| Rank | Team | Record | Next Opponent | Prior | |
| 1 |  | Ohio State | 8-0, 4-0 | bye | 1 |
| 2 |  | Michigan State | 8-0, 4-0 | bye | 2 |
| 3 |  | TCU | 7-0, 4-0 | West Virginia | 3 |
| 4 |  | Baylor | 7-0, 4-0 | bye | 4 |
| 5 |  | Clemson | 7-0, 4-0 | at North Carolina State | 5 |
| 6 |  | LSU | 7-0, 4-0 | bye | 6 |
| 7 |  | Alabama | 7-1, 4-1 | bye | 7 |
| 8 |  | Notre Dame | 6-1 | at Temple | 10 |
| 9 |  | Stanford | 6-1, 5-0 | at Washington State | 11 |
| 10 |  | Utah | 6-1, 3-1 | Oregon State | 8 |
| 11 |  | Oklahoma State | 7-0, 4-0 | at Texas Tech | 12 |
| 12 |  | Florida | 6-1, 4-1 | at Georgia | 13 |
| 13 |  | Florida State | 6-1, 3-1 | Syracuse | 9 |
| 14 |  | Memphis | 7-0, 3-0 | Tulane | 14 |
| 15 |  | Oklahoma | 6-1, 3-1 | at Kansas | 15 |
| 16 |  | Iowa | 7-0, 3-0 | Maryland | 16 |
| 17 |  | Mississippi | 6-2, 3-1 | at Auburn | 19 |
| 18 |  | Toledo | 7-0, 4-0 | bye | 18 |
| 19 |  | Duke | 6-1, 3-0 | Miami | 20 |
| 20 |  | UCLA | 5-2, 2-2 | Colorado | 25 |
| 21 |  | Michigan | 5-2, 2-1 | at Minnesota | 21 |
| 22 |  | Temple | 7-0, 4-0 | Notre Dame | 23 |
| 23 |  | Houston | 7-0, 4-0 | Vanderbilt | 24 |
| 24 |  | Pittsburgh | 6-1, 4-0 | North Carolina | NR |
| 25 |  | Texas A&M | 5-2, 2-2 | South Carolina | 17 |
