Northwestern Wildcats Poll History

Seasons: 132 (1892 to 2025)

Record (W-L-T): 568-709-40

Adjusted Record (W-L-T): 569-708-40

Conferences: Big Ten, Western, Ind

Conf. Championships: 8

Bowl Record: 18 Bowls, 8-10, .444 W-L% (Major Bowls)

Ranked in AP Poll: 7 Times (Preseason), 13 Times (Final), 188 Weeks (Total), 5 Weeks at #1

Ranked in CFP Rankings: 4 Times (Final), 20 Weeks (Total)

Stadium: Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium (cap. 12,023)

Location: Evanston, Illinois

NFL/AFL stats for Northwestern Wildcats players at Pro-Football-Reference

Become a Stathead & surf this site ad-free.

Northwestern Wildcats Menu

AP Polls

AP Polls Table
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
1	2020	10	2020-11-08	23
2	2020	11	2020-11-15	19	23	4
3	2020	12	2020-11-22	11	19	8
4	2020	13	2020-11-29	16	11	5
5	2020	14	2020-12-06	15	16	1
6	2020	15	2020-12-13	15	15
7	2020	16	2020-12-20	15	15
8	2020	17	Final	10	15	5
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
9	2018	12	2018-11-11	24
10	2018	13	2018-11-18	20	24	4
11	2018	14	2018-11-25	21	20	1
12	2018	16	Final	21
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
13	2017	13	2017-11-19	23
14	2017	14	2017-11-27	20	23	3
15	2017	15	2017-12-03	20	20
16	2017	16	Final	17	20	3
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
17	2015	2	2015-09-13	23
18	2015	3	2015-09-20	17	23	6
19	2015	4	2015-09-27	16	17	1
20	2015	5	2015-10-04	13	16	3
21	2015	6	2015-10-11	20	13	7
22	2015	10	2015-11-08	24
23	2015	11	2015-11-15	20	24	4
24	2015	12	2015-11-22	17	20	3
25	2015	13	2015-11-29	13	17	4
26	2015	14	2015-12-06	12	13	1
27	2015	15	Final	23	12	11
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
28	2013	1	Preseason	22	NA	—
29	2013	2	2013-09-01	19	22	3
30	2013	3	2013-09-08	17	19	2
31	2013	4	2013-09-15	18	17	1
32	2013	5	2013-09-22	17	18	1
33	2013	6	2013-09-29	16	17	1
34	2013	7	2013-10-06	19	16	3
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
35	2012	6	2012-09-30	24
36	2012	14	2012-11-25	22
37	2012	15	2012-12-02	21	22	1
38	2012	16	Final	17	21	4
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
39	2008	14	2008-11-23	24
40	2008	15	2008-11-30	24	24
41	2008	16	2008-12-07	22	24	2
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
42	2005	9	2005-10-23	21
43	2005	11	2005-11-06	25
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
44	2001	1	Preseason	16	NA	—
45	2001	2	2001-08-26	16	16
46	2001	3	2001-09-02	16	16
47	2001	4	2001-09-09	16	16
48	2001	5	2001-09-23	16	16
49	2001	6	2001-09-30	14	16	2
50	2001	8	2001-10-14	22
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
51	2000	7	2000-10-01	22
52	2000	8	2000-10-08	17	22	5
53	2000	9	2000-10-15	25	17	8
54	2000	10	2000-10-22	23	25	2
55	2000	11	2000-10-29	21	23	2
56	2000	12	2000-11-05	12	21	9
57	2000	13	2000-11-12	23	12	11
58	2000	14	2000-11-19	20	23	3
59	2000	15	2000-11-26	19	20	1
60	2000	16	2000-12-03	18	19	1
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
61	1997	2	1997-08-25	24
62	1997	3	1997-09-02	21	24	3
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
63	1996	1	Preseason	18	NA	—
64	1996	2	1996-08-26	15	18	3
65	1996	3	1996-09-02	13	15	2
66	1996	6	1996-09-23	25
67	1996	7	1996-09-30	22	25	3
68	1996	8	1996-10-07	15	22	7
69	1996	9	1996-10-14	14	15	1
70	1996	10	1996-10-21	11	14	3
71	1996	11	1996-10-28	11	11
72	1996	12	1996-11-04	18	11	7
73	1996	13	1996-11-11	13	18	5
74	1996	14	1996-11-18	11	13	2
75	1996	15	1996-11-25	11	11
76	1996	16	1996-12-02	10	11	1
77	1996	17	1996-12-09	11	10	1
78	1996	18	Final	15	11	4
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
79	1995	4	1995-09-12	25
80	1995	7	1995-10-03	25
81	1995	8	1995-10-10	14	25	11
82	1995	9	1995-10-17	11	14	3
83	1995	10	1995-10-24	8	11	3
84	1995	11	1995-10-31	6	8	2
85	1995	12	1995-11-07	5	6	1
86	1995	13	1995-11-14	5	5
87	1995	14	1995-11-21	4	5	1
88	1995	15	1995-11-28	3	4	1
89	1995	16	1995-12-05	3	3
90	1995	17	Final	8	3	5
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
91	1971	1	Preseason	20	NA	—
92	1971	14	1971-12-06	19
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
93	1970	8	1970-10-26	20
94	1970	11	1970-11-16	18
95	1970	12	1970-11-23	18	18
96	1970	13	1970-11-30	19	18	1
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
97	1963	1	Preseason	6	NA	—
98	1963	2	1963-09-23	7	6	1
99	1963	3	1963-09-30	4	7	3
100	1963	5	1963-10-14	10
101	1963	6	1963-10-21	9	10	1
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
102	1962	5	1962-10-15	8
103	1962	6	1962-10-22	3	8	5
104	1962	7	1962-10-29	1	3	2
105	1962	8	1962-11-05	1	1
106	1962	9	1962-11-12	9	1	8
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
107	1960	1	Preseason	14	NA	—
108	1960	2	1960-09-19	14	14
109	1960	3	1960-09-26	6	14	8
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
110	1959	1	Preseason	10	NA	—
111	1959	2	1959-09-21	10	10
112	1959	3	1959-09-28	2	10	8
113	1959	4	1959-10-05	2	2
114	1959	5	1959-10-12	2	2
115	1959	6	1959-10-19	2	2
116	1959	7	1959-10-26	2	2
117	1959	8	1959-11-02	2	2
118	1959	9	1959-11-09	6	2	4
119	1959	10	1959-11-16	8	6	2
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
120	1958	5	1958-10-13	17
121	1958	6	1958-10-20	8	17	9
122	1958	7	1958-10-27	11	8	3
123	1958	8	1958-11-03	4	11	7
124	1958	9	1958-11-10	13	4	9
125	1958	10	1958-11-17	20	13	7
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
126	1953	3	1953-10-05	18
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
127	1951	4	1951-10-15	18
128	1951	5	1951-10-22	13	18	5
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
129	1950	4	1950-10-16	20
130	1950	5	1950-10-23	9	20	11
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
131	1949	1	1949-10-03	20	NA	—
132	1949	3	1949-10-17	13
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
133	1948	1	1948-10-04	3	NA	—
134	1948	2	1948-10-11	3	3
135	1948	3	1948-10-18	10	3	7
136	1948	4	1948-10-25	9	10	1
137	1948	5	1948-11-01	10	9	1
138	1948	6	1948-11-08	8	10	2
139	1948	7	1948-11-15	7	8	1
140	1948	8	1948-11-22	7	7
141	1948	9	Final	7	7
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
142	1946	1	1946-10-07	10	NA	—
143	1946	2	1946-10-14	10	10
144	1946	3	1946-10-21	8	10	2
145	1946	4	1946-10-28	6	8	2
146	1946	5	1946-11-04	17	6	11
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
147	1945	4	1945-10-29	20
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
148	1943	1	1943-10-04	19	NA	—
149	1943	3	1943-10-18	17
150	1943	4	1943-10-25	15	17	2
151	1943	5	1943-11-01	12	15	3
152	1943	6	1943-11-08	8	12	4
153	1943	7	1943-11-15	9	8	1
154	1943	8	1943-11-22	8	9	1
155	1943	9	Final	9	8	1
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
156	1941	1	1941-10-13	5	NA	—
157	1941	2	1941-10-20	13	5	8
158	1941	3	1941-10-27	9	13	4
159	1941	4	1941-11-03	10	9	1
160	1941	5	1941-11-10	8	10	2
161	1941	6	1941-11-17	10	8	2
162	1941	7	1941-11-24	9	10	1
163	1941	8	Final	11	9	2
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
164	1940	1	1940-10-14	4	NA	—
165	1940	2	1940-10-21	7	4	3
166	1940	3	1940-10-28	8	7	1
167	1940	4	1940-11-04	10	8	2
168	1940	5	1940-11-11	10	10
169	1940	6	1940-11-18	10	10
170	1940	7	1940-11-25	7	10	3
171	1940	8	Final	8	7	1
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
172	1938	1	1938-10-17	18	NA	—
173	1938	2	1938-10-24	12	18	6
174	1938	3	1938-10-31	7	12	5
175	1938	4	1938-11-07	17	7	10
176	1938	5	1938-11-14	16	17	1
177	1938	6	1938-11-21	15	16	1
178	1938	7	1938-11-28	19	15	4
179	1938	8	Final	17	19	2
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
180	1937	1	1937-10-18	7	NA	—
181	1937	3	1937-11-01	19
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
182	1936	1	1936-10-19	4	NA	—
183	1936	2	1936-10-26	3	4	1
184	1936	3	1936-11-02	1	3	2
185	1936	4	1936-11-09	1	1
186	1936	5	1936-11-16	1	1
187	1936	6	1936-11-23	7	1	6
188	1936	7	Final	7	7

College Football Playoff Rankings

College Football Playoff Rankings Table
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
1	2020	12	2020-11-24	8	19	11
2	2020	13	2020-12-01	14	11	3
3	2020	14	2020-12-08	14	16	2
4	2020	15	2020-12-15	14	15	1
5	2020	16	Final	14	15	1
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
6	2018	12	2018-11-13	22
7	2018	13	2018-11-20	19	24	5
8	2018	14	2018-11-27	21	20	1
9	2018	15	Final	22	21	1
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
10	2017	11	2017-11-07	25
11	2017	12	2017-11-14	23
12	2017	13	2017-11-21	22
13	2017	14	2017-11-28	21	23	2
14	2017	15	Final	21	20	1
Rk	Year	Wk	Date	Rk	Prev	Chng
15	2015	9	2015-11-03	21
16	2015	10	2015-11-10	18
17	2015	11	2015-11-17	20	24	4
18	2015	12	2015-11-24	16	20	4
19	2015	13	2015-12-01	14	17	3
20	2015	14	Final	13	13

More Northwestern Pages

Northwestern School History

Stats