The Poling System was a mathematical rating system used to rank college football teams.[1] Its selections were published in the Football Review Supplement and several newspapers.[1] The system was developed by Richard R. Poling, a native of Mansfield, Ohio who had played college football at Ohio Wesleyan University.
The Poling System is considered by the NCAA to have been a "major selector" of national championships for the years 1935–1984.[1]: 108
Champions
The Poling System named contemporary champions from 1935 to 1984 and retroactively named champions from 1924 to 1934.[1]: 108–109, 111–114, 120
^ abcdNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) (2017). "National Poll Rankings"(PDF). NCAA Division I FBS Football Records. NCAA. pp. 108–109, 111–114. Retrieved December 7, 2017. Poling System (1935-84), a mathematical rating system for college football teams developed by Richard Poling from Mansfield, Ohio, a former football player at Ohio Wesleyan. Poling's football ratings were published annually in the Football Review Supplement and in various newspapers. Predated national champions from 1924 to 1934.
^Poling, Richard R. (1941). "Top Teams of 1940". The 1940 Supplement of the Football Review. Mansfield, Ohio: Poling's Football Ratings. We predicted that STANFORD would beat NEBRASKA by from seven to ten points, and this game came home to us right – final score STANFORD 21 NEBRASKA 13. This game bore us out and thus made STANFORD NATIONAL FOOTBALL CHAMPIONS OF 1940. [...] No. 1 Stanford 45.06, No. 2 Minnesota 43.13, No 3. Boston College 43.0
^Poling, Richard R. "Poling’s Football Review Supplement, 1940" (1941). John Gunn Sports Collection, Box: 422. Center for Southeast North Carolina Archives and History, William M. Randall Library, University of North Carolina Wilmington.
^ abPoling, Richard R. (1981). "Poling's National Champions over the Years". Supplement for the 1981 Football Season. Mansfield, Ohio: Poling's Football Ratings — The 1981 Football Review.
