The 1949 college football season was the 81st season of intercollegiate football in the United States. It concluded with the top four teams undefeated and untied at the end of the regular season:

• Notre Dame compiled a perfect 10–0 record, outscored opponents by a total of 360 to 86, and was the consensus national champion, receiving 172 of 208 first-place votes in the final Associated Press (AP) poll.^[2] The Irish led the country in total offense with an average of 434.8 yards per game.^[3] Key players included end Leon Hart (winner of the 1949 Heisman Trophy and Maxwell Award); halfback Emil Sitko (712 rushing yards and a consensus All-American); and quarterback Bob Williams (led the country with an average of 159.1 passing yards per game).^[4]

• Oklahoma compiled an 11–0 record, won the Big 7 championship, and defeated LSU in the 1950 Sugar Bowl. The Sooners were ranked No. 2 in the final AP poll and were recognied as national champion by the Billingsley Report and College Football Researchers Association. The Sooners led the country in rushing defense, giving up an average of only 55.6 rushing yards per game.^[3] Head coach Bud Wilkinson won the Coach of the Year Award by the American Football Coaches Association. Darrell Royal was the team's starting quarterback.

• California (10–1) won the Pacific Coast Conference championship, went undefeated in the regular season, and was ranked No. 3 in the AP poll. The Bears lost to Ohio State in the 1950 Rose Bowl. Guard Rod Franz was a first-team All-American for three consecutive years from 1947 to 1949.

• Army went 9–0, outscored opponents by a total of 354 to 89, and won the Lambert-Meadowlands Trophy as the best college team in the East. Army defeated No. 1 Michigan on October 8 and jumped to the No. 2 spot in the following poll. The Cadets ended their season ranked No. 4 in the final AP poll. Quarterback Arnold Galiffa completed 50 of 95 passes for 887 yards and was a consensus All-American.

Other notable teams with undefeated records included Pacific (11–0, AP No. 10) and Oregon College of Education (9–0). Morgan State (8–0) and Southern (10–0–1) were each recognized as black college national champion by at least one selector.

The major college individual statistical leaders for 1949 included Drake fullback Johnny Bright with 1,950 yards of total offense; Ole Miss fullback Kayo Dottley with 1,312 rushing yards; North Carolina end Art Weiner with 52 pass receptions; and Oklahoma halfback George Thomas with 114 points scored.^[3]

Conference and program changes

Conference changes

• Two new conferences began play in 1949:
  • Gulf Coast Conference: active through the 1956 season; formed by former members of the Lone Star Conference
  • Upper Peninsula Conference: football active through the 1950 season; formed by junior colleges and independents in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan and northern Wisconsin

Membership changes

Season chronology

September

The Associated Press did not poll the writers until the third week of the season. Among the five teams that had been ranked highest in 1948, California was the first to open play, with a 21–7 win over Santa Clara on September 17.

By September 24, most teams were in action. Defending champion Michigan beat visiting Michigan State, 7–3. Notre Dame beat Indiana 49–6. North Carolina beat N.C. State 26–6. California beat St. Mary's 29–7. The night before, Oklahoma had won at Boston College, 46–0.

October

On October 1 in Seattle, Notre Dame beat Washington 27–7. Oklahoma beat Texas A&M 33–13, North Carolina beat Georgia 21–14, and Michigan won at Stanford, 27–7. When the first poll was issued, Michigan had 34 of the 80 votes cast, followed by Notre Dame and Oklahoma. Tulane University, which had beaten Alabama 28–14 and Georgia Tech 18–0, placed fourth. Minnesota, which had victories over Washington (48–20) and at Nebraska (28–6) was fifth. North Carolina, which had been in the final top five in 1948, was at sixth place.

October 8 No. 1 Michigan was beaten at home by No. 7 Army. No. 2 Notre Dame won at Purdue 35–12. No. 3 Oklahoma beat No. 12 Texas in Dallas, 20–14. No. 4 Tulane beat Southeastern Louisiana 40–0. No. 5 Minnesota beat No. 20 Northwestern 21–7. The next poll elevated Notre Dame to No. 1 and Army to No. 2, followed by Oklahoma, Tulane, and Minnesota.

October 15 In South Bend, No. 1 Notre Dame beat No. 4 Tulane 46–7. No. 2 Army won at Harvard, 54–14. No. 3 Oklahoma beat Kansas 48–26. No. 5 Minnesota stayed unbeaten with a win in Columbus over No. 11 Ohio State, 27–0. The next poll featured No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Army, No. 3 Minnesota, and No. 4 Oklahoma. California, which beat No. 12 USC 16–10, moved up from No. 9 to No. 5.

October 22 No. 1 Notre Dame was idle. No. 2 Army beat Columbia 63–6. No. 3 Minnesota lost at No. 12 Michigan, 14–7. No. 4 Oklahoma won at Nebraska 48–0. No. 5 California beat Washington 21–7. No. 9 Rice won at No. 10 Texas, 17–15, and was fifth in the next poll behind Notre Dame, Army, Oklahoma, and California.

October 29 In Baltimore, No. 1 Notre Dame defeated Navy, 40–0. No. 2 Army defeated VMI (the Virginia Military Institute) 40–14. No. 3 Oklahoma beat Iowa State 34–7. In Los Angeles, No. 4 California beat No. 20 UCLA 35–21. No. 5 Rice beat Texas Tech 28–0 to extend its record to 5–1–0. No. 6 Michigan, which won at Illinois 13–0, returned to the Top Five with a 4–2–0 record, moving up ahead of Rice.

November

November 5 No. 1 Notre Dame won at No. 10 Michigan State, 34–21. No. 2 Army defeated No. 20 Fordham, 35–0. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Kansas State 39–0. No. 4 California beat Washington State 33–14. No. 5 Michigan beat Purdue 20–12. The top five stayed unchanged.

November 12 At Yankee Stadium, No. 1 Notre Dame beat North Carolina, 42–6. No. 2 Army had a scare in Philadelphia, edging Penn 14–13. No. 3 Oklahoma won at Missouri, 27–7. No. 4 California beat Oregon 41–14. No. 5 Michigan beat Indiana 20–7. The next poll moved Oklahoma to No. 2 and California to No. 3, with Army dropping to fourth.

November 19 No. 1 Notre Dame defeated Iowa 28–7. No. 2 Oklahoma beat Santa Clara 28–21. No. 3 California defeated No. 12 Stanford 33–14 to finish its season unbeaten. No. 4 Army was idle as it prepared for the Army–Navy Game. No. 5 Michigan was tied by No. 7 Ohio State, 7–7. The next Top Five was No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 California, No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 4 Army, and No. 5 Ohio State.

November 26 No. 1 Notre Dame defeated visiting No. 17 USC, 32–0. No. 3 Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State 41–0. No. 4 Army returned to Philadelphia for the Army–Navy Game and defeated Navy 38–0. No. 7 Rice beat No. 9 Baylor 21-7. No. 2 California at 10–0–0, and No. 5 Ohio State, at 6–1–2, accepted bids to play in the Rose Bowl.

The final poll was released on November 28, although some colleges had not completed their schedules; the top five were No. 1 Notre Dame, No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 3 California, No. 4 Army, and No. 5 Rice. On December 3, the national champs, No. 1 Notre Dame closed a perfect season in Dallas with a 27–20 win over Southern Methodist University (SMU).

Minor conference summaries