One human poll comprised the 1949 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 November 28, at the end of the 1949 regular season, weeks before the major bowls.
The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
The final Litkenhous Ratings released in December 1949 ranked the following as the top 100 teams:[10] 1.
Michigan State
San Francisco (7–3)
Georgia Tech (7–3) 36.
North Carolina (7–4) 40.
Boston University (6–2) 48.
Iowa State (5–3–1) 50.
Boston College (4–4–1) 60.
San Jose State (9–4) 65.
Texas Tech (7–5) 73.
Texas Western (8–2–1) 78.
Loyola [Los Angeles] (6–4) 91.
West Texas (5–4) 95.
Delaware (8–1) The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1949 teams from historically black colleges and universities using the Dickinson System in an era when college football was largely segregated.
The rankings were published on December 10.