1953 college football season

1953 NCAA football season
Total # of teams	110
Preseason AP #1	Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Number of bowls	7
Champions	Maryland Terrapins
Heisman	Johnny Lattner, Notre Dame HB
← 1952 College football seasons 1954 →

1953 ACC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#1 Maryland +	3	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
#18 Duke +	4	–	0	–	0			7	–	2	–	1
South Carolina	2	–	3	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
North Carolina	2	–	3	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Wake Forest	2	–	3	–	0			3	–	6	–	1
Clemson	1	–	2	–	0			3	–	5	–	1
NC State	0	–	3	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1953 Big 7 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#4 Oklahoma $	6	–	0	–	0			9	–	1	–	1
Kansas State	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	1
Missouri	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Colorado	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
Nebraska	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	1
Kansas	2	–	4	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Iowa State	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1953 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#3 Michigan State +	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
#7 Illinois +	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	1	–	1
#15 Wisconsin	4	–	1	–	1			6	–	2	–	1
Ohio State	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	3	–	1			4	–	4	–	1
#20 Michigan	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
#9 Iowa	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	1
Purdue	2	–	4	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Indiana	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	6	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1953 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Oklahoma A&M §	3	–	1	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Detroit §	3	–	1	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Wichita State	1	–	2	–	0			4	–	4	–	1
Houston	1	–	2	–	0			4	–	4	–	1
Tulsa	1	–	3	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1953 MSC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Utah $	5	–	0	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Utah State	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Wyoming	4	–	2	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
New Mexico	3	–	2	–	1			5	–	3	–	1
Colorado A&M	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Montana	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	5	–	0
Denver	1	–	5	–	1			3	–	5	–	2
BYU	1	–	5	–	1			2	–	7	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1953 PCC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#5 UCLA $	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
#19 Stanford	5	–	1	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
USC	4	–	2	–	1			6	–	3	–	1
California	2	–	2	–	2			4	–	4	–	2
Washington State	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Oregon State	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Washington	2	–	4	–	1			3	–	6	–	1
Oregon	2	–	5	–	1			4	–	5	–	1
Idaho	0	–	3	–	0			1	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1953 SEC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#13 Alabama $	4	–	0	–	3			6	–	3	–	3
#8 Georgia Tech	4	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
#16 Kentucky	4	–	1	–	1			7	–	2	–	1
Ole Miss	4	–	1	–	1			7	–	2	–	1
#17 Auburn	4	–	2	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Mississippi State	3	–	1	–	3			5	–	2	–	3
Tennessee	3	–	2	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
LSU	2	–	3	–	3			5	–	3	–	3
Florida	1	–	3	–	2			3	–	5	–	2
Vanderbilt	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Georgia	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Tulane	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	8	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1953 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#10 West Virginia $	4	–	0	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
Furman	2	–	0	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
George Washington	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
William & Mary	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	1
Richmond	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	1
VPI	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
VMI	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Washington and Lee	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
The Citadel	1	–	3	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Davidson	0	–	5	–	0			0	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1953 Southwest Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#6 Rice +	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
#11 Texas +	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Baylor	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
SMU	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Arkansas	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Texas A&M	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	5	–	1
TCU	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1953 NCAA football season finished with the Maryland Terrapins capturing the AP, INS, and UPI national championship after Notre Dame held the top spot for the first nine weeks. The #4 Oklahoma Sooners defeated Maryland in the Orange Bowl, but there was no further polling after the November 30 results were released. However, Notre Dame was selected as the National Champions by 10 other polls and the Oklahoma Sooners received first in 2 polls.[1] However, despite the team receiving National Championship rings, the University of Notre Dame does not recognize this title due to their policy of only recognizing AP or coaches' poll titles during the polling era (1936-present). Maryland was also the first champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference, which had been formed earlier in 1953 by seven colleges formerly with the Southern Conference. The year 1953 also saw the Michigan State Spartans, previously an independent, join the Big Nine Conference, which then became the Big Ten; MSU won the conference title in that first year and was the conference representative to the Rose Bowl, which it won 28-20 over UCLA.

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 "wire service" (AP and UPI) polls. The extent of that recognition came in the form of acknowledgment in the annual NCAA Football Guide of the "unofficial" national champions. The AP poll in 1953 consisted of the votes of as many as 378 sportswriters.

...
Wikipedia