One human poll comprised the 1940 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 2, at the end of the 1940 regular season, weeks before the major bowls.
The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
The final Boand System rankings (also known as "Azzi Ratem") were released after the bowl games in early January 1941.
Boand's final rankings were as follows:[9] 1.
Nebraska (76.0) The final Dickinson System rankings released in December 1940 were as follows:[10] 1.
Boston College (22.14) The final Dunkel System rankings released in December 1940 were as follows:[11] 1.
Santa Clara 16.
Oregon The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1940 provided numerical rankings to 697 college football programs.
The top 100 ranked teams were:[12] 1.
Santa Clara 15.
Ohio State
Notre Dame 21.
Michigan State 23.
Oregon State 37.
Texas Tech 71.
Washington State 72.
San Jose State 75.
San Diego Marines
North Texas State Teachers 87.
William & Mary 88.
Southwest Missouri State 93.
George Washington 94.
Rutgers The final Williamson System rankings for 1940 were as follows:[13] 1.
Santa Clara 9.
Saint Mary's (CA) 21.
Ohio State 32. Colgate 33.