1950 College Football Season

The 1950 college football season finished with the unbeaten and untied Oklahoma Sooners being the overwhelming choice for national champion. On New Year’s Day, the 9-0-0 Sooners were upset by the 10-1-0 Kentucky Wildcats in the Sugar Bowl. The #2 team, the United States Military Academy (Army) had been defeated in its final regular season game by 2-6-0 Navy, 14-2. However, the final poll had been issued on November 27, and the bowl games had no effect on Oklahoma’s status as the #1 team.

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 1950 consisted of the votes of as many as 317 sportswriters. 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, and the top twenty colleges were ranked based on their overall points.

Starting in 1950, the United Press (later UPI) began the "coaches' poll". "Thirty-five of the nation's foremost football coaches will rate the country's top collegiate football teams each week for the United Press this coming season," an announcement stated, with "five coaches from each section of the country-- the east, midlands, midwest, Pacific coast, the Rockies, south and southwest". The UP added, referring to the AP writers' poll, "The nature of the board giving each section of the country equal representation avoids the sectional bias and ballot box stuffing for which other football polls have been criticized.". The coaches named Notre Dame as the #1 team in the first UP poll, with 25 of the 35 first place votes.

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).