Conference Summary
| Overall | Bowls | SRS | Polls | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Conference | Schs | G | W | L | T | Pct | G | W | L | T | Pct | SRS | SOS | Pre | Final | Champion |
| 1 | Big Eight Conference | 8 | 81 | 46 | 37 | 0 | .554 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .667 | 13.14 | 10.90 | 2 | 3 | Missouri, Nebraska |
| 2 | Southeastern Conference | 10 | 100 | 63 | 41 | 2 | .604 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | .333 | 11.77 | 7.88 | 5 | 5 | Tennessee |
| 3 | Pacific-8 Conference | 8 | 82 | 43 | 35 | 4 | .549 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 9.91 | 8.25 | 3 | 3 | USC |
| 4 | Big Ten Conference | 10 | 100 | 47 | 52 | 1 | .475 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 5.79 | 6.93 | 5 | 3 | Michigan, Ohio State |
| 5 | Southwest Conference | 8 | 81 | 38 | 44 | 0 | .463 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | 5.21 | 6.03 | 2 | 2 | Texas |
| 6 | Western Athletic Conference | 8 | 80 | 43 | 37 | 0 | .538 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2.44 | 1.69 | 0 | 0 | Arizona State | |
| 7 | Independent | 27 | 266 | 135 | 129 | 5 | .511 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .750 | -1.10 | -1.33 | 3 | 4 | |
| 8 | Mid-American Conference | 7 | 70 | 41 | 29 | 1 | .585 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | -1.33 | -4.66 | 0 | 0 | Toledo |
| 9 | Pacific Coast Athletic Association | 7 | 70 | 40 | 31 | 0 | .563 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | -5.23 | -6.11 | 0 | 0 | San Diego State |
| 10 | Atlantic Coast Conference | 8 | 81 | 31 | 48 | 2 | .395 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | -6.67 | -2.31 | 0 | 0 | South Carolina |
| 11 | Missouri Valley Conference | 6 | 60 | 27 | 32 | 1 | .458 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -6.84 | -3.91 | 0 | 0 | Memphis | |
| 12 | Ivy Group | 8 | 72 | 35 | 37 | 0 | .486 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -9.27 | -9.52 | 0 | 0 | Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale | |
| 13 | Southern Conference | 7 | 70 | 26 | 43 | 1 | .379 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | -14.75 | -9.98 | 0 | 0 | Davidson, Richmond |
Consensus All-Americans