Poling System

The Poling System was a mathematical rating system used to rank college football teams.^[1] Its selections were published in the Football Review Supplement and several newspapers.^[1] The system was developed by Richard R. Poling, a native of Mansfield, Ohio who had played college football at Ohio Wesleyan University.

The Poling System is considered by the NCAA to have been a "major selector" of national championships for the years 1935–1984.^[1]: 108

Champions

The Poling System named contemporary champions from 1935 to 1984 and retroactively named champions from 1924 to 1934.^{[1]: 108–109, 111–114, 120}

Season	Champion(s)	Record	Coach
Retrospective selections
1924	Notre Dame	10–0	Knute Rockne
1925	Alabama	10–0	Wallace Wade
1926	Alabama	9–0–1	Wallace Wade
1927	Georgia	9–1	George Cecil Woodruff
1928	Georgia Tech	10–0	William Alexander
1929	Notre Dame	9–0	Knute Rockne
1930	Notre Dame	10–0	Knute Rockne
1931	USC	10–1	Howard Jones
1932	USC	10–0	Howard Jones
1933	Michigan	7–0–1	Harry Kipke
1934	Alabama	10–0	Frank Thomas
Poling System rating
1935	Minnesota	8–0	Bernie Bierman
1936	Minnesota	7–1	Bernie Bierman
1937	Pittsburgh	9–0–1	Jock Sutherland
1938	Tennessee	11–0	Robert Neyland
1939	Texas A&M	11–0	Homer Norton
1940[2][3]	Stanford	10–0	Clark Shaughnessy
1941	Minnesota	8–0	Bernie Bierman
1942	Georgia	11–1	Wally Butts
1943	Notre Dame	9–1	Frank Leahy
1944	Army	9–0	Earl Blaik
1945	Army	9–0	Earl Blaik
1946	Army	9–0–1	Earl Blaik
	Notre Dame	8–0–1	Frank Leahy
1947	Michigan	10–0	Fritz Crisler
1948	Michigan	9–0	Bennie Oosterbaan
1949	Notre Dame	10–0	Frank Leahy
1950	Princeton	9–0	Charley Caldwell
1951	Michigan State	9–0	Biggie Munn
1952	Georgia Tech	12–0	Bobby Dodd
1953	Notre Dame	9–0–1	Frank Leahy
1954	Ohio State	10–0	Woody Hayes
1955	Oklahoma	11–0	Bud Wilkinson
1956[4]	Oklahoma	10–0	Bud Wilkinson
1957	Auburn	10–0	Ralph Jordan
1958	LSU	11–0	Paul Dietzel
1959	Syracuse	11–0	Ben Schwartzwalder
1960	Missouri	11–0	Dan Devine
1961	Ohio State	8–0–1	Woody Hayes
1962	USC	11–0	John McKay
1963	Texas	11–0	Darrell Royal
1964	Arkansas	11–0	Frank Broyles
1965	Michigan State	10–1	Duffy Daugherty
1966	Notre Dame	9–0–1	Ara Parseghian
1967	Oklahoma	10–1	Chuck Fairbanks
1968	Ohio State	10–0	Woody Hayes
1969	Texas	11–0	Darrell Royal
1970	Arizona State	11–0	Frank Kush
1971	Nebraska	13–0	Bob Devaney
1972	USC	12–0	John McKay
1973	Michigan	10–0–1	Bo Schembechler
	Ohio State	10–0–1	Woody Hayes
1974	Oklahoma	11–0	Barry Switzer
1975	Ohio State	11–1	Woody Hayes
1976	Pittsburgh	12–0	Johnny Majors
1977	Notre Dame	11–1	Dan Devine
1978	Oklahoma	11–1	Barry Switzer
1979	Alabama	12–0	Paul "Bear" Bryant
1980	Georgia	12–0	Vince Dooley
1981[4]	Clemson	12–0	Danny Ford
1982	Penn State	11–1	Joe Paterno
1983	Nebraska	12–1	Tom Osborne
1984	BYU	13–0	LaVell Edwards