21	#6 Mississippi Rebels	0
COTTON BOWL	Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets	14	#10 Arkansas Razorbacks	6
ORANGE BOWL	#14 Duke Blue Devils	34	Nebraska Cornhuskers	7

See also

• 1954 College Football All-America Team