The 1946 college football season was the 78th season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six Conference, the Southern Conference, the Southwestern Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs. The season saw the return of many programs which had suspended play during World War II, and also the enrollment of many veterans returning from the war. The teams ranked highest in the final Associated Press poll in December 1946 were: The year's statistical leaders included Rudy Mobley of Hardin–Simmons with 1,262 rushing yards, Travis Tidwell of Auburn with 1,715 yards of total offense, Bobby Layne of Texas with 1,122 passing yards, and Joe Carter of Florida N&I with 152 points scored. Delaware compiled a 10–0 record and was recognized by the AP as the small college national champion. Morgan State (8–0) and Tennessee A&I (10–1) have been recognized as the black college national champions.

Conference and program changes

Conference establishments

Membership changes

Season timeline

September

Significant games played in September 1946 included the following: September 21 September 27–28

October

October 5 The first AP Poll of the 1946 season was issued on October 7 with Texas ranked No. 1, Army No. 2, Notre Dame No. 3, Michigan No. 4 and UCLA No. 5. October 12 The next poll featured No. 1 Army, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Texas, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Michigan. October 19 Army, Notre Dame, and Texas stayed as the top three, ahead of No. 4 Tennessee and No. 5 UCLA. October 26 The next poll was No. 1 Army, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Penn, No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Georgia.

November

November 2 In the poll that followed No. 1 Army, No. 2 Notre Dame, No. 3 Georgia, and No. 4 UCLA, and No. 5 Rice. November 9 . In the poll that followed, No. 9 Penn moved back up to No. 5 after beating Columbia in New York's "other" football game, 41–6. The top four remained the same. November 16 November 23 The top five remained the same. November 30 With the exception of Notre Dame leapfrogging Army, the rankings of the other top-five teams remained the same.

December

On December 2, the final AP Poll was issued with Notre Dame at No. 1, Army at No. 2, Georgia at No. 3, UCLA at No. 4, Illinois at No. 5, Michigan at No. 6, Tennessee at No. 7, LSU at No. 8, North Carolina at No. 9, and Rice at No. 10. Notable post-season games played in December included:

New Year's Day bowl games

Major bowls

Wednesday, January 1, 1947

Other bowls

Wednesday, January 1, 1947

Conference standings

Major conference standings

Major independents

Minor conferences

Small colleges conference standings

Non-major independents

Rankings

Award and honors

Heisman Trophy voting

The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player

All-America Team

Statistical leaders

Team leaders

Total offense

Total defense

Rushing offense

Rushing defense

Passing offense

Passing defense

Individual leaders

Total offense

Rushing

Passing

Receiving

Scoring

The following list of scoring leaders is taken from the NCAA's Official Football Guide for 1947 and includes both major and minor college players. Gene "Choo-Choo" Roberts ranked third overall and first among major college players.

Rules Committee