Stanford, coached by Pop Warner, was the top team in the U.S. under the Dickinson System and was awarded the newly established Rissman Trophy.

Seven years later, Parke H. Davis, a renowned football historian and football rules committee member, declared Lafayette (9–0), where he had previously coached, a "National Champion Foot Ball Team" in Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide.

[1] September 18 A few schools opened their seasons early, as Stanford beat Fresno State 44–0.

Alabama played Vanderbilt at Nashville and won 19–7; Tennessee beat North Carolina, 34–0.

October 9 At Annapolis, Navy's football team played a doubleheader, albeit with two different squads.

Notre Dame won at Minnesota, 19–7 Stanford had a 7–3 victory over an amateur team, the Olympic Club (from San Francisco).

October 16 In New York, Columbia University hosted Ohio State in an intersectional game, and lost, 32–7.

Brown defeated Bates College 27–14 in Providence, while in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania hosted Chicago and won 27–0.

Notre Dame won at Northwestern, handing the Wildcats their first defeat, 6–0, with Rockne's reserves scoring on a touchdown pass.

In Pacific Coast Conference games, Stanford won 29–12 at Oregon, and USC beat California at Berkeley, 27–0.

[3] In Los Angeles, another big game between unbeatens matched Stanford and Southern California (USC), both 5–0–0, faced off.

November 6 Navy played an easy opponent in West Virginia Wesleyan College, winning 53–7.

November 13 In Yankee Stadium, Notre Dame and Army, both 6–0–0, faced off in another battle of powerhouses.

November 20 Navy played Loyola College of Baltimore, winning 35–13, and Army beat Ursinus, 21–15.

Lafayette completed its season with a 35–0 win in its annual game against Lehigh Brown defeated New Hampshire, 40–12, to extend its record to 9–0–0.

Ohio State closed its season with a 7–6 win at Illinois, while Michigan recorded the same score in a rematch against the Gophers at Minnesota.

On Thanksgiving Day, November 25, Alabama hosted Georgia winning 33–6, and USC crushed Montana, 61–0.

December 4 In Los Angeles, Notre Dame closed its season with a 13–12 win over USC.

Alabama, which had won the Rose Bowl the previous year, was invited to return to Pasadena to face Stanford's PCC champion team.

United Press called the 1927 Rose Bowl "the football championship of America", and the game was considered the most exciting in the series up to that time.

Stanford held that lead through most of the rest of the game, but in the final minutes, they were forced to punt on fourth down.

Four plays later, and with a minute left, Jimmy Johnson carried the ball for a touchdown, making it 7–6.