1958 small college football rankings

The 1958 small college football rankings are rankings of college football teams representing smaller college and university teams during the 1958 college football season, including the 1958 NCAA College Division football season and the 1958 NAIA football season. The rankings were prepared and published the United Press International (UPI). It was the first year that the UPI compiled small-college rankings. (The AP did not begin publishing small-college rankings until 1960.)

The UPI's small-college rankings for 1957 were based on voting by the UPI's board of coaches. Mississippi Southern compiled a perfect 9–0 record and was ranked No. 1 in the final UPI small-college rankings. The Miami Redskins were ranked second.

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(#–#)		Win–loss record
(Italics)		Number of first place votes
т		Tied with team above or below also with this symbol

The UPI coaches poll

	Week 1 Sept 25^[1]	Week 2 Oct 2^[2]	Week 3 Oct 9^[3]	Week 4 Oct 16^[4]	Week 5 Oct 23^[5]	Week 6 Oct 30^[6]	Week 7 Nov 6^[7]	Week 8 Nov 13^[8]	Week 9 Nov 20^[9]	Week 10 Nov 28^[10]	Week 11 Dec 4^[11]
1.	Mississippi Southern (9)	Mississippi Southern (2–0) (12)	Mississippi Southern (3–0) (18)	Mississippi Southern (4–0) (23)	Mississippi Southern (4–0) (25)	Mississippi Southern (5–0) (34)	Mississippi Southern (6–0) (31)	Mississippi Southern (7–0) (34)	Mississippi Southern (8–0) (33)	Mississippi Southern (8–0) (32)	Mississippi Southern (9–0) (36)	1.
2.	Connecticut (3)	Ohio (2–0) (2)	East Texas State (3–0) (2)	Connecticut (3–1) (1)	Connecticut (4–1) (4)	Montana State (6–0)	Montana State (7–0) (1)	Miami (OH) (5–2) (1)	Miami (OH) (5–2) (1)	Miami (OH) (6–2) (1)	Miami (OH) (6–3)	2.
3.	Idaho State (4)	Idaho State (1–0) (3)	Idaho State (2–0) (2)	Chattanooga (3–1)	Bowling Green (5–0) (2)	Miami (OH) (3–2)	Miami (OH) (4–2) (2)	Chattanooga (5–3) (1)	Arizona State College (9–0) (2)	Northeastern State (9–0) (1)	Arizona State College (10–0) (2)	3.
4.	Chattanooga (1)	Chattanooga (2–0) (2)	Connecticut (2–1) (3)	Idaho State (3–0)	Chattanooga (4–1)	East Texas State (5–1)	Northeastern State (8–0) (5)	East Texas State (7–1)	Northeastern State (9–0) (1)	East Texas State (9–1) (1)	Northeastern State (9–0) (1)	4.
5.	Ohio (2) ^[note 1]	Miami (OH) (1–0) (4)	Chattanooga (2–1) (2)	Bowling Green (4–0) (4)	Montana State (5–0)	Northeastern State (7–0) (1)	East Texas State (6–1)	Northeastern State (8–0)	Montana State (8–1)	Arizona State College (10–0) (2)	East Texas State (9–1)	5.
6.	Wittenberg (1)	Lehigh (1–0) (2)	Kent State (3–0) (1)	Miami (OH) (2–1) (1)	Miami (OH) (3–1)	Bowling Green (5–1) (1)	Arizona State College (8–0) (1)	Arizona State College (8–0) (3)	East Texas State (8–1)	Montana State (8–1)	Montana State (8–1)	6.
7.	Hillsdale (1)	East Texas State (2–0)	Bowling Green (3–0) (3)	Montana State (4–0)	Butler (5–0)	Wheaton (IL) (6–0) (1)	Wheaton (IL) (7–0)	Montana State (7–1) (1)	Chattanooga (5–4)	Chattanooga (5–4)	Wheaton (IL) (8–0) (1)	7.
8.	Middle Tennessee (2) т	Connecticut (1–1)	Butler (3–0) (1)	East Texas State (3–1)	Central Michigan (6–0)	Chattanooga (4–2)	St. Benedict's (8–0)	Wheaton (IL) (8–0) (1)	Wheaton (IL) (8–0) (1)	Wheaton (IL) (8–0) (1)	Chattanooga (5–5)	8.
9.	East Texas State (1) т	Montana State (2–0)	Central Michigan (4–0) (2)	Butler (4–0) (1)	Northeastern State (6–0)	Arizona State College (7–0) (3)	Connecticut (5–2)	St. Benedict's (9–0) (1)	St. Benedict's (10–0) (1)	Buffalo (8–1) (2) т	St. Benedict's	9.
10.	Ripon т	Butler (2–0) (2)	Montana State (3–0)	Cal Poly (4–0)	Wheaton (IL) (5–0)	Connecticut (4–2) (1)	Willamette (7–0)	Connecticut (6–2)	Connecticut (7–2)	St. Benedict's (10–0) т	Buffalo (8–1) (2)	10.
11.	Cal Poly^[note 2]	Cal Poly (2)	Ohio (1)	Middle Tennessee	East Texas State	St. Benedict's (1)	Chattanooga	Kearney State	Buffalo (2)	Middle Tennessee	Middle Tennessee (1)	11.
12.	Bowling Green	Middle Tennessee	Cal Poly (1)	Central Michigan (2)	St. Benedict's	Memphis State	Kent State	Bowling Green	Cal Poly	Cal Poly т	Connecticut	12.
13.	Maine	Central Michigan (1)	Miami (OH) т	Ohio	Amherst	Amherst (1)	Memphis State т	Cal Poly	Middle Tennessee	Connecticut т	Gustavus Adolphus	13.
14.	Montana State	Kent State	Delaware т	Northeastern State (2)	Idaho State	Delaware	Kearney State т	Willamette	Kearney	Bowling Green	Bowling Green	14.
15.	Delaware	Juniata т	Lehigh т	Wheaton (IL) (2) т	Arizona State College ^[note 5]	Willamette	Buffalo	Middle Tennessee	Rochester т	Gustavus Adolphus	Cal Poly	15.
16.	Lenoir–Rhyne т	Bowling Green т	Middle Tennessee	Maine т	Willamette	Central Michigan	Bowling Green	Buffalo	Bowling Green т	Kearney	Wittenberg т	16.
17.	Butler т	Memphis State т	Iowa State Teachers	Juniata (1)	Lamar Tech	Lafayette	Lafayette	Rochester	Missouri Valley	West Chester	West Chester т	17.
18.	Miami (OH) т	Maine т	Florida A&M	St. Benedict's	Cal Poly	Cal Poly	Cal Poly	Gustavus Adolphus т	Sewanee	Memphis State	Memphis State	18.
19.	Pittsburg State т ^[note 3]	Wittenberg т	Northeastern State	Amherst (1)	Juniata	Kent State	West Chester	Memphis State т	West Chester т	Sewanee т	Rochester	19.
20.	Northeastern State^[note 4]	Hofstra т	Memphis State т	Louisiana Tech т	Middle Tennessee	Buffalo (1) т	Missouri Valley	Missouri Valley	Memphis State т	Wittenberg т	Kearney	20.
21.		Louisville т	Wittenberg т	Kent State т		Williams т						21.
	Week 1 Sept 25^[1]	Week 2 Oct 2^[2]	Week 3 Oct 9^[3]	Week 4 Oct 16^[4]	Week 5 Oct 23^[5]	Week 6 Oct 30^[6]	Week 7 Nov 6^[7]	Week 8 Nov 13^[8]	Week 9 Nov 20^[9]	Week 10 Nov 28^[10]	Week 11 Dec 4^[11]
		Dropped: 7 Hillsdale 10 Ripon 15 Delaware 16 Lenoir–Rhyne 19 Pittsburg State 20 Northeastern State	Dropped: 15 Juniata 18 Maine 20 Hofstra 21 Louisville	Dropped: 14 Delaware 15 Lehigh 17 Iowa State Teachers 18 Florida A&M 20 Memphis State 20 Wittenberg	Dropped: 13 Ohio 16 Maine 20 Louisiana Tech 20 Kent State	Dropped: 7 Butler 14 Idaho State 17 Lamar Tech 19 Juniata 20 Middle Tennessee	Dropped: 13 Amherst 14 Delaware 16 Central Michigan 20 Williams	Dropped: 12 Kent State 17 Lafayette 19 West Chester State	Dropped: 14 Willamette 18 Gustavus Adolphus	Dropped: 15 Rochester 17 Missouri Valley	Dropped: 19 Sewanee

HBCU rankings

The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1958 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was often racially segregated.

The rankings were published on December 20:^[12]

• 1. Prairie View A&M (10–0–1)
• 2. Southern (8–2)
• 3. Florida A&M (7–2)
• 4. North Carolina A&T (7–2)
• 5. Lincoln (MO) (8–1)
• 6. South Carolina State (7–2)
• 7. North Carolina College (7–2)
• 8. Jackson State (6–2–1)
• 9. Bishop (9–1)
• 10. Grambling (6–3)
• 11. Texas Southern (5–5)
• 12. Texas College (5–4)
• 13. Alabama State (6–2)
• 14. Tennessee A&I (4–4)
• 15. Morgan State (5–3)

The Associated Negro Press also published rankings on December 27:^[13]

• 1. Prairie View A&M (10–0–1)
• 2. Southern (8–2)
• 3. Florida A&M (7–2)
• 4. Lincoln (MO) (8–1)
• 5. Texas Southern (5–5)
• 6. Grambling (6–3)
• 7. Jackson State (6–2–1)
• 8. Tennessee A&I (4–4)
• 9. North Carolina A&T (7–2)
• 10. North Carolina College (7–2)
• 11. South Carolina State (7–2)
• 12. Wiley (5–5)
• 13. Morgan State (5–3)

Notes

1. In the actual printed polls, Ohio was listed as Ohio University on 9/25, 10/2, 10/9, & 10/16
2. In the actual printed polls, Cal Poly was listed as Cal Poly at San Luis Obispo on 9/25, 10/2, 10/9, 10/16, 10/23, 10/30, 11/6, 11/13, 11/19, & 11/28
3. In the actual printed polls, Pittsburg State was listed as Pittsburg (Kansas) on 9/25
4. In the actual printed polls, Northeastern State was listed as Northeastern Oklahoma on 9/25, 10/9, 10/30, 11/6, 11/13, 11/19, 11/28 & 12/4
5. In the actual printed polls, Arizona State College was listed as Arizona (Flagstaff) State on 10/30, 11/6, 11/13, & 11/19

References

1. "'Jacks Win Game, Poly Gets Rating". Tucson Daily Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. September 25, 1958. p. 21. Retrieved May 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
2. Earl Wright (October 2, 1958). "Miss. South. Leads Poll". The Bristol Daily Courier. Bristol, Pennsylvania. p. 5C. Retrieved May 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
3. "Mississippi Southern Is Top Small College". Appeal Democrat. Marysville, California. October 9, 1958. p. 14. Retrieved May 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
4. Earl Wright (October 16, 1958). "UPI Ranks La. Tech 20th Among Smaller US Colleges". The Town Talk. Alexandria, Louisiana. p. Ten. Retrieved May 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
5. "Willamette Rated 16th In UP Poll". Medford Mail Tribune. Medford, Oregon. October 23, 1958. p. 12. Retrieved May 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
6. "Flagstaff Zooms To 9th In UPI Poll". Tucson Daily Citizen. Tucson, Arizona. October 30, 1958. p. 47. Retrieved May 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
7. "Miami Places Third In Football Poll". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. November 6, 1958. p. 3E. Retrieved May 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
8. Earl Wright (November 13, 1958). "Mississippi Southern, Miami Head Small College UPI Poll". The Daily Republican. Monongahela, Pennsylvania. p. Two. Retrieved May 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
9. "Bobcats Fifth in Latest Small College Football Poll". The Daily Inter Lake. Kalispell, Montana. November 19, 1958. p. 9. Retrieved May 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
10. "Grid Powers". Lead Daily Call. Lead, South Dakota. November 28, 1958. p. 3. Retrieved May 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
11. "Southerners Top Rankings". Albany Democrat-Herald. Albany, Oregon. December 4, 1958. p. 18. Retrieved May 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com. 
12. "Top '58 teams". The Pittsburgh Courier. December 20, 1958. p. 27 – via Newspapers.com.
13. Luix Virgil Overbea (December 27, 1958). "Prairie View, Southern, Florida placed 1,2,3 in grid rankings". The Black Dispatch (p. 9).