| Season: | 1952 |
| Preseason Number 1: | Michigan State |
| Champions: | Michigan State |
Two human polls comprised the 1952 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship, instead that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll.
| Increase in ranking | |||
| Decrease in ranking | |||
| Not ranked previous week | |||
| National champion | |||
| Win–loss record | |||
| Number of first place votes | |||
| Tied with team above or below also with this symbol |
The final AP Poll was released on December 1, at the end of the 1952 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.
The final UP Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games, on
Michigan State received 32 of the 35 first-place votes; one each went to Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, and Oklahoma.
| Ranking | Team | Conference | Bowl |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan State | Independent | none |
| 2 | Georgia Tech | SEC | Won Sugar, 24–7 |
| 3 | Notre Dame | Independent | none |
| 4 | Oklahoma | Big Seven | |
| USC | Pacific Coast | Won Rose, 7–0 | |
| 6 | UCLA | Pacific Coast | none |
| 7 | Ole Miss | SEC | Lost Sugar, 7–24 |
| 8 | Tennessee | SEC | Lost Cotton, 0–16 |
| 9 | Alabama | SEC | Won Orange, 61–6 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | Big Ten | Lost Rose, 0–7 |
| 11 | Texas | Southwest | Won Cotton, 16–0 |
| 12 | Purdue | Big Ten | none |
| 13 | Maryland | Southern | |
| 14 | Princeton | Independent | |
| 15 | Ohio State | Big Ten | |
| Pittsburgh | Independent | ||
| 17 | Navy | Independent | |
| 18 | Duke | Southern | |
| 19 | Houston | MVC | |
| Kentucky | SEC |
The Litkenhous Ratings released in mid-December 1952 provided numerical rankings to over 600 college football programs. The top 150 ranked teams were:[1] 1. Michigan State (9–0) - 115.1
2. Georgia Tech (12–0) - 111.9
3. USC (10–1) - 111.3
4. Oklahoma (8–1–1) - 111.1
5. UCLA (8–1) - 111.0
6. Tennessee (8–2–1) - 109.6
7. Notre Dame (7–2–1) - 105.0
8. Florida (8–3) - 103.4
9. Ole Miss (8–1–2) - 103.1
10. Alabama (10–2) - 102.9
11. California (7–3) - 102.2
12. Maryland (7–2) - 102.2
13. Texas (9–2) - 101.8
14. Wisconsin (6–3–1) - 101.2
15. Ohio State (6–3) - 100.9
16. Duke (8–2) - 100.5
17. Michigan (5–4) - 99.7
18. Purdue (4–3–2) - 99.7
19. Kansas (7–3) - 99.2
20. Mississippi State (5–4) - 96.9
21. Houston (8–2) - 96.1
22. Tulsa (8–2–1) 95.9
23. Washington (7–3) - 95.4
24. Illinois (4–5) - 94.9
25. Colorado (6–2–2) - 94.5
26. Navy (6–2–1) - 93.9
27. Cincinnati (8–1–1) - 93.5
28. TCU (4–4–2) - 93.4
29. Arizona State (6–3) - 92.7
30. Kentucky (5–4–2) - 92.3
31. Georgia (7–4) - 92.0
32. Pittsburgh (6–3) - 92.0
33. SMU (4–5–1) - 92.0
34. Virginia (8–2) - 91.8
35. LSU (3–7) - 91.7
36. Rice (5–5) - 91.6
37. Tulane (5–5) - 91.6
38. Villanova (7–1–1) - 91.3
39. Miami (OH) (7–3) - 90.8
40. Missouri (5–5) - 90.8
41. Minnesota (4–3–2) - 90.2
42. Princeton (8–1) - 90.0
43. East Texas (11–0) - 89.8
44. Texas A&M (3–6–1) - 89.7
45. Nebraska (5–4–1) - 89.2
46. Baylor (4–4–2) - 88.6
47. Stanford (5–5) - 88.0
48. Chattanooga (7–3) - 87.8
49. Pacific (7–3–1) - 87.7
50. Vanderbilt (3–5–2) - 87.5
51. Penn State (7–2–1)
52. Mississippi Southern (10–2)
53. Army (4–4–1)
54. Auburn (2–8)
55. Penn (4–3–2)
56. Arizona (6–4)
57. Oklahoma A&M (3–7)
58. Northwestern (2-6-1)
59. Holy Cross (8–2)
60. Washington State (4–6)
61. Indiana (2–7)
62. Marquette (3–5–1)
63. Syracuse (7–3)
64. Iowa (2–7)
65. Arkansas (2–8)
66. West Virginia (7–2)
67. North Carolina (2–6)
68. San Jose State (6–3)
69. Wake Forest (5–4–1)
70. Yale (7–2)
71. North Texas (7–3)
72. Utah (6–3–1)
73. Fordham (2–5–1)
74. Miami (FL) (4–7)
75. Texas Tech (3–7–1)
76. South Carolina (5–5)
77. William & Mary (4–5)
78. Oregon State (2–7)
79. Clemson (2–6–1)
80. Iowa State (3–6)
81. Hardin–Simmons (5–3–2)
82. Detroit (3–6)
83. Arkansas State (8–3)
84. Santa Clara (2–6–1)
85. Dayton
86. Idaho (4–4–1)
87. Xavier (4–6)
88. Oregon (2–7–1)
89. Bowling Green
90. Colorado A&M (6–4)
91. Compton
92. New Mexico (7–2)
93. Kansas State (1–9)
94. Wyoming (5–4)
95. Lenoir Rhyne
96. Tyler JC
97. Columbia (2–6–1)
98. Abilene Christian (6–3–1)
99. Pasadena JC
100. Boston University (5–4–1)
101. John Carroll
102. West Chester (7–0)
103. Cornell (2–7)
104. Colgate (6–3)
105. Dartmouth (2–7)
106. Ohio (6–2–1)
107. Boston College (4–4–1)
108. Boise JC (8-1)
109. Western Kentucky (9–1)
110. George Washington (6–2–1)
111. BYU (4–6)
112. Texas Western (5–5–1)
113. McNeese (7–3)
114. Wichita (3–6–1)
115. Central Michigan (7–2)
116. Harvard (5–4)
117. Del Mar
118. Tennessee Tech (9–2)
119. Trinity (TX)
120. Heidelberg
121. Furman (6–3–1)
122. Sam Houston (6–4)
123. Louisiana Tech (6–1–2)
124. Southeastern Louisiana
125. Gustavus Adolphus
126. Idaho State (8–0)
127. Bucknell (6–3)
128. Rutgers (4–4–1)
129. Virginia Tech (5–6)
130. Southwestern Louisiana (5–2–2)
131. Southwest Texas (7–2)
132. American International
133. Temple (2–7–1)
134. El Camino
135. Shippensburg
136. Toledo (4–5)
137. Colorado College
138. Western Reserve (5–4)
139. Rhode Island (7–1)
140. East Los Angeles
141. El Dorado
142. Baldwin Wallace
143. Bradley
144. Connecticut (5–3)
145. VMI (3–6–1)
146. The Citadel (3–5–1)
147. Tampa (8–3–1)
148. Utah State (3–7–1)
149. Louisville (3–5)
150. Western Michigan (4–4)
The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1952 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was largely segregated. The rankings were published on December 20:[2]
The Associated Negro Press also published rankings on December 20:[3]