1974 college football season

1974 NCAA Division I football season
Total # of teams	129
Preseason AP #1	Oklahoma Sooners
Regular season	September 7 – November 30, 1974
Number of bowls	11
Bowl games	December 16, 1974 – January 1, 1975
Champions	Oklahoma Sooners (AP) USC Trojans (Coaches, FWAA, NFF)
Heisman	Archie Griffin, Ohio State RB
← 1973 College football seasons 1975 →

1974 ACC football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#13 Maryland $	6	–	0	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
#11 NC State	4	–	2	–	0	9	–	2	–	1
Clemson	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
North Carolina	4	–	2	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Duke	2	–	4	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Virginia	1	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Wake Forest	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1974 Big 8 football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#1 Oklahoma $	7	–	0	–	0	11	–	0	–	0
#9 Nebraska	5	–	2	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
Missouri	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Oklahoma State	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	5	–	0
Colorado	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Iowa State	2	–	5	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Kansas	1	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Kansas State	1	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1974 Big Ten football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#4 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
#3 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
#12 Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
Wisconsin	5	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Illinois	4	–	3	–	1	6	–	4	–	1
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0	4	–	6	–	1
Minnesota	2	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Indiana	1	–	7	–	0	1	–	10	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1974 Mid-American Conference football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#10/10 Miami (OH) $	5	–	0	–	0	10	–	0	–	1
Ohio	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Toledo	3	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Kent State	2	–	3	–	0	7	–	4	–	0
Bowling Green	2	–	3	–	0	6	–	4	–	1
Western Michigan	0	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll

1974 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
San Diego State $	4	–	0	–	0	8	–	2	–	1
San Jose State	2	–	2	–	0	8	–	3	–	1
Pacific (CA)	2	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Long Beach State	1	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Fresno State	1	–	3	–	0	5	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1974 Pacific-8 football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#2 USC $	6	–	0	–	1	10	–	1	–	1
Stanford	5	–	1	–	1	5	–	4	–	2
California	4	–	2	–	1	7	–	3	–	1
UCLA	4	–	2	–	1	6	–	3	–	2
Washington	3	–	4	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Oregon State	3	–	4	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Washington State	1	–	6	–	0	2	–	9	–	0
Oregon	0	–	7	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1974 SEC football standings
	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
#5 Alabama $	6	–	0	–	0	11	–	1	–	0
#8 Auburn	4	–	2	–	0	10	–	2	–	0
Georgia	4	–	2	–	0	6	–	6	–	0
#17 Mississippi State	3	–	3	–	0	9	–	3	–	0
#15 Florida	3	–	3	–	0	8	–	4	–	0
Kentucky	3	–	3	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
#20 Tennessee	2	–	3	–	1	7	–	3	–	2
Vanderbilt	2	–	3	–	1	7	–	3	–	2
LSU	2	–	4	–	0	5	–	5	–	1
Ole Miss	0	–	6	–	0	3	–	8	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1974 Southern Conference football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
VMI $		5	–	1		7	–	4
Appalachian State		4	–	1		6	–	5
East Carolina		3	–	3		7	–	4
Richmond		3	–	3		6	–	4
The Citadel		3	–	4		4	–	7
William & Mary		2	–	3		4	–	7
Furman		2	–	4		5	–	6
Davidson		0	–	3		2	–	7

$ – Conference champion

1974 NCAA Division I Independents football records
	Conf			Overall
Team	W	L	T	W		L		T
#6 Notre Dame		–		10	–	2	–	0
#7 Penn State		–		10	–	2	–	0
Temple		–		8	–	2	–	0
Boston College		–		8	–	3	–	0
Utah State		–		8	–	3	–	0
#19 Houston		–		8	–	3	–	1
Rutgers		–		7	–	3	–	1
Cincinnati		–		7	–	4	–	0
Memphis State		–		7	–	4	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		7	–	4	–	0
Georgia Tech		–		6	–	5	–	0
Hawaii		–		6	–	5	–	0
Miami (FL)		–		6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		6	–	5	–	0
Holy Cross		–		5	–	5	–	1
Tulane		–		5	–	6	–	0
Colgate		–		4	–	6	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		4	–	7	–	0
Navy		–		4	–	7	–	0
South Carolina		–		4	–	7	–	0
Virginia Tech		–		4	–	7	–	0
West Virginia		–		4	–	7	–	0
Army		–		3	–	8	–	0
Dayton		–		3	–	8	–	0
Villanova		–		3	–	8	–	0
Air Force		–		2	–	9	–	0
Syracuse		–		2	–	9	–	0
Florida State		–		1	–	10	–	0

Rankings from AP Poll

The 1974 NCAA Division I football season finished with two national champions. The Associated Press (AP) writers' poll ranked the University of Oklahoma, which was on probation and barred by the NCAA from postseason play, #1 at season's end. The United Press International (UPI) coaches' poll did not rank teams on probation, by unanimous agreement of the 25 member coaches' board. The UPI trophy went to the University of Southern California (USC).

During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for the major college football teams, later known as "Division I-A". The NCAA Football Guide, however, did note an "unofficial national champion" based on the top ranked teams in the "wire service" (AP and UPI) polls. The "writers' poll" by Associated Press (AP) was the most popular, followed by the "coaches' poll" by United Press International) (UPI). Starting in 1974, the UPI joined AP in issuing its final poll after the bowl games were completed. Both polls operated under a point system of 20 points for first place, 19 for second, etc., whereby the overall ranking was determined. The AP poll consisted of the votes of 60 writers, though not all voted in each poll, and the UPI poll was taken of a 25-member board.

In the preseason poll released on September 2, 1974, the AP ranked Oklahoma #1, followed by #2 Ohio State, #3 Notre Dame, #4 Alabama and #5 USC.

September 7 #3 Notre Dame, the defending national champion, beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta, 31-7, in a nationally-televised game on Monday night, September 9. Arizona State, UCLA and Houston were among the few other schools playing that weekend. Elsewhere, the scheduled Ole Miss-Tulane game in New Orleans was postponed until November 30 due to the threat of Hurricane Carmen. The poll was: 1.Oklahoma 2.Notre Dame 3.Alabama 4.Ohio State 5.USC

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