The AP rankings were selected by a board of eight sports writers, and the UPI rankings were selected by a board of small-college coaches from throughout the country.
The Rattlers subsequently lost to Jackson State in the Orange Blossom Classic.
[1] In the final UPI poll, Southern Miss (9–1) was selected as the small-college national champion.
Southern Miss lost one game – to Memphis State by an 8–6 score.
The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1962 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was often racially segregated.