CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

The 1972 season

USC finished No. 1 in the final AP poll, 12–⁠0 under John McKay, after it beat Ohio State 42–⁠17 in the Rose Bowl. The biggest game by the rankings: No. 1 USC 42, No. 3 Ohio State 17 (Jan 1, 1973). 38 ranked teams lost to unranked or lower-ranked opponents.

Heisman Trophy: Johnny Rodgers, WR/RB, Nebraska, who also won the Walter Camp.

The Heisman vote: Johnny Rodgers 1,310 points, Greg Pruitt 966
PlayerPoints1st2nd3rd
Johnny Rodgers WR, Nebraska1,310301151105
Greg Pruitt RB, Oklahoma966117223169
Rich Glover MG, Nebraska65299125105
Bert Jones QB, LSU351616146
Terry Davis QB, Alabama338625052
John Hufnagel QB, Penn State292622850
George Amundson RB, Iowa State219413134
Otis Armstrong RB, Purdue208442428
Don Strock QB, Virginia Tech144123342
Gary Huff QB, Florida State138202430

First-, second- and third-place votes (3, 2 and 1 points), from the season’s Wikipedia article, as published.

The 1972 Wisconsin team
The 1972 Wisconsin team: UW Band forms an elephant at halftime of the Northwestern gamePhoto: University of Wisconsin Madison Archives from Madison, Wisconsin, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
The 1972 Wisconsin season →

Scoreboards

Final AP poll

1USCPac-8
2OklahomaBig Eight
3TexasSouthwest Conference
4NebraskaBig Eight
5AuburnSoutheastern Conference
6MichiganBig Ten
7AlabamaSoutheastern Conference
8TennesseeSoutheastern Conference
9Ohio StateBig Ten
10Penn StateIndependent
11LSUSoutheastern Conference
12North CarolinaAtlantic Coast Conference
13Arizona StateWestern Athletic Conference
14Notre DameIndependent
15UCLAPac-8
16ColoradoBig Eight
17NC StateAtlantic Coast Conference
18LouisvilleMissouri Valley Conference
19Washington StatePac-8
20Georgia TechIndependent

Biggest upsets

Sep 9, 1972UCLA 20, 1Nebraska 17
Sep 30, 1972Oklahoma State 31, 3Colorado 6
Sep 30, 1972Auburn 10, 4Tennessee 6
Nov 11, 1972Michigan State 19, 5Ohio State 12
Oct 28, 1972Missouri 20, 7Colorado 17
Oct 21, 1972Missouri 30, 8Notre Dame 26
Nov 11, 1972Washington 30, 8UCLA 21
Sep 30, 1972Wyoming 45, 11Arizona State 43
Oct 7, 1972Florida 42, 13Florida State 13
Oct 21, 1972Oregon 15, 13Stanford 13
Nov 11, 1972TCU 31, 15Texas Tech 7
Sep 23, 1972Tulane 24, 16Georgia 13

Ranked teams that lost as the betting favorite, the longest shots first, with the winner’s odds on the line; before lines are on file, ranked teams beaten by unranked or lower-ranked ones.

The AP poll, week by week

The AP poll’s top 10 in 1972, week by week1510152025Wk 1Wk 3Wk 5Wk 7Wk 9Wk 11Wk 13FinalPenn State: Wk 1 No. 5, Wk 2 No. 6, Wk 3 No. 11, Wk 4 No. 13, Wk 5 No. 16, Wk 6 No. 15, Wk 7 No. 12, Wk 8 No. 11, Wk 9 No. 10, Wk 10 No. 10, Wk 11 No. 6, Wk 12 No. 6, Wk 13 No. 5, Wk 14 No. 5, Final No. 1010 Penn StateOhio State: Wk 1 No. 3, Wk 2 No. 3, Wk 3 No. 4, Wk 4 No. 5, Wk 5 No. 3, Wk 6 No. 4, Wk 7 No. 4, Wk 8 No. 4, Wk 9 No. 5, Wk 10 No. 5, Wk 11 No. 9, Wk 12 No. 9, Wk 13 No. 4, Wk 14 No. 3, Final No. 99 Ohio StateTennessee: Wk 1 No. 15, Wk 2 No. 7, Wk 3 No. 5, Wk 4 No. 4, Wk 5 No. 10, Wk 6 No. 11, Wk 7 No. 10, Wk 8 No. 14, Wk 9 No. 13, Wk 10 No. 13, Wk 11 No. 13, Wk 12 No. 12, Wk 13 No. 12, Wk 14 No. 11, Final No. 88 TennesseeAlabama: Wk 1 No. 7, Wk 2 No. 5, Wk 3 No. 7, Wk 4 No. 6, Wk 5 No. 4, Wk 6 No. 3, Wk 7 No. 3, Wk 8 No. 2, Wk 9 No. 2, Wk 10 No. 2, Wk 11 No. 2, Wk 12 No. 2, Wk 13 No. 2, Wk 14 No. 4, Final No. 77 AlabamaMichigan: Wk 1 No. 10, Wk 2 No. 11, Wk 3 No. 12, Wk 4 No. 8, Wk 5 No. 5, Wk 6 No. 5, Wk 7 No. 6, Wk 8 No. 5, Wk 9 No. 4, Wk 10 No. 4, Wk 11 No. 3, Wk 12 No. 3, Wk 13 No. 7, Wk 14 No. 8, Final No. 66 MichiganAuburn: Wk 1 unranked, Wk 2 unranked, Wk 3 unranked, Wk 4 unranked, Wk 5 No. 17, Wk 6 No. 9, Wk 7 No. 14, Wk 8 No. 12, Wk 9 No. 11, Wk 10 No. 11, Wk 11 No. 11, Wk 12 No. 10, Wk 13 No. 9, Wk 14 No. 6, Final No. 55 AuburnNebraska: Wk 1 No. 1, Wk 2 No. 10, Wk 3 No. 9, Wk 4 No. 7, Wk 5 No. 6, Wk 6 No. 6, Wk 7 No. 5, Wk 8 No. 3, Wk 9 No. 3, Wk 10 No. 3, Wk 11 No. 5, Wk 12 No. 5, Wk 13 No. 8, Wk 14 No. 9, Final No. 44 NebraskaTexas: Wk 1 No. 14, Wk 2 No. 15, Wk 3 No. 14, Wk 4 No. 12, Wk 5 No. 9, Wk 6 No. 10, Wk 7 No. 14, Wk 8 No. 10, Wk 9 No. 9, Wk 10 No. 9, Wk 11 No. 7, Wk 12 No. 7, Wk 13 No. 6, Wk 14 No. 7, Final No. 33 TexasOklahoma: Wk 1 No. 6, Wk 2 No. 4, Wk 3 No. 2, Wk 4 No. 2, Wk 5 No. 2, Wk 6 No. 2, Wk 7 No. 2, Wk 8 No. 8, Wk 9 No. 7, Wk 10 No. 7, Wk 11 No. 4, Wk 12 No. 4, Wk 13 No. 3, Wk 14 No. 2, Final No. 22 OklahomaUSC: Wk 1 No. 8, Wk 2 No. 1, Wk 3 No. 1, Wk 4 No. 1, Wk 5 No. 1, Wk 6 No. 1, Wk 7 No. 1, Wk 8 No. 1, Wk 9 No. 1, Wk 10 No. 1, Wk 11 No. 1, Wk 12 No. 1, Wk 13 No. 1, Wk 14 No. 1, Final No. 11 USC
The top 10 of the final AP poll and where each stood every week before it; a gap is a week out of the Top 25. Hover or tab to a line for its weeks.

Climbed

  1. Auburnunranked → No. 5
  2. North Carolinaunranked → No. 12
  3. TexasNo. 14 → No. 3
  4. UCLAunranked → No. 15
  5. NC Stateunranked → No. 17

Fell

  1. ArkansasNo. 4 → unranked
  2. WashingtonNo. 9 → unranked
  3. ColoradoNo. 2 → No. 16
  4. Ole MissNo. 16 → unranked

From the season’s first AP poll (the preseason poll) to the final one.

National leaders

Passing yardsDon Strock (Virginia Tech)3,243 yds
Passing touchdownsGary Huff (Florida State)25 TD
Passer ratingJohn Hufnagel (Penn State)148.0
Rushing yardsPete Van Valkenburg (BYU)1,386 yds
Rushing touchdownsChamp Henson (Ohio State)20 TD
Yards per carryWilbur Jackson (Alabama)7.1
ReceptionsTom Forzani (Utah State)85 catches
Receiving yardsBarry Smith (Florida State)1,243 yds
Yards per catchRichard Agle (App State)25.2
Receiving touchdownsBarry Smith (California)13 TD
PointsHarold Henson (Ohio State)120 pts
Points per gameHarold Henson (Ohio State)12.0
Total offenseDon Strock (Virginia Tech)3,170 yds
Total offense per gameDon Strock (Virginia Tech)288.2
Punt return averageRandy Rhino (Georgia Tech)17.6
Kickoff return averageLarry Williams 30.8

The NCAA’s official leaders. From Wikipedia’s yearly NCAA leader lists for passing, rushing, receiving, scoring, total offense and returns.

Conference champions

Major college

Atlantic Coast Conference
North Carolina
Big Eight
Nebraska and Oklahoma (shared)
Big Ten
Michigan and Ohio State (shared)
Ivy League
Dartmouth
Mid-American Conference
Kent State
Missouri Valley Conference
Drake and Louisville (shared)
Pac-8
USC
Pacific Coast Athletic Association
San Diego State
Southeastern Conference
Alabama
Southern Conference
East Carolina
Southland Conference
Louisiana Tech
Southwest Conference
Texas
Western Athletic Conference
Arizona State
Yankee Conference
Massachusetts

Small college

Big Sky
Montana State
California Collegiate Athletic Conference
Cal Poly
Conference Carolinas
Elon
Eastern Football Conference
Central Connecticut
Far Western Conference
UC Davis
Gulf States Conference
Northwestern State
Indiana Collegiate Conference
Butler
Lone Star Conference
East Texas A&M
Metropolitan Intercollegiate Conference
Long Island University
Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference
North Carolina Central
North Central Conference
North Dakota and South Dakota (shared)
Ohio Valley Conference
Tennessee Tech
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Alabama A&M
Southwestern Athletic Conference
Grambling and Jackson State (shared)

From each program’s Wikipedia article, with the conference’s name that season. Titles come from the articles of today’s FBS and FCS programs, so a title shared with a school outside them lists only one champion.

Consensus All-Americans

22 playersAll 9 selectors’ teams

Players picked by enough of the major selectors to count as consensus, shown in bold in Wikipedia’s 1972 All-America article. Every selector’s teams, first to last, are on the 1972 All-America teams page.

The 1972 awards

Every award

Player of the year

By position

Coaches

Bowls and playoff

Scoreboard
Dec 18, 1972Georgia Tech 31, Iowa State 30Liberty Bowl
Dec 23, 197215Arizona State 49, Missouri 35Fiesta Bowl
Dec 29, 1972NC State 49, 18West Virginia 13Peach Bowl
Dec 29, 1972Tampa 21, Kent State 18Tangerine Bowl
Dec 30, 19726Auburn 24, 13Colorado 3Gator Bowl
Dec 30, 197216North Carolina 32, Texas Tech 28Sun Bowl
Dec 30, 197211Tennessee 24, 10LSU 17Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl
Dec 31, 19722Oklahoma 14, 5Penn State 0Sugar Bowl
Jan 1, 19739Nebraska 40, 12Notre Dame 6Orange Bowl
Jan 1, 19731USC 42, 3Ohio State 17Rose Bowl
Jan 1, 19737Texas 17, 4Alabama 13Cotton Bowl