1974 NCAA Division I football rankings

Two human polls comprised the 1974 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I 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.

1974 NCAA Division I football rankings
Season	1974
Bowl season	1974–75 bowl games
Preseason No. 1	Oklahoma
End of season champions	Oklahoma (AP) USC (Coaches)
NCAA Division I football rankings ← 1973 1975 →

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 9[2]	Week 2 Sep 16[3]	Week 3 Sep 23[4]	Week 4 Sep 30[5]	Week 5 Oct 7[6]	Week 6 Oct 14[7]	Week 7 Oct 21[8]	Week 8 Oct 28[9]	Week 9 Nov 4[10]	Week 10 Nov 11[11]	Week 11 Nov 18[12]	Week 12 Nov 25[13]	Week 13 Dec 2[14]	Week 14 (Final) Jan[15]
1.	Oklahoma (23)	Oklahoma (0–0) (22)	Notre Dame (1–0) (19)	Ohio State (2–0) (23)	Ohio State (3–0) (25 1⁄5)	Ohio State (4–0) (33)	Ohio State (5–0) (51)	Ohio State (6–0) (50)	Ohio State (7–0) (45)	Ohio State (8–0) (49)	Oklahoma (8–0) (48)	Oklahoma (9–0) (45)	Oklahoma (10–0) (49)	Oklahoma (11–0) (49)	Oklahoma (11–0) (51)	1.
2.	Ohio State (14)	Notre Dame (1–0) (17)	Ohio State (1–0) (17)	Notre Dame (2–0) (26)	Oklahoma (2–0) (24 1⁄5)	Oklahoma (3–0) (24)	Oklahoma (4–0) (5)	Oklahoma (5–0) (8)	Oklahoma (6–0) (14)	Oklahoma (7–0) (10)	Alabama (9–0) (10)	Alabama (10–0) (9)	Alabama (10–0) (10)	Alabama (11–0) (12)	USC (10–1–1) (6)	2.
3.	Notre Dame (13)	Alabama (0–0) (5)	Oklahoma (1–0) (18)	Oklahoma (1–0) (8)	Alabama (3–0) (3 1⁄5)	Alabama (4–0) (1)	Michigan (5–0) (1)	Michigan (6–0) (1)	Michigan (7–0) (2)	Alabama (8–0) (2)	Michigan (9–0) (4)	Michigan (10–0) (8)	Ohio State (10–1)	Ohio State (10–1)	Michigan (10–1) (2)	3.
4.	Alabama (6)	Ohio State (0–0) (9)	Nebraska (1–0) (10)	Alabama (2–0) (4)	Michigan (3–0) (4 1⁄5)	Michigan (4–0) (2)	Alabama (5–0) (1)	Alabama (6–0) (1)	Alabama (7–0) (1)	Michigan (8–0) (1)	Ohio State (8–1)	Ohio State (9–1)	Michigan (10–1)	Michigan (10–1)	Ohio State (10–2)	4.
5.	USC (1)	USC (0–0) (1)	Alabama (1–0) (4)	Michigan (2–0)	Texas A&M (3–0) (1 1⁄5)	Nebraska (3–1)	Auburn (5–0) (1)	Auburn (6–0) (1)	Auburn (7–0) (1)	Texas A&M (7–1)	Notre Dame (7–1)	Notre Dame (8–1)	Notre Dame (9–1)	USC (9–1–1)	Alabama (11–1)	5.
6.	Michigan (1)	Michigan (0–0)	Michigan (1–0)	Texas (2–0)	Nebraska (2–1)	Notre Dame (3–1)	USC (3–1)	USC (4–1)	USC (5–1)	Florida (7–1)	Nebraska (7–2)	Nebraska (8–2)	USC (8–1–1)	Auburn (9–2)	Notre Dame (10–2)	6.
7.	Nebraska	Nebraska (0–0)	LSU (1–0)	Arizona State (2–0)	Notre Dame (2–1)	USC (2–1)	Notre Dame (4–1)	Notre Dame (5–1)	Notre Dame (6–1)	Penn State (7–1)	Auburn (8–1)	Auburn (9–1)	Auburn (9–1)	Penn State (9–2)	Penn State (10–2)	7.
8.	Penn State	Penn State (0–0)	Penn State (1–0)	Pittsburgh (2–0)	NC State (3–0)	Florida (4–0)	Texas A&M (4–1)	Texas A&M (5–1)	Texas A&M (6–1)	Notre Dame (7–1)	USC (6–1–1)	USC (7–1–1)	Texas A&M (8–2)	Nebraska (8–3)	Auburn (10–2) (1)	8.
9.	LSU	LSU (0–0)	Texas (1–0)	Texas A&M (2–0)	USC (1–1)	Texas Tech (3–0–1)	Arizona (5–0)	Nebraska (4–2)	Nebraska (5–2)	Nebraska (6–2)	Florida (7–2)	Texas A&M (8–2)	Nebraska (8–3)	Notre Dame (9–2)	Nebraska (9–3)	9.
10.	Texas	Texas (0–0)	Arkansas (1–0)	Nebraska (1–1)	Texas Tech (2–0–1)	Auburn (4–0) (1)	NC State (5–0)	Penn State (5–1)	Penn State (6–1)	Auburn (7–1)	Texas A&M (7–2)	Penn State (8–2)	Penn State (8–2)	Maryland (8–3)	Miami (OH) (10–0–1)	10.
11.	Houston	Arizona State (1–0)	Arizona State (1–0)	Wisconsin (2–0)	Auburn (3–0)	NC State (4–0)	Penn State (4–1)	Texas Tech (4–1–1)	Florida (6–1)	USC (5–1–1)	Penn State (7–2)	Maryland (7–3)	Maryland (8–3)	Texas (8–3)	NC State (9–2–1)	11.
12.	UCLA	UCLA (0–0–1)	UCLA (0–0–1)	Oklahoma State (2–0)	Arizona (3–0)	Arizona (4–0)	Nebraska (3–2)	Florida (5–1)	Texas (5–2)	Texas (6–2)	Miami (OH) (8–0–1)	Miami (OH) (9–0–1)	Miami (OH) (9–0–1)	Baylor (8–3)	Michigan State (7–3–1)	12.
13.	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh (0–0)	USC (0–1)	NC State (2–0)	Florida (3–0)	Wisconsin (3–1)	Kansas (4–1)	Texas (4–2)	Texas Tech (5–1–1)	Miami (OH) (7–0–1)	Maryland (6–3)	NC State (8–2)	NC State (9–2)	NC State (9–2)	Maryland (8–4)	13.
14.	Maryland	Maryland (0–0)	Maryland (0–1)	Tennessee (1–0–1)	Illinois (3–0)	Arkansas (3–1)	Florida (4–1)	Arizona State (4–1)	Arizona State (5–1)	Maryland (5–3)	Houston (6–2)	Michigan State (6–3–1)	Michigan State (7–3–1)	Michigan State (7–3–1)	Baylor (8–4)	14.
15.	Arizona State	Tennessee (0–0)	NC State (1–0) т	Arizona (2–0)	Penn State (2–1)	Penn State (3–1)	Arizona State (3–1)	Maryland (4–2)	Maryland (5–2)	Houston (6–2)	Michigan State (5–3–1)	Houston (7–2)	Houston (8–2)	Miami (OH) (9–0–1)	Florida (8–4)	15.
16.	Tennessee	NC State (0–0)	Pittsburgh (1–0) т	Illinois (2–0)	Miami (FL) (2–0)	Texas A&M (3–1)	Texas (3–2)	Arizona (5–1)	Miami (OH) (6–0–1)	Arizona State (5–2)	NC State (7–2)	Baylor (6–3)	Baylor (7–3)	Texas A&M (8–3)	Texas A&M (8–3)	16.
17.	Arizona	Arizona (0–0)	Arizona (1–0) т	LSU (1–1)	Pittsburgh (2–1)	Texas (3–1)	Texas Tech (3–1–1)	NC State (5–1)	Mississippi State (6–1)	Oklahoma State (4–3)	Pittsburgh (7–2)	Texas (7–3)	Texas (7–3)	BYU (7–3–1)	Mississippi State (9–3) т	17.
18.	NC State	Missouri (0–0)	Tennessee (0–0–1) т	USC (0–1)	Arizona State (2–1)	Arizona State (3–1)	Maryland (3–2)	Tulane (5–0)	UCLA (4–1–2)	California (5–2–1)	Oklahoma State (5–3)	Pittsburgh (7–3)	Pittsburgh (7–3)	Florida (8–3)	Texas (8–4) т	18.
19.	Arkansas	Houston (0–1)	Houston (1–1) т	Penn State (1–1)	Texas (2–1)	Kansas (3–1)	Miami (OH) (4–0–1)	Miami (OH) (5–0–1)	Temple (6–0)	Pittsburgh (6–2) т	California (6–2–1)	California (7–2–1)	Wisconsin (7–4)	Arizona (9–2)	Houston (8–3–1)	19.
20.	Texas A&M	Arkansas (0–0) т Stanford (0–0) т	Stanford (0–1) т	Miami (FL) (1–0)	Arkansas (2–1)	Miami (OH) (3–0–1)	Tulane (4–0)	California (5–1)	San Diego State (5–1) т Wisconsin (4–3) т	Texas Tech (5–2–1) т	Texas Tech (6–2–1)	Florida (7–3)	BYU (7–3–1)	Pittsburgh (7–4) т Wisconsin (7–4) т	Tennessee (7–3–2)	20.
	Preseason Aug[16]	Week 1 Sep 9[17]	Week 2 Sep 16[18]	Week 3 Sep 23[19]	Week 4 Sep 30[20]	Week 5 Oct 7[21]	Week 6 Oct 14[22]	Week 7 Oct 21[23]	Week 8 Oct 28[24]	Week 9 Nov 4[25]	Week 10 Nov 11[26]	Week 11 Nov 18[27]	Week 12 Nov 25[28]	Week 13 Dec 2[29]	Week 14 (Final) Jan[30]
		Dropped: Texas A&M	Dropped: Missouri	Dropped: Arkansas Houston Maryland Stanford UCLA	Dropped: LSU Oklahoma State Tennessee Wisconsin	Dropped: Illinois Miami (FL) Pittsburgh	Dropped: Arkansas Wisconsin	Dropped: Kansas	Dropped: Arizona California NC State Tulane	Dropped: Mississippi State San Diego State Temple UCLA Wisconsin	Dropped: Arizona State Texas	Dropped: Oklahoma State Texas Tech	Dropped: California Florida	Dropped: Houston	Dropped: Arizona BYU Pittsburgh Wisconsin

Final Coaches Poll

For the first time, the final UPI Coaches Poll was released after the bowl games, on January 2, 1975.^[31][32]
USC received 27 of the 34 first-place votes; Michigan received four and Alabama three.

Ranking	Team	Conference	Bowl
1	USC	Pac-8	Won Rose, 18–17
2	Alabama	SEC	Lost Orange, 11–13
3	Ohio State	Big Ten	Lost Rose, 17–18
4	Notre Dame	Independent	Won Orange, 13–11
5	Michigan	Big Ten	none
6	Auburn	SEC	Won Gator, 27–3
7	Penn State	Independent	Won Cotton, 41–20
8	Nebraska	Big Eight	Won Sugar, 13–10
9	NC State	ACC	Tied Bluebonnet, 31–31
10	Miami (OH)	Mid-American	Won Tangerine, 21–10
11	Houston	Independent	Tied Bluebonnet, 31–31
12	Florida	SEC	Lost Sugar, 10–13
13	Maryland	ACC	Lost Liberty, 3–7
14	Baylor	Southwest	Lost Cotton, 21–40
15	Texas A&M	Southwest	none
	Tennessee	SEC	Won Liberty, 7–3
17	Mississippi State	SEC	Won Sun, 26–24
18	Michigan State	Big Ten	none
19	Tulsa	MVC

• Only 19 teams received votes
• Teams on probation were ineligible for the Coaches' poll, most notably Oklahoma (11–0).
• Prior to the 1975 season, the Big Ten and Pac-8 conferences allowed only one postseason participant each, for the Rose Bowl.

^[31][32]

In the preceding poll in early December, Alabama was first, followed by Ohio State, Michigan, USC, and Auburn; Notre Dame was eighth.^[33][34]