Williamson System

The Williamson System was a mathematical system used to rank college football teams. The system was created by Paul B. Williamson, a geologist and member of the Sugar Bowl committee.^[1]

The NCAA college football records book includes the Williamson System as a "major selector" of national championships for the years 1932-1963.^[1]

Paul Williamson died in 1955. His son Mitch Williamson subsequently took up his father's syndicated column for the 1955–1963 seasons.^[2]

National champions

The following teams were ranked No. 1 by the Williamson System for the 1932–1963 college football seasons.

The NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records book contains five apparent errors in its listing of Williamson System champions. The following table contains the contemporary champions syndicated by Paul Williamson. The NCAA record book's errors are documented in the Notes column.

Season	Champion	Record	Coach	Notes
1932[3]	USC	10–0	Howard Jones
1933[4]	USC	10–1–1	Howard Jones
1934[5]	Alabama	10–0	Frank Thomas
1935[6]	TCU	12–1	Dutch Meyer	[7]
1936[8]	Minnesota	7–1	Bernie Bierman	[9]
1937[10]	California	10–0–1	Stub Allison	[11]
1938[12]	TCU	11–0	Dutch Meyer	[13]
	Tennessee	11–0	Robert Neyland
1939[14]	Texas A&M	11–0	Homer Norton
1940[15]	Stanford	10–0	Clark Shaughnessy	[16]
1941[17]	Texas	8–1–1	Dana X. Bible
1942[18]	Georgia	10–1	Wally Butts
1943[19]	Notre Dame	9–1	Frank Leahy
1944[20]	Army	9–0	Earl Blaik
1945[21]	Army	9–0	Earl Blaik
1946[22]	Georgia	11–0	Wally Butts
1947[23]	Notre Dame	9–0	Frank Leahy
1948[24]	Michigan	9–0	Bennie Oosterbaan
1949[25]	Notre Dame	10–0	Frank Leahy
1950[26]	Oklahoma	10–1	Bud Wilkinson
1951[27]	Tennessee	10–1	Robert Neyland
1952[28]	Michigan State	9–0	Biggie Munn
1953[29]	Notre Dame	9–0–1	Frank Leahy
1954[30]	Ohio State	10–0	Woody Hayes
1955[31]	Oklahoma	11–0	Bud Wilkinson
1956[32]	Oklahoma	10–0	Bud Wilkinson
1957[33]	Auburn	10–0	Ralph Jordan
1958[34]	LSU	11–0	Paul Dietzel
1959[35]	Syracuse	11–0	Ben Schwartzwalder
1960[36]	Ole Miss	10–0–1	Johnny Vaught
1961[37]	Alabama	11–0	Bear Bryant
1962[38]	USC	11–0	John McKay
1963[39]	Texas	11–0	Darrell Royal