The 1948 college football season finished with SMU halfback Doak Walker as the Heisman Trophy winner and six teams in contention for the national championship:
Bennie Oosterbaan's Michigan compiled a 9–0 record, defeated six ranked opponents, and was the consensus national champion, receiving 192 of 333 first-place votes in the final AP Poll. It was Michigan's second consecutive undefeated season, extending the program's winning streak to 23 games.
Frank Leahy's Notre Dame Fighting Irish compiled a 9–0–1 record and had a 21-game winning streak dating back to the 1946 season before playing a 14–14 tie with USC in the final game of the 1948 season. Notre Dame was ranked No. 2 in the final AP Poll, receiving 97 of 333 first-place votes.
Carl Snavely's No. 3 North Carolina Tar Heels, led by Heisman Trophy runner-up Charlie Justice, were undefeated in the regular season (9–0–1) but lost to Oklahoma in the 1949 Sugar Bowl.
Pappy Waldorf's No. 4 California Golden Bears, led by Jackie Jensen who finished fourth in the 1948 Heisman Troophy voting, were undefeated in the regular season (10–0), but lost to Northwestern in the 1949 Rose Bowl.
Bud Wilkinson's No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners compiled a 10–1 record, including a victory over No. 3 North Carolina in the 1949 Sugar Bowl.
Earl Blaik's No. 6 Army Cadets finished the season undefeated (8–0–1). They won the first eight games of the season and were ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll before playing Navy to a tie in the annual Army–Navy Game.
Eight other teams finished the season undefeated and untied: Southern (12–0, black college national champion); Clemson (11–0, SoCon and Gator Bowl champion, AP No. 11); Bloomsburg (9–0, PSTCC champion); Heidelberg (9–0, OAC champion); Occidental (9–0 SCC and Raisin Bowl champion); Alma (8–0 MIAA champion); and Wesleyan (8–0, third consecutive perfect season); Michigan Tech (7–0, independent).
Air travel to away games (as opposed to rail travel) became increasingly popular with college football programs in the late 1940s.[2]
The NCAA began permitting the use of small 1-inch rubber "tees" (not the same tee used for kickoffs) for extra point and field goal attempts beginning this year; they were outlawed in 1989.[3]
^"October 4, 1948 AP Football Poll". CollegePollArchive.com. Archived from the original on September 2, 2013. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
^"Grid teams use air travel more for game dates". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Oregon). Associated Press. November 5, 1948. p. 15.
^Litke, Jim (August 20, 1989). "They're Not All Kicking and Screaming Over the Absence of Tee". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Retrieved October 3, 2019. It was 1948 before vague rumblings about putting the foot back into the game convinced NCAA officials to allow the use of a 1-inch rubberized tee. Eleven years later, they widened the goal posts to 23-feet-5 from 18-5, and seven years after that, let the tee rise an inch.
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