One human poll comprised the 1939 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 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.
The Coaches' Poll began operation in 1950; in addition, the AP Poll did not begin conducting preseason polls until that same year.
The final AP Poll was released on December 11, at the end of the 1939 regular season, weeks before the major bowls.
The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
The Boand System rankings (also known as "Azzi Ratem") were the only ratings released after the bowl games.
Released in early January 1940, Boand's final rankings were as follows:[10] 1.
The Dickinson System rankings released in December 1939 were as follows:[11][12]
Ohio State .
Santa Clara The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1939 provided numerical rankings to more than 600 college football programs.
The top 100 ranked teams were:[13] 1.
Ohio State 6.Duke 7.
Ole Miss 18.
Boston College 19.
Santa Clara 26.
Wake Forest 29.
San Jose State
Carnegie Tech 56.
Fresno State 60.
Saint Mary's (CA)
George Washington 80.
La Salle 88.
San Francisco 93.
San Diego Marines 97.
Tulsa The Williamson System rankings released in December 1939 were as follows:[14] 1.
Boston College 12.
Ohio State 24.
Santa Clara 26.
San Jose State 44.