The AP rankings were selected by a board of sports writers, and the UPI rankings were selected by a board of small-college coaches.
The 1964 Wittenberg Tigers football team (8–0), led by senior quarterback Charlie Green, was selected as the small-college national champion by the AP.
The 1964 Cal State Los Angeles Diablos football team (9–0) was selected as the small-college champion by the UPI and rated No.
Prairie View (9–0) was recognized as the black college national champion and rated at No.
The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1964 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was often racially segregated.