🏈 The 1930 college football season
The champion and its path, the poll race week by week, the honours, the best games and every conference table.
Jump to any season1869–2026
1930 national champion
Named by the selectors, with the road it took.
The path, Notre Dame10-0
- Oct 4vsSMUW20-14
- Oct 11vsNavyW26-2
- Oct 18vsCarnegie TechW21-6
- Oct 25atPittsburghW35-19
- Nov 1vsIndianaW27-0
- Nov 8atPennsylvaniaW60-20
- Nov 15vsDrakeW28-7
- Nov 22atNorthwesternW14-0
- Nov 29vsArmyW7-6
- Dec 6atUSCW27-0
The 1930 major bowls
No title game this year. The big bowls of the season, by date.
- Rose BowlJan 1Alabama24
The 1930 Elo race
Elo by week, higher is better. There was no AP poll this year, so the ratings tell the story.
How this is measured
- Regular season ends
- Bowl season
Tap or drag on the chart to read a team's Elo in any week.
1930 Elo at season end
There is no AP poll before 1936, so the ratings stand in: the ten highest-rated major teams when the season ended.
1930 Elo at season endElo
Elo top 21
rating, z
The 1930 honours
The Heisman vote and the major awards side by side, then the All-Americans.
The 1930 honours
Consensus All-Americans
A star marks a unanimous selection.
- Ben Ticknor★ unanimousHarvard
- Leonard MacalusoColgate
- Frank Carideo★ unanimousNotre Dame
- Marchy SchwartzNotre Dame
- Erny PinckertUSC
- Frank BakerNorthwestern
- Wes Fesler★ unanimousOhio State
Show all 5 positions
- Barton KochBaylor
- Ted BeckettCalifornia
- Ben Ticknor★ unanimousHarvard
- Leonard MacalusoColgate
- Frank Carideo★ unanimousNotre Dame
- Marchy SchwartzNotre Dame
- Erny PinckertUSC
- Frank BakerNorthwestern
- Wes Fesler★ unanimousOhio State
- Barton KochBaylor
- Ted BeckettCalifornia
The best games of 1930
The ten best games of the season by Game Score. Switch to the Elo score for a second opinion.
How this is measured
The best games of 193010 games
Upsets of 1930
The results the ratings gave the winner the least chance of, lowest first.
How this is measured
Upsets of 193010 upsets
1930 standings by conference
Every conference at once: conference and overall record, and the final AP rank. A star marks the conference champion.
1930 standings by conference8 groups
Big Six
6 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas★ conference champion | 4-1 | 6-2 | |
| 2 | Oklahoma | 3-1-1 | 4-3-1 | |
| 3 | Kansas State | 3-2 | 5-3 | |
| 4 | Nebraska | 2-2-1 | 4-3-2 | |
| 5 | Missouri | 1-2-2 | 2-5-2 | |
| 6 | Iowa State | 0-5 | 0-9 |
Big Ten
10 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan★ conference champion | 5-0 | 8-0-1 | |
| 2 | Northwestern★ conference champion | 5-0 | 7-1 | |
| 3 | Purdue | 4-2 | 6-2 | |
| 4 | Wisconsin | 2-2-1 | 6-2-1 | |
| 5 | Ohio State | 2-2-1 | 5-2-1 | |
| 6 | Minnesota | 1-3 | 3-4-1 | |
| 7 | Indiana | 1-3 | 2-5-1 | |
| 8 | Illinois | 1-4 | 3-5 | |
| 9 | Iowa | 0-1 | 4-4 | |
| 10 | Chicago | 0-4 | 2-5-2 |
Missouri Valley
5 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma A&M★ conference champion | 2-0 | 7-2-1 | |
| 2 | Drake★ conference champion | 3-0 | 5-4 | |
| 3 | Washington University | 2-2 | 4-2-2 | |
| 4 | Grinnell | 1-2 | 5-4 | |
| 5 | Creighton | 0-4 | 1-7 |
Pacific Coast
10 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington State★ conference champion | 6-0 | 9-1 | |
| 2 | USC | 5-1 | 8-2 | |
| 3 | Stanford | 4-1 | 9-1-1 | |
| 4 | Oregon | 3-1 | 7-2 | |
| 5 | Washington | 3-4 | 5-4 | |
| 6 | Oregon State | 2-3 | 7-3 | |
| 7 | Montana | 1-3 | 5-3 | |
| 8 | California | 1-4 | 4-5 | |
| 9 | UCLA | 1-4 | 3-5 | |
| 10 | Idaho | 0-5 | 4-7 |
Rocky Mountain
12 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah★ conference champion | 7-0 | 8-0 | |
| 2 | Colorado | 5-1-1 | 6-1-1 | |
| 3 | BYU | 4-1-1 | 5-2-4 | |
| 4 | Denver | 4-3 | 5-4 | |
| 5 | Montana State | 1-1 | 6-3 | |
| 6 | Colorado State College | 2-2-3 | 2-2-3 | |
| 7 | Colorado A&M | 3-3-1 | 3-5-1 | |
| 8 | Utah State | 3-4-1 | 3-5-1 | |
| 9 | Colorado College | 2-4-2 | 2-4-2 | |
| 10 | Wyoming | 1-5-1 | 2-5-1 | |
| 11 | Colorado Mines | 1-4 | 1-5 | |
| 12 | Western State | 0-5 | 0-6 |
Southern
23 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama★ conference champion | 8-0 | 10-0 | |
| 2 | Tulane★ conference champion | 5-0 | 8-1 | |
| 3 | Tennessee | 6-1 | 9-1 | |
| 4 | Duke | 4-1-1 | 8-1-2 | |
| 5 | Vanderbilt | 5-2 | 8-2 | |
| 6 | Maryland | 4-2 | 7-5 | |
| 7 | Florida | 4-2-1 | 6-3-1 | |
| 8 | North Carolina | 4-2-2 | 5-3-2 | |
| 9 | Clemson | 3-2 | 8-2 | |
| 10 | Georgia | 3-2-1 | 7-2-1 | |
| 11 | Kentucky | 4-3 | 5-3 | |
| 12 | South Carolina | 4-3 | 6-4 | |
| 13 | Virginia Tech | 2-3-1 | 5-3-1 | |
| 14 | Mississippi State | 2-3 | 2-7 | |
| 15 | Georgia Tech | 2-4-1 | 2-6-1 | |
| 16 | LSU | 2-4 | 6-4 | |
| 17 | Virginia | 2-5 | 4-6 | |
| 18 | Sewanee | 1-4 | 3-6-1 | |
| 19 | Mississippi | 1-5 | 3-5-1 | |
| 20 | North Carolina State | 1-5 | 2-8 | |
| 21 | Auburn | 1-6 | 3-7 | |
| 22 | Washington & Lee | 0-4-1 | 3-6-1 | |
| 23 | VMI | 0-5 | 3-6 |
Southwest
7 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas★ conference champion | 4-1 | 8-1-1 | |
| 2 | Baylor | 3-1-1 | 6-3-1 | |
| 3 | TCU | 4-2 | 9-2-1 | |
| 4 | SMU | 2-2-1 | 6-3-1 | |
| 5 | Arkansas | 2-2 | 3-6 | |
| 6 | Rice | 2-4 | 8-4 | |
| 7 | Texas A&M | 0-5 | 2-7 |
Independent
33 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notre Dame | - | 10-0 | |
| 2 | Marquette | - | 8-0-1 | |
| 3 | Colgate | - | 9-1 | |
| 4 | Fordham | - | 8-1 | |
| 5 | St. Mary's | - | 8-1 | |
| 6 | Army | - | 9-1-1 | |
| 7 | Centenary | - | 8-1-1 | |
| 8 | Dartmouth | - | 7-1-1 | |
| 9 | Cornell | - | 6-2 | |
| 10 | Michigan State | - | 5-1-2 | |
| 11 | Pittsburgh | - | 6-2-1 | |
| 12 | Washington & Jefferson | - | 6-2-1 | |
| 13 | NYU | - | 7-3 | |
| 14 | Temple | - | 7-3 | |
| 15 | Bucknell | - | 6-3 | |
| 16 | Carnegie Tech | - | 6-3 | |
| 17 | Regis | - | 6-3 | |
| 18 | Syracuse | - | 5-2-2 | |
| 19 | Yale | - | 5-2-2 | |
| 20 | Brown | - | 6-3-1 | |
| 21 | Wake Forest | - | 5-3-1 | |
| 22 | Davidson | - | 6-4 | |
| 23 | Detroit | - | 5-3-2 | |
| 24 | Columbia | - | 5-4 | |
| 25 | Pennsylvania | - | 5-4 | |
| 26 | Navy | - | 6-5 | |
| 27 | Georgetown | - | 5-5 | |
| 28 | Harvard | - | 4-4-1 | |
| 29 | Villanova | - | 5-5 | |
| 30 | West Virginia | - | 5-5 | |
| 31 | Penn State | - | 3-4-2 | |
| 32 | Princeton | - | 1-5-1 | |
| 33 | Gonzaga | - | 1-7-1 |
1930 bowls
One line per game, latest first. A tag marks the playoff and the other major bowls.
1930 bowls1 bowls
Where these numbers come from
Enough to disbelieve this page on purpose rather than by accident.
Champions, polls, standings, bowls, honours and games are read from the Citizen of Nowhere college football database, built from its own workbook one season at a time. Team colours and crests are the current programs’, so a school is drawn the way it looks today even where it played under another name.
The AP poll begins in 1936, so earlier seasons have no poll race and no final poll, but they do have an Elo race, and their champions are those the selectors named. Before 1992 there was no title game, so those seasons list the major bowls instead; from 1992 the title game is shown with the other major bowls, and from 2014 the playoff bracket. Where the database has no entry for a section, the section is left out rather than shown empty.
Elo ratings, the upsets and the best games come from the site’s college football Elo, which rates every game since 1869 and counts games against lower-level opponents. Each season’s ratings are shown on a scale where the average major team ends the season at 1500; z is the distance from that average in standard deviations.