1959 NCAA football season

1959 NCAA University Division football season
Preseason AP #1	LSU Tigers
Regular season	September 19 – December 5, 1959
Number of bowls	8
Bowl games	December 19, 1959 – January 2, 1960
Heisman	Billy Cannon, LSU HB
← 1958 College football seasons 1960 →

1959 AAWU football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#8 Washington * +	3	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
#14 USC +	3	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
UCLA +	3	–	1	–	0			5	–	4	–	1
California	1	–	3	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Stanford	0	–	4	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions * – Selected as Rose Bowl representative Rankings from AP Poll

1959 ACC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#11 Clemson $		6	–	1					9	–	2
North Carolina		5	–	2					5	–	5
Maryland		4	–	2					5	–	5
South Carolina		4	–	3					6	–	4
Wake Forest		4	–	3					6	–	4
Duke		2	–	3					4	–	6
NC State		0	–	6					1	–	9
Virginia		0	–	5					0	–	10
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1959 Big 7 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#15 Oklahoma $	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
#18 Missouri	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Colorado	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Iowa State	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Kansas	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Nebraska	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
Kansas State	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1959 NCAA University Division independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#1 Syracuse			–					11	–	0	–	0
#12 Penn State			–					9	–	2	–	0
Oregon			–					8	–	2	–	0
Rutgers			–					6	–	3	–	0
Detroit			–					6	–	4	–	0
Holy Cross			–					6	–	4	–	0
Memphis State			–					6	–	4	–	0
Miami (FL)			–					6	–	4	–	0
Oklahoma State			–					6	–	4	–	0
#20 Pittsburgh			–					6	–	4	–	0
Southern Miss			–					6	–	4	–	0
Washington State			–					6	–	4	–	0
Boston College			–					5	–	4	–	0
Pacific (CA)			–					5	–	4	–	0
Air Force			–					5	–	4	–	1
Navy			–					5	–	4	–	1
Army			–					4	–	4	–	1
#17 Notre Dame			–					5	–	5	–	0
Florida State			–					4	–	6	–	0
San Jose State			–					4	–	6	–	0
Texas Tech			–					4	–	6	–	0
Xavier			–					4	–	6	–	0
Dayton			–					3	–	7	–	0
Marquette			–					3	–	7	–	0
Oregon State			–					3	–	7	–	0
Colgate			–					2	–	7	–	0
Idaho			–					1	–	9	–	0
Villanova			–					1	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

1959 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#6 Wisconsin $	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Michigan State	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Purdue	4	–	2	–	1			5	–	2	–	2
#13 Illinois	4	–	2	–	1			5	–	3	–	1
Northwestern	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Iowa	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Michigan	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Indiana	2	–	4	–	1			4	–	4	–	1
Ohio State	2	–	4	–	1			3	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1959 Border Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Arizona State $	5	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Arizona	2	–	1	–	0			4	–	6	–	0
New Mexico A&M	2	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Hardin–Simmons	2	–	2	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Texas Western	2	–	3	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
West Texas State	0	–	5	–	0			1	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion

1959 Ivy League football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Penn $	6	–	1	–	0			7	–	1	–	1
Dartmouth	5	–	1	–	1			5	–	3	–	1
Harvard	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Yale	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Cornell	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Princeton	3	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Brown	1	–	5	–	1			2	–	6	–	1
Columbia	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1959 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
North Texas State §	3	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Houston §	3	–	1	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Tulsa	2	–	2	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Wichita State	1	–	2	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
Cincinnati	0	–	3	–	1			5	–	4	–	1
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1959 MSC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Wyoming $	7	–	0	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
Colorado State	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	4	–	0
New Mexico	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Utah	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	5	–	0
Utah State	2	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
BYU	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
Denver	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	8	–	0
Montana	1	–	5	–	0			1	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1959 NCAA University Division football season saw Syracuse University crowned as the national champion by both final polls, the AP writers poll and the UPI coaches polls.

A major rule change widened the goal posts from 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m) to 23 ft 4 in (7.11 m). This width remained in effect for 32 seasons, until the 1991 season, when it was returned to 18½ feet.

During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams in the University Division, later known 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 1959 consisted of the votes of as many as 201 sportswriters. Though not all writers voted in every poll, each would give their opinion of the twenty best teams. Under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., the "overall" ranking was determined. Although the rankings were based on the collective opinion of the representative sportswriters, the teams that remained "unbeaten and untied" were generally ranked higher than those that had not. A defeat, even against a strong opponent, tended to cause a team to drop in the rankings, and a team with two or more defeats was unlikely to remain in the Top 20. The top teams played on New Year's Day in the four major postseason bowl games: the Rose Bowl (near Los Angeles at Pasadena), the Sugar Bowl (New Orleans), the Orange Bowl (Miami), and the Cotton Bowl (Dallas).

In the preseason poll released on September 14, the defending champion LSU Tigers were ranked first, followed by Oklahoma, Auburn, SMU, and Army. With more than 100 sportswriters weighing in, eighteen different schools received first place votes. Syracuse was ranked #20 overall. As the regular season progressed, a new poll would be issued on the Monday following the weekend's games.

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