1976 college football season

1976 NCAA Division I football season
Preseason AP #1	Nebraska Cornhuskers
Regular season	September 4 – November 27, 1976
Number of bowls	12
Bowl games	December 13, 1976 – January 2, 1977
Heisman	Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh RB
← 1975 College football seasons 1977 →

1976 ACC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#13 Maryland $	5	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
North Carolina	4	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Wake Forest	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Duke	2	–	3	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
NC State	2	–	3	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
Virginia	1	–	3	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Clemson	0	–	4	–	1			3	–	6	–	2
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1976 Big 8 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#5 Oklahoma +	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
#14 Oklahoma State +	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
#16 Colorado +	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
#9 Nebraska	4	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	1
#19 Iowa State	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Missouri	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Kansas	2	–	5	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Kansas State	0	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1976 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#3 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#6 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Indiana	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Iowa	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Northwestern	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1976 Ivy League football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Yale +		6	–	1					8	–	1
Brown +		6	–	1					8	–	1
Harvard		4	–	3					6	–	3
Dartmouth		4	–	3					6	–	3
Columbia		2	–	5					3	–	6
Penn		2	–	5					3	–	6
Princeton		2	–	5					2	–	7
Cornell		2	–	5					2	–	7
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1976 Mid-American Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Ball State $	4	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Kent State	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Ohio	6	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Western Michigan	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Central Michigan	4	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Bowling Green	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Miami (OH)	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Toledo	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Eastern Michigan	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Northern Illinois	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion

1976 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Tulsa +	2	–	1	–	1			7	–	4	–	1
New Mexico State +	2	–	1	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
West Texas State	1	–	1	–	2			4	–	5	–	2
Wichita State	2	–	2	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Drake	1	–	3	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

1976 Pacific Coast Athletic Association football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
San Jose State $	4	–	0	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Fresno State	3	–	1	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Long Beach State	2	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Cal State Fullerton	1	–	3	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
Pacific (CA)	0	–	4	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1976 Pacific-8 football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#2 USC $	7	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
#15 UCLA	6	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	1
Stanford	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
California	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Oregon	1	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Oregon State	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

1976 SEC football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
#10 Georgia $	5	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
#11 Alabama	5	–	2	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
#20 Mississippi State	4	–	2	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Florida	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
#18 Kentucky	4	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Ole Miss	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
LSU	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	4	–	1
Tennessee	2	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Auburn	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Vanderbilt	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Mississippi State later forfeited all 1976 wins due to NCAA violations. Rankings from AP Poll

The 1976 NCAA Division I football season ended with a championship for the Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh. Led by head coach Johnny Majors (voted the AFCA Coach of the Year), the Pitt Panthers brought a college football championship to the home of the defending pro football champions, the Steelers. Pitt also had the Heisman Trophy winner, Tony Dorsett; the Panthers had been ranked ninth in the preseason AP poll.

During the 20th century, the NCAA had no playoff for major college football teams, which became Division I-A in 1978. 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). The AP poll consisted of the votes of as many as 62 writers, though not all voted in each poll, and the UPI poll was taken of a 25-member board of coaches.

In the preseason poll released on September 7, the AP ranked Nebraska first, followed by Michigan, Arizona State (the highest preseason ranking for a WAC team), Ohio State, and Oklahoma.

September 11 #1 Nebraska failed to win its opening game, being tied 6–6 by LSU in Baton Rouge, escaping with the stalemate only after the Bayou Bengals missed a 44-yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds. #2 Michigan beat Wisconsin 40–27, and #3 Arizona State lost its home opener 28–10 to #17 UCLA, and dropped to 18th, then out of the Top 20 entirely. #4 Ohio State beat Michigan State 49–21, and #5 Oklahoma won 24–3 at Vanderbilt. After a 31–10 win at #11 Notre Dame, #9 Pittsburgh rose to third. With Nebraska and Arizona State dropping to 8th and 18th, and Pitt and UCLA moving up, the Top Five was: 1.Michigan 2.Ohio State 3.Pittsburgh 4.Oklahoma 5.UCLA.

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