The 1948 college football season finished with several unbeaten teams. The Michigan Wolverines and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame were both unbeaten and untied, as were the California Golden Bears and the Clemson Tigers. Ultimately, Michigan was the first place choice for the majority (192 of the 333) voters in the AP writers poll, but didn’t play in the postseason because of a no-repeat rule for Big Nine schools. Northwestern went to the Rose Bowl instead, and handed California a 20-14 loss.
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.
Though not all writers voted in every poll, each would give their opinion of the ten best teams. Under a point system of 10 points for first place, 9 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. Generally, 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).
Read more about 1948 College Football Season: September, October, November, Conference Standings, Final Associated Press Poll, Bowl Games, See Also
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