It concluded with four teams having a claim to the national championship: Florida A&M (8–1–1) and Southern (10–0–1) were each recognized as black college national champions by at least one selector.
In addition to Princeton, 16 other teams finished the season undefeated and untied, including Abilene Christian (11–0, Texas Conference and Refrigerator Bowl champion), Wyoming (10–0, AP No.
Ohio State halfback Vic Janowicz won the Heisman Trophy, and Penn halfback Reds Bagnell won the Maxwell Award.
Individual statistical leaders in major college football included Johnny Bright of Drake (2,400 yards of total offense), Don Heinrich of Washington (1,846 passing yards), Wilford White of Arizona State (1,501 rushing yards), and Bobby Reynolds of Nebraska (157 points scored).
In the preseason AP poll released on September 25, 1950, the defending champion Fighting Irish of Notre Dame were the overwhelming choice for first, with 101 of 123 first place votes.
As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.
10 SMU, which had already beaten Georgia Tech 33–13, defeated No.
1 Notre Dame lost to Purdue, 28–14, and eventually finished with a 4–4–1 record.
4 Army beat Penn State 41–7 and was elevated to the first spot in the next poll.
6 Kentucky registered a fourth shutout and a 4–0 record, with a 40–0 win against Dayton.
7 Texas, which was idle, rose to 4th place behind Army, SMU, and Oklahoma and ahead of Kentucky.
4 Texas met in Dallas, with Oklahoma winning narrowly, 14–13.
7 California, which had beaten USC 13–7, rose to 5th in the next poll behind Army, Oklahoma, SMU, and Kentucky.
October 21 All of the top five teams stayed undefeated with blowout victories.
5 California beat Oregon State in Portland 27–0.
With their victory over a ranked opponent, SMU jumped to No.
1 in the next poll, ahead of Army, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and California.
5 California beat St. Mary's 40–25, but still dropped in the next poll.
6 Ohio State, which had lost only to SMU and had just beaten Iowa 83–21; eventual Heisman winner Vic Janowicz accounted for six touchdowns and kicked eight extra points in the Iowa game.
7 Texas beat SMU 23–20, and returned to fifth place behind Army, Ohio State, Oklahoma, and Kentucky.
The next AP Poll elevated Ohio State to No.
2, with Army falling to 3rd even though they received the largest number of first-place votes.
5 Kentucky handed visiting North Dakota an 83–0 defeat to extend its record to 9–0–0, but still faced a final game against No.
4 California and unranked Stanford played to a 7–7 tie in Berkeley.
The final AP poll was released on November 27, although some colleges had not completed their schedules.
Tennessee and California rounded out the top five, with undefeated Princeton at No.
2 Army (9–0–0) was heavily favored to beat unranked, and 2–6–0, Navy.
Instead, the Philadelphia game turned into a 14–2 win for the Midshipmen.
3 Texas played a game on December 9, beating LSU 21–6.
The Coaches Poll, which waited until the end of the regular season to release its final rankings, kept Oklahoma at No.