1946 college football season

The 1946 college football season finished with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish crowned as the national champion in the AP Poll, the Georgia Bulldogs recognized as national champion by the Williamson poll and United States Military Academy named as national champion in various other polls and rankings. The Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens were recognized by the AP as the small college national champion. Notre Dame and Army both won all of their games, with the exception of their November 9 meeting at New York's Yankee Stadium, where they had played to a 0-0 tie in a #1 vs #2 matchup regarded as a "Game of the Century". Neither team played in bowl game that season.

1946 college football season
First AP No. 1 of seasonTexas[1]
Number of bowls12
Champion(s)Notre Dame (AP)
Army (various)
Delaware (small college)
HeismanGlenn Davis (halfback, Army)
football seasons

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]

Georgia and UCLA would finish the regular season as the only unbeaten and untied teams. UCLA lost in the Rose Bowl and Georgia was victorious in the Sugar Bowl.

Several new bowl games would debut, among them the Tangerine Bowl (later known as the Citrus Bowl and currently known as the VRBO Citrus Bowl).

Conference and program changes

Conference establishments

Membership changes
School1945 Conference1946 Conference
Houston CougarsProgram EstablishedLone Star

September

The Associated Press did not poll the writers until the third week of the season. Among the teams that had been ranked highest at the end of 1946, the two service academies—Army and Navy, as well as Alabama, Indiana and Oklahoma State, several had faltered before the first poll. Army beat Villanova 35-0 on September 21, and Oklahoma State beat Denver, 40-7, but Indiana lost to the University of Cincinnati, 15-6. Also on September 21, Houston of the Lone Star Conference played its first ever football game against Louisiana–Lafayette of the Louisiana Intercollegiate Conference, in which Houston was defeated by a score of 13-7.

On September 28, Army beat Oklahoma 21-7, and Navy beat Villanova 7-0. Alabama edged Southern Mississippi in a game at Montgomery, 13-12. Indiana lost again, 21-0 at Michigan, and OK State was tied 21-21 by Arkansas. Notre Dame won at Illinois, 26-6, and UCLA beat Oregon State 50-7.

October

On October 5, Army beat Cornell 46-21. Navy lost at Columbia and dropped the rest of its games, finishing 1-8-0. Oklahoma State lost 54-6 at Texas and would finish at 3-7-1. Notre Dame beat Pittsburgh 33-0. Michigan beat Iowa 14-7. UCLA won at Washington, 39-13. In the poll that followed, One voter split his first place vote between Texas, Army, and Notre Dame, who received 69⅓, 21⅓ and 15⅓ votes respectively. Michigan and UCLA rounded out the Top Five.

October 12 In Dallas, #1 Texas beat Oklahoma 20-13. #2 Army and #4 Michigan met in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the visiting Cadets won 20-13. #3 Notre Dame beat Purdue 49-6. #5 UCLA beat #17 Stanford 26-6.

October 19 #1 Army beat #11 Columbia 48-14. #2 Notre Dame was idle. #3 Texas beat #14 Arkansas 20-0. #4 UCLA won at California 13-6. #5 Michigan and #10 Northwestern played to a 14-14 tie. #9 Tennessee beat #7 Alabama 12-0.

October 26 At the Polo Grounds in New York, #1 Army beat #13 Duke 19-0. #2 Notre Dame won at #17 Iowa, 49-6. In Houston, #3 Texas lost to #16 Rice, 18-13. #4 Tennessee lost to unranked Wake Forest, 19-6. #5 UCLA beat Santa Clara 33-7. #6 Penn beat Navy 32-19 and #7 Georgia won at Furman, 70-7

November

November 2 #1 Army beat West Virginia, 19-0. In Baltimore, #2 Notre Dame defeated Navy 28-0. #3 Pennsylvania lost to Princeton, 17-14. #5 Georgia beat #15 Alabama 14-0. #4 UCLA had beaten St. Mary's, 46-20, in a Friday night game. #8 Rice beat Texas Tech 41-6.

November 9 A crowd of 74,000 turned out at New York's Yankee Stadium to watch #1 Army and #2 Notre Dame in a meeting of the nation's two unbeaten and untied teams. Both teams missed scoring opportunities. In the opening quarter, Army recovered a fumble on the Irish 24, but was stopped on fourth down at the 13 yard line. The Irish drove to the Army three yard line in the second quarter but no further. Army reached the Irish 20 yard line in the third quarter, but Notre Dame's Terry Brennan picked off a pass from Glenn Davis. In the last quarter, a bad punt was returned by Davis to the Irish 39 yard line, but they forced a fumble and stopped any further scoring chances. The game ended in a scoreless tie, 0-0. .[3] In Jacksonville, #3 Georgia beat Florida 33-14. In Portland, #4 UCLA beat Oregon 14-0. #5 Rice lost in Little Rock to Arkansas, 7-0. #9 Penn returned to the Top Five after beating Columbia in New York's "other" football game, 41-6.

November 16 In its third meeting against a Top Five team, #1 Army beat #5 Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, 34-7. #2 Notre Dame beat Northwestern, 27-0. #3 Georgia beat Auburn 41-0 in a neutral site in Columbus, Georgia. #4 UCLA beat Montana 61-7. #9 Illinois beat #13 Ohio State, 16-7.

November 23 #1 Army was idle. #2 Notre Dame beat Tulane in New Orleans, 41-0. #3 Georgia won at Chattanooga, 48-27. #4 UCLA defeated #10 USC 13-6. #5 Illinois won at Northwestern, 20-0, to close its season with an 8-1-0 record

November 30 #1 Army barely beat a 1-7-0 Navy team, 21-18. #2 Notre Dame beat #16 USC, 26-6 #3 Georgia defeated #7 Georgia Tech 35-7. #4 UCLA beat Nebraska 18-0 and accepted an invitation to face #5 Illinois in the Rose Bowl.

Conference standings

Major conference standings
1946 Big Nine Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 5 Illinois $ 6 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
No. 6 Michigan 5 –1 –1  6 –2 –1
No. 20 Indiana 4 –2 –0  6 –3 –0
Iowa 3 –3 –0  5 –4 –0
Minnesota 3 –4 –0  5 –4 –0
Ohio State 2 –3 –1  4 –3 –2
Northwestern 2 –3 –1  4 –4 –1
Wisconsin 2 –5 –0  4 –5 –0
Purdue 0 –5 –1  2 –6 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1946 Big Six Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Kansas + 4 –1 –0  7 –2 –1
No. 14 Oklahoma + 4 –1 –0  8 –3 –0
Missouri 3 –2 –0  5 –4 –1
Nebraska 3 –2 –0  3 –6 –0
Iowa State 1 –4 –0  2 –6 –1
Kansas State 0 –5 –0  0 –9 –0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll
1946 Border Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Hardin–Simmons $ 6 –0 –0  11 –0 –0
Texas Tech 3 –1 –0  8 –3 –1
New Mexico 4 –2 –1  5 –5 –2
Arizona 2 –2 –1  4 –4 –2
West Texas State 3 –4 –0  5 –5 –0
Arizona State–Flagstaff 1 –2 –1  5 –2 –2
Texas Mines 2 –4 –0  3 –6 –0
Arizona State 1 –4 –1  2 –7 –2
New Mexico State 1 –4 –0  5 –5 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1946 Middle Three Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Rutgers $ 2 –0 –0  7 –2 –0
Lafayette $ 1 –1 –0  2 –7 –0
Lehigh 0 –2 –0  2 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1946 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 17 Tulsa $ 3 –0 –0  9 –1 –0
Wichita 2 –1 –0  5 –5 –0
Saint Louis 1 –1 –0  4 –6 –0
Oklahoma A&M 1 –1 –0  3 –7 –1
Drake 0 –4 –0  2 –6 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1946 Mountain States Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Utah State $ 4 –1 –1  7 –2 –1
Denver $ 4 –1 –1  5 –5 –1
Utah 4 –2 –0  8 –3 –0
Colorado 3 –2 –1  5 –4 –1
BYU 3 –2 –1  5 –4 –1
Colorado A&M 1 –5 –0  2 –7 –0
Wyoming 0 –6 –0  1 –8 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
1946 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 4 UCLA $ 7 –0 –0  10 –1 –0
Oregon State 6 –1 –1  7 –1 –1
USC 5 –2 –0  6 –4 –0
Washington 5 –3 –0  5 –4 –0
Stanford 3 –3 –1  6 –3 –1
Oregon 3 –4 –1  4 –4 –1
Montana 1 –3 –0  4 –4 –0
Washington State 1 –5 –1  1 –6 –1
California 1 –6 –0  2 –7 –0
Idaho 0 –5 –0  1 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1946 Rocky Mountain Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Montana State $ 2 –0 –1  5 –3 –2
Colorado State–Greeley 3 –1 –0  6 –3 –0
Western State 1 –1 –0  5 –4 –1
Colorado College 0 –1 –1  ? –? –?
Colorado Mines 0 –3 –0  1 –4 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
1946 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 3 Georgia + 5 –0 –0  11 –0 –0
No. 7 Tennessee + 5 –0 –0  9 –2 –0
No. 8 LSU 5 –1 –0  9 –1 –1
No. 11 Georgia Tech 4 –2 –0  9 –2 –0
Mississippi State 3 –2 –0  8 –2 –0
Alabama 4 –3 –0  7 –4 –0
Vanderbilt 3 –4 –0  5 –4 –0
Kentucky 2 –3 –0  7 –3 –0
Tulane 2 –4 –0  3 –7 –0
Auburn 1 –5 –0  4 –6 –0
Ole Miss 1 –6 –0  2 –7 –0
Florida 0 –5 –0  0 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1946 Southern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 9 North Carolina $ 4 –0 –1  8 –2 –1
William & Mary 7 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
No. 18 NC State 6 –1 –0  8 –3 –0
South Carolina 4 –2 –0  5 –3 –0
Duke 3 –2 –0  4 –5 –0
Richmond 3 –2 –2  6 –2 –2
VPI 3 –3 –2  3 –4 –3
VMI 2 –3 –1  4 –5 –1
George Washington 1 –1 –0  4 –3 –0
Clemson 2 –3 –0  4 –5 –0
Wake Forest 2 –3 –0  6 –3 –0
Maryland 2 –5 –0  3 –6 –0
Furman 1 –4 –0  2 –8 –0
Washington and Lee 1 –4 –0  2 –6 –0
The Citadel 1 –5 –0  3 –5 –0
Davidson 1 –5 –0  4 –5 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1946 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 10 Rice + 5 –1 –0  9 –2 –0
No. 16 Arkansas + 5 –1 –0  6 –3 –2
No. 15 Texas 4 –2 –0  8 –2 –0
Texas A&M 4 –2 –0  4 –6 –0
SMU 2 –4 –0  4 –5 –1
TCU 2 –4 –0  2 –7 –1
Baylor 0 –6 –0  1 –8 –0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

Independents
1946 Eastern college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Army   –    9 –0 –1
Yale   –    7 –1 –1
Buffalo   –    7 –2 –0
Massachusetts State   –    6 –2 –0
No. 13 Penn   –    6 –2 –0
Penn State   –    6 –2 –0
Boston College   –    6 –3 –0
Columbia   –    6 –3 –0
NYU   –    5 –3 –0
Cornell   –    5 –3 –1
Villanova   –    6 –4 –0
Colgate   –    4 –4 –0
Syracuse   –    4 –5 –0
Drexel   –    3 –4 –0
Franklin & Marshall   –    3 –4 –0
Brown   –    3 –5 –1
Pittsburgh   –    3 –5 –1
Princeton   –    3 –5 –0
Temple   –    2 –4 –2
Tufts   –    1 –6 –0
Carnegie Tech   –    0 –6 –0
Fordham   –    0 –7 –0
Rankings from AP Poll
1946 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Notre Dame   –    8 –0 –1
Youngstown   –    7 –1 –0
Cincinnati   –    9 –2 –0
Central Michigan   –    6 –2 –0
Western Michigan   –    5 –2 –1
Miami (OH)   –    7 –3 –0
Ohio   –    6 –3 –0
Detroit   –    6 –4 –0
Dayton   –    6 –3 –0
Bowling Green   –    5 –3 –0
Ohio Wesleyan   –    5 –4 –1
Michigan State   –    5 –5 –0
Marquette   –    4 –5 –0
Michigan State Normal   –    3 –4 –1
Valparaiso   –    1 –7 –0
Rankings from AP Poll
1946 Southern college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Oklahoma City   –    10 –1 –0
Miami (FL)   –    8 –2 –0
Western Maryland   –    5 –2 –0
Mississippi Southern   –    7 –3 –0
Georgetown   –    5 –3 –0
East Carolina   –    5 –3 –1
Princess Anne   –    5 –3 –1
Chattanooga   –    5 –5 –0
Grambling   –    6 –6 –0
Virginia   –    4 –4 –1
West Virginia   –    5 –5 –0
Marshall   –    2 –7 –1
Navy   –    1 –8 –0
1946 Western college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Pepperdine   –    8 –1 –0
Hawaii   –    8 –2 –0
Nevada   –    7 –2 –0
Saint Mary's   –    6 –3 –0
Loyola (CA)   –    5 –4 –0
Idaho Southern Branch   –    4 –3 –1
San Francisco   –    3 –6 –0
Santa Clara   –    2 –5 –1
Portland   –    1 –4 –1
La Verne   –    0 –5 –0


Minor conferences
Conference Champion(s) Record
California Collegiate Athletic Association San Jose State 4–0
Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association Morgan State College 7–0
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Southwestern (KS) 4–1
College Conference of Illinois North Central (IL) 7–1
Dakota-Iowa Athletic Conference Westmar
Yankton		 4–1
Far Western Conference Humboldt State College 1–0–1
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference Butler 6–0
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Central (IA)
Upper Iowa		 6–0
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Bethany 5–1
Lone Star Conference North Texas State Teachers 4–1
Mason–Dixon Conference Delaware 3–0
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Kalamazoo
Hillsdale		 4–1
Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference Lawrence 6–0
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Gustavus Adolphus 6–0
Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association Southeast Missouri State Teachers 5–0
Nebraska College Conference Doane 5–0–1
New Mexico Intercollegiate Conference Adams State College 4–0
North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Iowa State Teachers (Northern Iowa) 2–0–1
North Dakota College Athletic Conference Minot State Teachers 3–0–1
Ohio Athletic Conference Otterbein 4–0
Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference Southeastern State College (OK) 4–1
Pacific Northwest Conference Willamette 6–0
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference California State Teachers 4–0
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Montana State College 2–0–1
South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference Black Hills Teachers 4–0
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Redlands 2–0–2
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Florida A&M College 6–0
Southwestern Athletic Conference Southern 5–0
State Teacher's College Conference of Minnesota Duluth State Teachers
Mankato State Teachers		 2–0–2
3–0–1
Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference Abilene Christian College
Southwestern (TX)		 3–0–1
Washington Intercollegiate Conference Central Washington College 6–0
Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference North: Superior State Teachers
Co-South: Milwaukee State Teachers
Co-South: Stevens Point State Teachers		 1–0–3
3–1–0
3–1

Minor conference standings
1946 California Collegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
San Jose State $ 4 –0 –0  9 –1 –1
Fresno State 2 –2 –0  8 –4 –0
Cal Poly 1 –1 –0  6 –2 –1
Pacific 2 –2 –0  4 –7 –0
San Diego State 2 –3 –0  6 –4 –0
Santa Barbara 1 –4 –0  2 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1946 Far Western Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Humboldt State 1 –0 –1  5 –3 –1
Chico State 1 –1 –0  2 –7 –0
Cal Aggies 0 –1 –1  0 –5 –2
Southern Oregon 0 –0 –0  8 –0 –0
San Francisco State 0 –0 –0  3 –3 –0
  • No conference champion was named in 1946
    Games played by Southern Oregon & San Francisco State did not count in the standings in 1946
1946 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Northern Illinois State $ 4 –0 –0  9 –2 –0
Southern Illinois 3 –1 –0  4 –4 –0
Illinois State 2 –2 –0  6 –3 –0
Eastern Illinois 1 –3 –0  2 –6 –0
Western Illinois 0 –4 –0  2 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1946 Lone Star Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
North Texas State $ 4 –1 –0  7 –3 –1
Sam Houston State 3 –1 –1  6 –2 –1
East Texas State 3 –1 –1  5 –2 –2
Southwest Texas State 3 –2 –0  6 –2 –2
Houston 1 –4 –0  4 –6 –0
Stephen F. Austin 0 –5 –0  1 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1946 Mason–Dixon Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 19 Delaware $ 3 –0 –0  10 –0 –0
Johns Hopkins 2 –0 –0  5 –3 –0
Western Maryland 4 –1 –0  4 –1 –0
Hampden–Sydney 2 –2 –0  2 –2 –0
Randolph–Macon 2 –4 –0  2 –4 –0
Washington College 1 –5 –0  1 –5 –0
Mount St. Mary's 0 –2 –0  0 –2 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1946 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Hillsdale + 4 –1 –0  7 –1 –0
Kalamazoo + 4 –1 –0  6 –2 –0
Hope 3 –2 –0  6 –2 –0
Albion 2 –3 –0  3 –5 –0
Alma 2 –3 –0  2 –5 –0
Adrian 0 –5 –0  0 –8 –0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1946 Nebraska College Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Doane $ 5 –0 –1  6 –2 –1
Nebraska Wesleyan 5 –0 –2  7 –1 –3
Kearney State 5 –2 –1  6 –2 –1
Peru State 4 –3 –1  4 –4 –1
Midland 3 –4 –0  4 –4 –0
Wayne State (NE) 2 –3 –0  4 –3 –0
Hastings 1 –4 –1  1 –6 –1
Chadron State 1 –5 –1  3 –7 –0
York (NE) 0 –6 –0  3 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1946 New England Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
New Hampshire + 2 –0 –1  6 –1 –1
Connecticut + 2 –0 –1  4 –3 –1
Rhode Island State 1 –2 –0  2 –4 –0
Maine 0 –3 –0  2 –5 –0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1946 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Southern $ 6 –0 –0  8 –2 –1
Wiley 4 –2 –0  6 –3 –1
Arkansas AM&N 3 –2 –1  7 –2 –1
Prairie View 2 –2 –2  7 –2 –2
Texas College 3 –3 –0  5 –4 –1
Langston 2 –4 –0  2 –6 –1
Samuel Huston 0 –5 –2  3 –5 –2
Bishop ? –? –?  4 –3 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
1946 Texas Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Abilene Christian + 3 –0 –1  8 –1 –1
Southwestern (TX) + 3 –0 –1  5 –4 –1
McMurry 2 –2 –0  4 –4 –1
Howard Payne 1 –3 –0  2 –5 –2
Austin 1 –3 –0  2 –6 –2
  • + – Conference co-champions

Rankings
Main article: 1946 NCAA football rankings

Bowl games
Bowl game Winning team Losing team
Rose Bowl No. 5 Illinois 45 No. 4 UCLA 14
Sugar Bowl No. 3 Georgia 20 No. 9 North Carolina 10
Orange Bowl No. 10 Rice 8 No. 7 Tennessee 0
Cotton Bowl Classic No. 16 Arkansas 0 No. 8 LSU 0
Sun Bowl Cincinnati 18 VPI 6
Gator Bowl No. 14 Oklahoma 34 No. 18 NC State 13
Tangerine Bowl Catawba 31 Maryville 6
Oil Bowl No. 11 Georgia Tech 41 Saint Mary's 19
Raisin Bowl Utah State 0 San Jose State 20
Harbor Bowl Montana State 13 New Mexico 13
Alamo Bowl Hardin–Simmons 20 Denver 0
Cigar Bowl No. 19 Delaware 20 Rollins 3

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2009-01-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. appollarchive.com/football/ap
  3. "Fighting Irish Battle Army to 0-0 Stalemate", The Post-Standard (Syracuse), Nov. 10, 1946, p13
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