1946 college football season

1946 NCAA football season
Total # of teams	120
First AP #1 of season	Texas Longhorns
Number of bowls	11
Champions	Notre Dame Fighting Irish (AP) Army Cadets (Various)
Heisman	Glenn Davis, Army HB
← 1945 College football seasons 1947 →

1946 Big Nine football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#5 Illinois $	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
#6 Michigan	5	–	1	–	1			6	–	2	–	1
#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 6 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#14 Oklahoma +	4	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Kansas +	4	–	1	–	0			7	–	2	–	1
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 MSC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		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 State	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Wyoming	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1946 New England Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
New Hampshire $	3	–	0	–	1			6	–	1	–	1
Connecticut $	2	–	0	–	1			4	–	3	–	1
Northeastern	1	–	1	–	0			3	–	3	–	0
Rhode Island	1	–	2	–	0			2	–	4	–	0
Maine	0	–	4	–	0			2	–	5	–	0
$ – Conference champion

1946 PCC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#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 SEC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#3 Georgia +	5	–	0	–	0			11	–	0	–	0
#7 Tennessee +	5	–	0	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
#8 LSU	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	1
#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 co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1946 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#9 North Carolina $	4	–	0	–	1			8	–	2	–	1
William & Mary	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
#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
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#10 Rice +	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
#16 Arkansas +	5	–	1	–	0			6	–	3	–	2
#15 Texas	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Texas A&M	3	–	3	–	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

The 1946 NCAA football season finished with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish crowned as the national champion in the AP Poll, with the United States Military Academy named as national champion in various other polls and rankings. The two teams both had 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".

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.

Georgia and UCLA would finish the regular season as the only unbeaten and untied teams. Georgia would even hammer this point home with a decisive Sugar Bowl win, while UCLA lost big in the Rose Bowl. Both Notre Dame and Army would not play in a bowl. Most third party observers would consider them National Champions.

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

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.

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