The AP rankings were selected by a board of sports writers, and the UPI rankings were selected by a board of small-college coaches.
In the final AP poll, the 1963 Northern Illinois Huskies football team (10–0) was rated as the small-college champion.
The Huskies were led by the record-setting passing of quarterback George Bork.
[1] In the final UPI poll, the 1963 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team (8–0) was rated as the small-college champion.
The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1963 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was often racially segregated.