1947 college football season

The 1947 NCAA football season finished with Notre Dame, Michigan and Penn State all unbeaten and untied, but the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame were the first place choice for 107 of the 142 voters in the AP Poll, and repeated as national champions. Michigan went on to meet USC in the Rose Bowl and won 49-0, while Penn State was tied 13-13 by SMU in the Cotton Bowl Classic, and Notre Dame didn’t participate in the postseason. An unofficial post bowl AP poll was conducted with Michigan and Notre Dame as the only options and Michigan won by a vote of 226 to 119.

During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the college football teams that would later be described as "Division I-A". The NCAA did recognize a national champion based upon the final results of the Associated Press poll of sportswriters (the UPI Coaches Poll would not start until 1950). The extent of that recognition came in the form of acknowledgment in the annual NCAA Football Guide of the "unofficial" national champions.[2]

Conference and program changes

Conference changes

Membership changes

School1946 Conference1947 Conference
Butler BulldogsIndiana Intercollegiate ConferenceMAC
Cincinnati BearcatsIndependentMAC
Connecticut HuskiesNew EnglandYankee
Maine Black BearsNew EnglandYankee
Massachusetts RedmenIndependentYankee
New Hampshire WildcatsNew EnglandYankee
Ohio BobcatsIndependentMAC
Rhode Island State RamsNew EnglandYankee
Vermont CatamountsIndependentYankee
Wayne TartansIndependentMAC
Western Reserve Red CatsIndependentMAC

September

The Associated Press did not poll the writers until after the games of October 4. Among the five teams that had been ranked highest in 1946 (Notre Dame, Army, Georgia, UCLA and Illinois).

Georgia opened on September 20 with a 34-7 win over Southern Mississippi in (site). UCLA hosted Iowa the following Friday and won 22-7.

The next day, September 27, Army beat Villanova 13-0, Illinois beat Pittsburgh 14-0, and Georgia beat Tennessee, 27-0.

October

On October 4 Notre Dame won at Pittsburgh 40-6. Army shut out visiting Colorado 47-0. Georgia beat Tulane in New Orleans, 20-0. UCLA lost at Northwestern 27-26. Illinois won at Iowa 35-12. When the first poll came out that Monday, Notre Dame was the favorite of a bare majority (52 of 103) of the voters, followed by Michigan, Texas, Georgia Tech and Army. Illinois was ranked 6th, Penn 7th, California 8th and Georgia was ranked 9th.

On October 11 #1 Notre Dame won at Purdue, 22-7. #2 Michigan beat Pittsburgh, 69-0. In Dallas, #3 Texas beat #15 Oklahoma 34-14. #4 Georgia Tech beat VMI, 20-0, for its third shutout in three starts. #5 Army and #6 Illinois met at Yankee Stadium in New York, and played to a 0-0 tie. #8 California, which won at Wisconsin 48-7, rose to fourth.

October 18 #1 Michigan won at Northwestern, 49-21. #2 Notre Dame shut out visiting Nebraska, 31-0. #3 Texas met Arkansas at a neutral location in Memphis, Tennessee, and won 21-6. #4 California beat Washington State, 21-6. #5 Georgia Tech defeated Auburn 27-7 to stay unbeaten, but was voted out of the Top Five. #6 Illinois, which beat #13 Minnesota 40-13, rose to fifth.

October 25 #1 Michigan stayed unbeaten, with a 13-6 win over Minnesota, as did #2 Notre Dame, which defeated Iowa, 21-0. #3 Texas beat Rice, 12-0. #4 California lost to #10 USC, 39-14. #5 Illinois lost at Purdue, 14-7. #8 Penn beat Navy, 21-0. The Irish rose to #1 in the next poll, with a 78-69 lead in votes over Michigan.

November

November 1 #1 Notre Dame and Navy met in Cleveland, with the Fighting Irish registering their third straight shutout, 27-0. #2 Michigan won at #11 Illinois, 14-7. In Dallas, #3 Texas (6-0-0) faced unbeaten (5-0-0) #8 Southern Methodist University (SMU), and the SMU Mustangs won 14-13. #4 Pennsylvania won at Princeton, 26-7, to stay unbeaten. In Seattle, #5 USC beat Washington 19-0.

November 8 #1 Notre Dame hosted #9 Army and won 27-7. #2 Michigan beat Indiana 35-0. #3 SMU won at Texas A&M, 13-0. #4 Pennsylvania beat Virginia, 19-7. #5 USC beat Stanford, 14-0.

November 15 #1 Notre Dame had more points scored against it than at any other time in the season, but won at unranked Northwestern, 26-19. Meanwhile, #2 Michigan faced #9 Wisconsin in Madison and won 40-6, raising it to first place in the next poll. #3 Pennsylvania and #13 Army played to a 7-7 tie in Philadelphia. #4 SMU stayed unbeaten with a 14-6 win over Arkansas. #5 USC was idle.

November 22 #1 Michigan closed its season at 9-0-0 with a 21-0 win over Ohio State, and accepted an invitation to meet #4 USC (which beat #18 UCLA 6-0) in the Rose Bowl. Meanwhile, #3 SMU won 10-0 win at Baylor, and #5 Penn State won at Pitt, 29-0. Both unbeaten, they accepted invitations to the Cotton Bowl Classic. #2 Notre Dame thrashed Tulane, 59-6 and was restored to the top spot by the AP voters, with 97 first place votes to Michigan's 81.

November 29 #1 Notre Dame, #2 Michigan, #4 USC, and #5 Penn State were idle. #3 SMU was tied in a game at TCU, 19-19.

December 6 #1 Notre Dame (8-0-0) and #3 USC (7-0-1) met in Los Angeles, with the Irish cementing their hold on the #1 ranking, 38-7. #2 Michigan, #4 SMU and #5 Penn State had completed their seasons.

Conference standings

The following is a potentially incomplete list of conference standings:

1947 Big 6 football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 12 Kansas + 4 –0 –1  8 –1 –2
No. 16 Oklahoma + 4 –0 –1  7 –2 –1
Missouri 3 –2 –0  6 –4 –0
Nebraska 2 –3 –0  2 –7 –0
Iowa State 1 –4 –0  3 –6 –0
Kansas State 0 –5 –0  0 –10 –0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1947 Big Nine football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 2 Michigan $ 6 –0 –0  10 –0 –0
Wisconsin 3 –2 –1  5 –3 –1
Minnesota 3 –3 –0  6 –3 –0
Illinois 3 –3 –0  5 –3 –1
Purdue 3 –3 –0  5 –4 –0
Indiana 2 –3 –1  5 –3 –1
Iowa 2 –3 –1  3 –5 –1
Northwestern 2 –4 –0  3 –6 –0
Ohio State 1 –4 –1  2 –6 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1947 IIAC football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Northern Illinois State 2 –1 –1  4 –3 –3
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1947 NCAA independents football records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Notre Dame   –    9 –0 –0
Pepperdine   –    9 –0 –0
No. 4 Penn State   –    9 –0 –1
No. 7 Penn   –    7 –0 –1
Rutgers   –    8 –1 –0
Toledo   –    9 –2 –0
No. 11 Army   –    5 –2 –2
No. 20 Columbia   –    7 –2 –0
Michigan State   –    7 –2 –0
Nevada   –    7 –2 –0
Marshall   –    9 –3 –0
San Francisco   –    7 –3 –0
Virginia   –    7 –3 –0
Yale   –    6 –3 –0
Villanova   –    6 –3 –1
Detroit   –    6 –4 –0
West Virginia   –    6 –4 –0
Boston University   –    5 –3 –0
Princeton   –    5 –3 –0
Boston College   –    5 –4 –0
Western Michigan   –    5 –4 –0
Santa Clara   –    4 –4 –0
Dartmouth   –    4 –4 –1
Cal Poly San Dimas   –    4 –4 –1
Holy Cross   –    4 –4 –2
Harvard   –    4 –5 –0
Cornell   –    4 –5 –0
Marquette   –    4 –5 –0
Montana State   –    4 –5 –0
Georgetown   –    3 –4 –1
Syracuse   –    3 –6 –0
Loyola (CA)   –    3 –7 –0
Saint Mary's   –    3 –7 –0
NYU   –    2 –5 –1
Central Michigan   –    2 –5 –1
Temple   –    2 –6 –0
Miami (FL)   –    2 –7 –0
Duquesne   –    2 –8 –0
Michigan State Normal   –    1 –6 –0
Fordham   –    1 –6 –1
Portland   –    1 –7 –0
Navy   –    1 –7 –1
Pittsburgh   –    1 –8 –0
Drexel   –    0 –8 –0
Florida State   –    0 –5 –0
Rankings from AP Poll
1947 Lone Star Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
North Texas State † 6 –0 –0  10 –2 –0
East Texas State 4 –2 –0  8 –2 –0
Southwest Texas State 4 –2 –0  5 –4 –0
Trinity 3 –2 –1  5 –3 –2
Stephen F. Austin 2 –3 –1  3 –6 –1
Sam Houston State 1 –5 –0  3 –6 –0
Houston 0 –6 –0  3 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1947 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Tulsa $ 3 –0 –0  5 –5 –0
Wichita 2 –1 –0  7 –4 –0
Saint Louis 1 –1 –0  4 –6 –0
Drake 1 –3 –0  1 –7 –1
Oklahoma A&M 0 –2 –0  3 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1947 MSC football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Utah $ 6 –0 –0  8 –1 –1
Denver 3 –2 –1  5 –4 –1
Utah State 3 –3 –0  6 –5 –0
Colorado 3 –3 –0  4 –5 –0
Colorado State 2 –3 –1  5 –4 –1
Wyoming 2 –4 –0  4 –5 –0
BYU 1 –5 –0  3 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1947 PCC football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 8 USC $ 6 –0 –0  7 –2 –1
No. 15 California 5 –1 –0  9 –1 –0
Oregon 5 –1 –0  7 –3 –0
UCLA 4 –2 –0  5 –4 –0
Montana 2 –1 –0  7 –4 –0
Oregon State 3 –4 –0  5 –5 –0
Washington 2 –5 –0  3 –6 –0
Washington State 2 –5 –0  3 –7 –0
Idaho 1 –4 –0  4 –4 –0
Stanford 0 –7 –0  0 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1947 RMFAC football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Montana State $ 1 –0 –0  4 –5 –0
Northern Colorado 2 –0 –1  4 –4 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1947 SEC football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 13 Ole Miss $ 6 –1 –0  9 –2 –0
No. 10 Georgia Tech 4 –1 –0  10 –1 –0
No. 6 Alabama 5 –2 –0  8 –3 –0
Mississippi State 2 –2 –0  7 –3 –0
Georgia 3 –3 –0  7 –4 –1
Vanderbilt 3 –3 –0  6 –4 –0
Tulane 2 –3 –2  2 –5 –2
LSU 2 –3 –1  5 –3 –1
Kentucky 2 –3 –0  8 –3 –0
Tennessee 2 –3 –0  5 –5 –0
Auburn 1 –5 –0  2 –7 –0
Florida 0 –3 –1  4 –5 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1947 Southern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 14 William & Mary 7 –1 –0  9 –2 –0
No. 9 North Carolina 4 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
South Carolina 4 –1 –1  6 –2 –1
No. 19 Duke 3 –1 –1  4 –3 –2
Washington and Lee 3 –2 –0  5 –5 –0
Maryland 3 –2 –1  7 –2 –2
No. 17 NC State 3 –2 –1  5 –3 –1
VPI 4 –3 –0  4 –5 –0
Davidson 3 –3 –1  6 –3 –1
Wake Forest 3 –4 –0  6 –4 –0
VMI 2 –3 –1  3 –5 –1
Clemson 1 –3 –0  4 –5 –0
The Citadel 1 –4 –0  3 –5 –0
Furman 1 –4 –0  2 –7 –0
Richmond 1 –5 –0  3 –7 –0
George Washington 0 –4 –0  1 –7 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1947 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 3 SMU $ 5 –0 –1  9 –0 –2
No. 5 Texas 5 –1 –0  10 –1 –0
No. 18 Rice 4 –2 –0  6 –3 –1
TCU 2 –3 –1  4 –5 –2
Arkansas 1 –4 –1  6 –4 –1
Texas A&M 1 –4 –1  3 –6 –1
Baylor 1 –5 –0  5 –5 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1947 Yankee Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
New Hampshire $ 4 –0 –0  8 –1 –0
Maine 2 –1 –0  6 –1 –0
Connecticut 1 –2 –0  2 –4 –0
Rhode Island 1 –3 –0  3 –4 –0
UMass 0 –1 –1  3 –4 –1
Vermont 0 –1 –1  3 –4 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Minor conferences

Conference Champion(s) Record
Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association Texas Tech 4–0–0
California Collegiate Athletic Association Pacific (CA) 5–0–0
Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association Shaw 6–0–0
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Kansas State Teachers 4–0–1
College Conference of Illinois North Central (IL) 5–1–0
Dakota-Iowa Athletic Conference Buena Vista
Westmar		 3–1–1
Far Western Conference Northern Branch College of Agriculture
Southern Oregon College		 3–1–0
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference Butler 4–0–1
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Upper Iowa 5–0–0
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Ottawa (KS) 6–0–0
Lone Star Conference North Texas State Teachers 6–0–0
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Kalamazoo
Hillsdale		 3–2–0
Mid-American Conference Cincinnati 3–1–0
Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference Lawrence 5–1–0
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Macalester
Saint Thomas (MN)		 4–0–0
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association Missouri School of Mines 4–1–0
Nebraska College Athletic Conference Nebraska State Teachers–Chadron
Nebraska Wesleyan		 5–1–1
New Mexico Intercollegiate Conference Sul Ross State College 5–0–0
North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Iowa State Teachers (Northern Iowa)
South Dakota		 4–0–0
North Dakota College Athletic Conference Valley City State 6–1–0
Ohio Athletic Conference Denison 5–0–0
Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference Southeastern State College (OK) 5–0–0
Pacific Northwest Conference Willamette 6–0–0
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Lock Haven State Teachers
Mansfield State Teachers		 5–1–1
4–1–1
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Montana State College 1–0–0
South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference Northern State Teachers (SD) 2–0–0
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Redlands 4–0–0
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Florida A&M College 5–0–0
Southwestern Athletic Conference Southern 7–0–0
State Teacher's College Conference of Minnesota Bemidji State Teachers
Moorhead State Teachers
Winona State Teachers		 3–1–0
Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference Hardin–Simmons
McMurry (TX)		 4–0–1
Washington Intercollegiate Conference Eastern Washington College
Pacific Lutheran		 4–0–1
Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference North: River Falls State Teachers
South: Milwaukee State Teachers		 4–0–0
4–0–0

Conference standings

1947 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Pacific $ 5 –0 –0  10 –1 –0
San Jose State 3 –2 –0  9 –3 –0
Fresno State 2 –1 –2  3 –6 –2
San Diego State 2 –2 –1  7 –3 –1
Santa Barbara 1 –3 –1  4 –3 –1
Cal Poly 0 –5 –0  1 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1947 Far Western Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Southern Oregon + 3 –1 –0  7 –3 –0
Cal Aggies + 3 –1 –0  4 –5 –0
Humboldt State 2 –2 –0  5 –4 –0
Chico State 1 –3 –0  4 –5 –0
San Francisco State 1 –3 –0  2 –5 –0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1947 SWAC football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Southern $ 7 –0 –0  10 –2 –0
Prairie View A&M 5 –2 –0  5 –2 –0
Texas College 3 –1 –1  5 –2 –3
Bishop 3 –2 –2  3 –4 –3
Wiley 3 –3 –1  4 –3 –2
Langston 2 –4 –1  2 –7 –1
Samuel Huston 1 –6 –0  3 –9 –0
Arkansas AM&N 0 –6 –1  2 –7 –1
  • $ – Conference champion

Final polls

Bowl games

Bowl game points points
Rose Bowl #2 Michigan Wolverines 49 #8 USC Trojans 0
Sugar Bowl #5 Texas Longhorns 27 #6 Alabama Crimson Tide 7
Orange Bowl #10 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 20 #12 Kansas Jayhawks 14
Cotton Bowl #3 SMU Mustangs 13 #4 Penn State Nittany Lions 13
Sun Bowl Miami Red Hawks 13 Texas Tech Red Raiders 12
Gator Bowl Georgia Bulldogs 20 Maryland Terrapins 20
Tangerine Bowl Catawba Indians 7 Marshall Thundering Herd 0
Dixie Bowl Arkansas Razorbacks 21 #14 William & Mary Indians 19
Raisin Bowl Pacific Tigers 26 Wichita State Shockers 14
Harbor Bowl Hardin–Simmons Cowboys 53 San Diego State Aztecs 0
Salad Bowl Nevada Wolfpack 13 North Texas Eagles 6
Delta Bowl #13 Ole Miss Rebels 13 TCU Horned Frogs 9
Great Lakes Bowl Kentucky Wildcats 24 Villanova Wildcats 14

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2009-01-20.
  2. ↑ appollarchive.com/football/ap
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