One human poll comprised the 1941 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 1, at the end of the 1941 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") released after games played on November 29 were as follows:[9] 1.
Harvard (72.0) The final Dunkel System rankings released in December 1941 were as follows:[10] 1.
Washington State (88.5) 17.
Ole Miss (86) The Houlgate System's final selections[11] released in early December 1941 were as follows: 1.
Michigan Mississippi State Texas 9.
Ohio State Oregon State Temple 17.
Boston College Harvard 24.
Penn State The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1941 provided numerical rankings for 681 college football programs.
The top 100 ranked teams were:[12] 1.
Washington State 27.
Ole Miss 30.
Santa Clara 37. Colgate 38.
Miami (FL)
William & Mary 66.
Holy Cross 74.
Saint Mary's (CA) 82.
San Francisco 83.
Western Michigan 86.
West Virginia 91.
West Texas State 92.
North Carolina The final Williamson System rankings for 1940 were issued in January 1942, after the bowl games.
Ole Miss (92.6) 22.
Washington State (91.9) 25.
William & Mary (89.8) 38.