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 Ten Conference | 10 | 90 | 50 | 37 | 4 | .571 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 13.76 | 11.73 | 2 | 5 | Illinois, Michigan State |
| 2 | Southwest Conference | 7 | 70 | 38 | 32 | 1 | .542 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 10.51 | 8.76 | 3 | 2 | Rice, Texas |
| 3 | Big Seven Conference | 7 | 69 | 34 | 33 | 3 | .507 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 5.51 | 5.45 | 1 | 1 | Oklahoma |
| 4 | Southeastern Conference | 12 | 125 | 62 | 49 | 17 | .551 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .333 | 5.18 | 3.03 | 4 | 4 | Alabama |
| 5 | Pacific Coast Conference | 9 | 87 | 39 | 43 | 6 | .477 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 2.90 | 4.43 | 3 | 2 | UCLA |
| 6 | Missouri Valley Conference | 5 | 48 | 24 | 22 | 2 | .521 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.51 | 0.76 | 0 | 0 | Detroit Mercy, Oklahoma State | |
| 7 | Atlantic Coast Conference | 7 | 69 | 35 | 32 | 3 | .521 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0.12 | -1.67 | 2 | 2 | Duke, Maryland |
| 8 | Independent | 28 | 255 | 120 | 114 | 21 | .512 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2.31 | -2.96 | 4 | 2 | ||
| 9 | Skyline Conference | 8 | 77 | 38 | 34 | 5 | .526 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3.42 | -4.91 | 0 | 0 | Utah | |
| 10 | Border Intercollegiate Athletic Association | 7 | 70 | 36 | 33 | 3 | .521 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | -4.83 | -4.99 | 0 | 1 | Texas Tech |
| 11 | Southern Conference | 10 | 94 | 46 | 47 | 2 | .495 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | -11.03 | -9.63 | 1 | 1 | West Virginia |


Consensus All-Americans