1970 NCAA University Division football rankings

Two human polls comprised the 1970 NCAA University Division football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship, instead that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll.

1970 NCAA University Division football rankings
Season	1970
Bowl season	1970–71 bowl games
Preseason No. 1	Ohio State
End of season champions	Nebraska (AP) Texas (Coaches)
NCAA University Division football rankings ← 1969 1971 →

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
		National champion
(#–#)		Win–loss record
(Italics)		Number of first place votes
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

AP Poll

	Preseason Aug[1]	Week 1 Sep 14[2]	Week 2 Sep 21[3]	Week 3 Sep 28[4]	Week 4 Oct 5[5]	Week 5 Oct 12[6]	Week 6 Oct 19[7]	Week 7 Oct 26[8]	Week 8 Nov 2[9]	Week 9 Nov 9[10]	Week 10 Nov 16[11]	Week 11 Nov 23[12]	Week 12 Nov 30[13]	Week 13 Dec 7[14]	Week 14 Jan[15][16]
1.	Ohio State (19)	Ohio State (0–0) (24)	Ohio State (0–0) (14)	Ohio State (1–0) (25)	Ohio State (2–0) (27)	Ohio State (3–0) (20)	Ohio State (4–0) (19)	Texas (5–0) (15)	Texas (6–0) (20)	Notre Dame (7–0) (23)	Texas (8–0) (26)	Texas (8–0) (20)	Texas (9–0) (23)	Texas (10–0) (30)	Nebraska (11–0–1) (39)	1.
2.	Texas (7)	Texas (0–0) (6)	Texas (1–0) (16)	Texas (2–0) (14)	Texas (3–0) (6)	Texas (4–0) (13)	Texas (4–0) (9)	Ohio State (5–0) (16)	Notre Dame (6–0) (12)	Texas (7–0) (13)	Notre Dame (8–0) (7)	Ohio State (9–0) (14)	Ohio State (9–0) (12)	Ohio State (9–0) (10)	Notre Dame (10–1) (8)	2.
3.	USC (6)	USC (1–0) (7)	Stanford (2–0) (1)	Stanford (3–0) (1)	Notre Dame (3–0)	Notre Dame (4–0) (4)	Notre Dame (5–0) (4)	Notre Dame (5–0) (4)	Ohio State (6–0) (5)	Ohio State (7–0) (3)	Nebraska (9–0–1) (5)	Nebraska (10–0–1) (6)	Nebraska (10–0–1) (5)	Nebraska (10–0–1) (2)	Texas (10–1) (3)	3.
4.	Arkansas (1)	Stanford (1–0)	Penn State (1–0) (2)	Notre Dame (2–0)	USC (3–0–1) (3)	Ole Miss (4–0) (1)	Nebraska (5–0–1) (1)	Nebraska (6–0–1) (1)	Nebraska (7–0–1)	Nebraska (8–0–1) (3)	Michigan (9–0) (6)	Notre Dame (9–0) (3)	Arkansas (9–1)	Tennessee (10–1)	Tennessee (11–1)	4.
5.	Ole Miss (1)	Ole Miss (0–0) (1)	Ole Miss (1–0) (1)	USC (2–0–1) (1)	Ole Miss (3–0) (1)	Nebraska (4–0–1) (1)	Michigan (5–0) (1)	Michigan (6–0) (1)	Michigan (7–0) (2)	Michigan (8–0) (3)	Ohio State (8–0) (1)	Arkansas (9–1)	Tennessee (9–1)	LSU (9–2)	Ohio State (9–1)	5.
6.	Notre Dame	Notre Dame (0–0)	Notre Dame (1–0)	Nebraska (2–0–1)	Nebraska (3–0–1)	Michigan (4–0) (1)	Auburn (5–0) (1)	Stanford (6–1)	Stanford (7–1) (1)	Stanford (8–1)	Arkansas (8–1)	LSU (7–2)	Notre Dame (9–1)	Notre Dame (9–1)	Arizona State (11–0) (2)	6.
7.	Penn State (1)	Penn State (0–0) (1)	USC (1–0–1) (2)	Ole Miss (2–0)	Michigan (3–0) (1)	Air Force (5–0)	Air Force (6–0) (1)	Air Force (7–0) (1)	Arkansas (6–1)	Arkansas (7–1)	LSU (7–1)	Tennessee (8–1)	Michigan (9–1)	Michigan (9–1)	LSU (9–3)	7.
8.	Michigan	Michigan (0–0) (1)	Nebraska (1–0–1)	Colorado (2–0)	Air Force (4–0)	Auburn (4–0)	Stanford (5–1)	Arkansas (5–1)	Tennessee (6–1)	Auburn (7–1)	Tennessee (7–1)	Michigan (9–1)	LSU (8–2)	Arizona State (10–0) (2)	Stanford (9–3)	8.
9.	Nebraska	Nebraska (1–0)	Missouri (2–0)	Michigan (2–0) (1)	Auburn (3–0)	Stanford (4–1)	Arkansas (4–1)	Tennessee (5–1)	Air Force (8–0)	LSU (6–1)	Arizona State (8–0) (1)	Arizona State (9–0) (2)	Arizona State (9–0) (2)	Arkansas (9–2)	Michigan (9–1)	9.
10.	Stanford	Missouri (1–0)	Michigan (1–0) (1)	Air Force (3–0)	Arkansas (3–1)	Arkansas (4–1)	USC (4–1–1)	LSU (5–1)	Auburn (6–1)	Tennessee (7–1)	Air Force (9–1)	Ole Miss (7–1)	Auburn (8–2)	Auburn (8–2)	Auburn (9–2)	10.
11.	Missouri	Arkansas (0–1)	Houston (1–0)	Arkansas (2–1)	West Virginia (4–0)	USC (3–1–1)	Tennessee (4–1)	Arizona State (6–0)	LSU (5–1)	Arizona State (7–0) (1)	Stanford (8–2)	Auburn (7–2)	Air Force (9–2)	Air Force (9–2)	Arkansas (9–2)	11.
12.	LSU	LSU (0–0)	Arkansas (1–1)	Auburn (2–0)	Stanford (3–1)	Arizona State (4–0)	Arizona State (5–0)	Auburn (5–1)	Arizona State (6–0)	Ole Miss (6–1)	Ole Miss (7–1)	Air Force (9–2)	Stanford (8–3)	Stanford (8–3)	Toledo (12–0)	12.
13.	Houston	Kansas State (1–0)	Florida (2–0)	UCLA (3–0)	Georgia Tech (4–0)	Colorado (3–1)	Ole Miss (4–1)	Ole Miss (5–1)	Ole Miss (5–1)	Air Force (8–1)	Auburn (7–2)	Stanford (8–3)	Georgia Tech (8–3)	Georgia Tech (8–3)	Georgia Tech (9–3)	13.
14.	Kansas State	Florida (1–0)	Oklahoma (2–0)	West Virginia (3–0)	Arizona State (3–0)	Tennessee (3–1)	LSU (4–1)	San Diego State (6–0)	San Diego State (7–0)	San Diego State (8–0)	San Diego State (9–0)	Dartmouth (9–0)	Toledo (11–0)	Dartmouth (9–0)	Dartmouth (9–0)	14.
15.	Florida	Houston (0–0)	UCLA (2–0)	Georgia Tech (3–0)	UCLA (3–1)	LSU (3–1)	Houston (3–1)	Pittsburgh (5–1)	Toledo (8–0)	Dartmouth (7–0)	Toledo (10–0)	Toledo (11–0)	Dartmouth (9–0)	Toledo (11–0)	USC (6–4–1)	15.
16.	Alabama	UCLA (1–0)	West Virginia (2–0)	Penn State (1–1)	Missouri (3–1)	Georgia Tech (4–1)	UCLA (4–2)	Oregon (5–2)	UCLA (5–3)	Toledo (9–0)	Dartmouth (8–0)	Georgia Tech (7–3)	Ole Miss (7–2)	USC (6–4–1)	Air Force (9–3)	16.
17.	South Carolina	West Virginia (1–0)	Tennessee (1–0)	Alabama (2–1)	Colorado (2–1)	Texas Tech (4–1)	San Diego State (6–0)	Missouri (4–3)	Dartmouth (6–0)	UCLA (5–3)	Georgia Tech (7–3)	Penn State (7–3)	USC (6–4–1)	Houston (8–3)	Tulane (8–4)	17.
18.	UCLA	Oklahoma (1–0)	Colorado (1–0)	Arizona State (2–0)	North Carolina (4–0)	Missouri (3–2)	Pittsburgh (4–1)	USC (4–2–1)	Houston (3–2)	USC (5–3–1)	Northwestern (5–4)	Northwestern (6–4)	Penn State (7–3)	Penn State (7–3)	Penn State (7–3)	18.
19.	Arizona State	Georgia (0–0)	Georgia Tech (2–0)	North Carolina (3–0)	LSU (2–1)	Houston (2–1) т	Colorado (3–2) т	UCLA (4–3)	Alabama (5–3)	Oregon (6–3)	Texas Tech (8–2)	Colorado (6–4)	Northwestern (6–4)	Texas Tech (8–3)	Houston (8–3)	19.
20.	Auburn т Oklahoma т West Virginia т	Arizona State (0–0)	Air Force (2–0)	Missouri (2–1)	Tennessee (2–1)	UCLA (3–2) т	Toledo (6–0) т	Northwestern (3–3)	Syracuse (4–3)	Kansas State (6–3)	Penn State (6–3)	Washington (6–4)	Oklahoma (7–4)	Oklahoma (7–4)	Oklahoma (7–4–1) т Ole Miss (7–4) т	20.
	Preseason Aug[17]	Week 1 Sep 14[18]	Week 2 Sep 21[19]	Week 3 Sep 28[20]	Week 4 Oct 5[21]	Week 5 Oct 12[22]	Week 6 Oct 19[23]	Week 7 Oct 26[24]	Week 8 Nov 2[25]	Week 9 Nov 9[26]	Week 10 Nov 16[27]	Week 11 Nov 23[28]	Week 12 Nov 30[29]	Week 13 Dec 7[30]	Week 14 Jan[31][16]
		Dropped: Alabama South Carolina Auburn	Dropped: LSU Kansas State Georgia Arizona State	Dropped: Houston Florida Oklahoma Tennessee	Dropped: Penn State Alabama	Dropped: West Virginia North Carolina	Dropped: Georgia Tech Texas Tech Missouri	Dropped: Houston Colorado Toledo	Dropped: Pittsburgh Oregon Missouri USC Northwestern	Dropped: Houston Alabama Syracuse	Dropped: UCLA USC Oregon Kansas State	Dropped: San Diego State Texas Tech	Dropped: Colorado Washington	Dropped: Ole Miss Northwestern	Dropped: Texas Tech

Final Coaches Poll

The final UPI Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, in early December.^[32]
Two coaches on the 35-member board did not submit votes.^[32]
Texas received 25 of the 33 first place votes; Ohio State received six and Nebraska two.^[33]

Ranking	Team	Conference	Bowl
1	Texas	Southwest	Lost Cotton, 11–24
2	Ohio State	Big Ten	Lost Rose, 17–27
3	Nebraska	Big Eight	Won Orange, 17–12
4	Tennessee	SEC	Won Sugar, 34–13
5	Notre Dame	Independent	Won Cotton, 24–11
6	LSU	SEC	Lost Orange, 12–17
7	Michigan	Big Ten	none
8	Arizona State	WAC	Won Peach, 48–26
9	Auburn	SEC	Won Gator, 35–28
10	Stanford	Pac-8	Won Rose, 27–17
11	Air Force	Independent	Lost Sugar, 13–34
12	Arkansas	Southwest	none
13	Houston	Independent
14	Dartmouth	Ivy League
15	Oklahoma	Big Eight	Tied Bluebonnet, 24–24
16	Colorado	Big Eight	Lost Liberty, 3–17
17	Georgia Tech	Independent	Won Sun, 17–9
	Toledo	MAC	Won Tangerine, 40–12
19	Penn State	Independent	none
	USC	Pac-8

• Prior to the 1975 season, the Big Ten and Pac-8 conferences allowed only one postseason participant each, for the Rose Bowl.
• The Ivy League has prohibited its members from participating in postseason football since the league was officially formed in 1954.