The season was played at the height of World War II, starting less than three months after the Normandy landings and as battles raged throughout Europe and the Pacific.
As in 1943, the Associated Press poll included service teams, drawn from flight schools and training centers which were preparing men for fighting in the war.
Half of the final top 20 teams were composed of service teams, in addition to the Army and Navy service academies.
Many colleges that had suspended their programs in 1943 returned to competition in 1944, including the entire SEC.
The teams ranked highest in the final Associated Press poll in December 1944 were: The year's statistical leaders included Bob Fenimore of Oklahoma A&M with 1,758 yards of total offense, Wayne Williams of Minnesota with 911 rushing yards, Paul Rickards of Pittsburgh with 997 passing yards, Reid Moseley of Georgia with 424 receiving yards, and Glenn Davis of Army with 120 points scored.
On September 16 the Great Lakes Naval Training Center team defeated Fort Sheridan, 62–0, before a crowd of 25,000 at its base north of Chicago.
Michigan beat Iowa Pre-Flight, 12–7 before a crowd of 22,000 in Ann Arbor.
September 23 Great Lakes won at Purdue, 27–18.
September 30 Notre Dame won at Pittsburgh 58–0.
Great Lakes and Illinois played to a 26–26 tie.
North Carolina Pre-Flight, quarterbacked by Otto Graham (formerly of Northwestern, and a future Cleveland Browns star) upset Navy, 21–14.
[2] October 7 Notre Dame beat Tulane 26–0 and Army defeated Brown 59–7.
In the poll that followed, Notre Dame was first and Army third, with service teams occupying the other spots in the top five: No.
2 North Carolina Pre-Flight was tied by Virginia, 13–13.
4 Randolph Field, quarterbacked by “Bullet Bill” Dudley, beat SMU at home in San Antonio, 41–0.
3 Randolph Field and Camp Polk played a Sunday game at Fort Worth, Texas, with Randolph's Ramblers winning 67–0.
5 Iowa Pre-Flight defeated Fort Warren, 30–0.
5 behind Notre Dame, Army, Randolph Field, and Ohio State.
At a war bonds fundraiser at the Polo Grounds in New York, No.
5 Georgia Tech reached 5–0–0 after a 13–7 win over the flight training school located on the U.Ga.
1 in the next poll—the first time since the 1942 season that Notre Dame did not hold the top spot.
In six games, the Cadets had outscored their opponents by an average of 60 to 3.
4 Randolph Field beat North Texas Agricultural (later called the University of Texas-Arlington) 68–0.
2 Randolph Field beat Southwestern University, 54–0.
6 United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge, Maryland defeated Camp Lejeune, 33–6.
Army had scored 59 points or more in seven of its nine games, with a 504 to 35 aggregate over its opponents.
3 Ohio State had finished its season and moved up to No.
After the release of the final poll, Randolph Field participated in two more games for the sale of bonds.
In Los Angeles, the "Ramblers" beat the Fourth Air Force team (March Field), 20–7, on December 10.
Six days later, Randolph Field met the Second Air Force Superbombers at the Polo Grounds in New York for the “Treasury Bond Bowl”, and won 13–6 to complete their season at 11–0–0.