AP Poll Page
Created
6/9/02;
Updated
8/22/21

 



Wildcat Football
Associated Press Weekly Poll
Rankings, 1936-Present

(Including BCS and CFP Rankings)

The Associated Press began its weekly football poll in 1936, coinciding with Northwestern's fifth Big Ten title.   Since the poll began, NU has appeared in the final season rankings 12 times. However, it has appeared in the AP Poll at some point in the season for many more years.  Here is a complete listing of every week that NU has been ranked by the AP. Weeks during which NU was ranked #1 are listed in purple.

The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) published team standings from 1998 to 2013.  Weeks during which the BCS ranked NU are highlighted (in green) in the Comments column.  If NU was not ranked by the AP Poll for a given week, that week is not listed (even if NU received points in the poll), except when the BCS ranked the 'Cats during that week.  If the BCS ranked NU, the week is given, as are the AP points (if any) that NU received.

The College Football Playoff replaced the BCS in 2014. Its rankings are treated on this list in the same manner as the BCS rankings.
 

 
1936 - A.P. Top 20 Final Rank: 7th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
10/19/36
4
145
.
3-0-0
.
2
10/26/36
3
258
.
4-0-0
.
3
11/2/36
1
412
31
5-0-0
After beating #1 Minnesota.
Minn. still received 10 1st pl. votes.
4
11/9/36
1
435
31
6-0-0
.
5
11/16/36
1
337
17
7-0-0
.
6
11/23/36
7
151
.
7-1-0
.
7 (Final)
11/30/36
7
130
.
7-1-0
.

1937 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
10/18/37
7
165
.
3-0-0
Not ranked wk. 2.
3
11/1/37
19
6
.
4-1-0
Not ranked again in '37.

1938 - A.P. Top 20 Final Rank: 17th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
10/17/38
18
23
.
2-0-1
.
2
10/24/38
12
55
.
3-0-1
.
3
10/31/38
7
406
.
4-0-1
.
4
11/7/38
17
29
.
4-1-1
.
5
11/14/38
16
23
.
4-1-2
.
6
11/21/38
15
35
.
4-2-2
Rose despite loss.
7
11/28/38
19
15
.
4-2-2
.
8 (Final)
12/5/38
17
15
.
4-2-2
.

1940 - A.P. Top 20 Final Rank: 8th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
10/14/40
4
898
1
2-0-0
.
2
10/21/40
7
592
.
3-0-0
.
3
10/28/40
8
639
1
4-0-0
.
4
11/4/40
10
316
.
4-1-0
.
5
11/11/40
10
276
.
5-1-0
.
6
11/18/40
10
105
.
5-2-0
.
7
11/25/40
7
396
.
6-2-0
.
8 (Final)
12/2/40
8
323
.
6-2-0
.

1941 - A.P. Top 20 Final Rank: 11th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
10/13/41
5
496
1
2-0-0
.
2
10/20/41
13
96
.
2-1-0
.
3
10/27/41
9
231
.
3-1-0
.
4
11/3/41
10
197
.
3-2-0
.
5
11/10/41
8
287
.
4-2-0
.
6
11/17/41
10
204
.
4-3-0
.
7
11/24/41
9
183
.
5-3-0
.
8 (Final)
12/1/41
11
167
.
5-3-0
.

1943 - A.P. Top 20 Final Rank: 9th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
10/4/43
19
18
.
1-1-0
Not ranked wk. 2.
3
10/18/43
17
34
.
2-1-0
.
4
10/25/43
15
35
.
3-1-0
.
5
11/1/43
12
106
.
4-1-0
.
6
11/8/43
8
285
.
5-1-0
.
7
11/15/43
9
121
.
5-2-0
.
8
11/22/43
8
197
.
6-2-0
.
9 (Final)
11/29/43
9
233
.
6-2-0
.

1945 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
4
10/29/45
20
24
.
2-2-1
Only ranked in 4th poll.

1946 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
10/7/46
10
177
.
2-0-0
.
2
10/14/46
10
203.5
.
3-0-0
.
3
10/21/46
8
418
.
3-0-1
.
4
10/28/46
6
659
.
4-0-1
.
5
11/4/46
17
50
.
4-1-1
Not ranked again in '46.

1948 - A.P. Top 20 Final Rank: 7th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
10/4/48
3
1025
21
2-0-0
.
2
10/11/48
3
1172
25
3-0-0
.
3
10/18/48
10
182
.
3-1-0
.
4
10/25/48
9
325
.
4-1-0
.
5
11/1/48
10
371
.
5-1-0
.
6
11/8/48
8
575
.
6-1-0
.
7
11/15/48
7
652
.
6-2-0
Rose despite loss.
8
11/22/48
7
730
.
7-2-0
.
9 (Final)
11/29/48
7
1421
.
7-2-0
AP did not conduct post-season polls.

1949 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
10/3/49
20
11
.
1-1-0
Not ranked in poll #2.
3
10/17/49
13
125
.
2-2-0
Not ranked again in '49.

1950 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
4
10/16/50
20
92
.
3-0-0
Not ranked until 4th poll.
5
10/23/50
9
333
.
4-0-0
Not ranked again in '50.

1951 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
4
10/15/51
18
28
.
3-0-0
Not ranked until 4th poll.
5
10/22/51
13
122
.
4-0-0
Not ranked again in '51.

1953 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
3
10/5/53
18
29
.
2-0-0
Only ranked in 3rd poll.

1958 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
5
10/13/58
17
29
.
3-0-0
Not ranked until 5th poll.
6
10/20/58
8
618
3
4-0-0
.
7
10/27/58
11
178
.
4-1-0
.
8
11/3/58
4
815
.
5-1-0
.
9
11/10/58
13
166
.
5-2-0
.
10
11/17/58
20
76
.
5-3-0
.

1959 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
9/14/59 (p.s.)
10
441
6
0-0-0
.
2
9/21/59
10
164
.
0-0-0
.
3
9/28/59
2
647
20
1-0-0
.
4
10/5/59
2
1041
30
2-0-0
.
5
10/12/59
2
1006
10
3-0-0
.
6
10/19/59
2
1171
23
4-0-0
.
7
10/26/59
2
1474
25
5-0-0
.
8
11/2/59
2
1596
30
6-0-0
.
9
11/9/59
6
1311
2
6-1-0
.
10
11/16/59
8
411
1
6-2-0
Not ranked again in '59 (!).

1960 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
9/12/60 (p.s.)
14
41
.
0-0-0
.
2
9/19/60
14
40
.
0-0-0
.
3
9/26/60
6
188
1
1-0-0
Not ranked again in '60.

1962 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 10 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
5
10/15/62
8
165
3
3-0-0
Not ranked until 5th poll.
6
10/22/62
3
390
8
4-0-0
.
7
10/29/62
1
494
34
5-0-0
After Notre Dame win.
8
11/5/62
1
442
24
6-0-0
.
9
11/12/62
9
119
.
6-1-0
Not ranked again in '62.

1963 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 10 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
9/16/63 (p.s.)
6
297
.
0-0-0
.
2
9/23/63
7
197
5
1-0-0
.
3
9/30/63
4
264
1
2-0-0
Not ranked in poll 4.
5
10/14/63
10
103
.
3-1-0
.
6
10/21/63
9
141
.
4-1-0
Not ranked again in '63.

1970 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
8
10/26/70
20
18
.
3-3-0
Not ranked until poll 8;
not ranked in polls 9-10.
11
11/16/70
18
20
.
5-4-0
.
12
11/23/70
18
33
.
6-4-0
.
13
11/30/70
19
23
.
6-4-0
Not ranked again in '70.

1971 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 20 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
9/6/71 (p.s.)
20
58
1
0-0-0
Not ranked in polls 2-13.
14 (Reg. Seas. Final)
12/6/71
19
16
.
7-4-0
Not ranked in final poll.

1995 - A.P. Top 25 Final Rank: 8th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
4
9/10/95
25
121
.
1-0-0
Not ranked until poll 4;
not ranked in polls 5-6.
7
10/1/95
25
147
.
3-1-0
.
8
10/8/95
14
682
.
4-1-0
.
9
10/15/95
11
917
.
5-1-0
.
10
10/22/95
8
1087
.
6-1-0
.
11
10/29/95
6
1216
.
7-1-0
.
12
11/5/95
5
1288
.
8-1-0
.
13
11/12/95
5
1295
.
9-1-0
.
14
11/19/95
4
1326
.
10-1-0
.
15
11/26/95
3
1412
.
10-1-0
.
16 (Reg. Seas. Final)
12/3/95
3
1413
.
10-1-0
.
17 (Final)
1/3/96
8
1124
.
10-2-0
.

1996 - A.P. Top 25 Final Rank: 15th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
8/19/96 (p.s.)
18
496
.
0-0
.
2
8/26/96
15
583
.
0-0
.
3
9/1/96
13
663
.
0-0
Not ranked in polls 4-5.
6
9/22/96
25
79
.
2-1
.
7
9/29/96
22
201
.
3-1
.
8
10/6/96
15
743
.
4-1
.
9
10/13/96
14
798
.
5-1
.
10
10/20/96
11
977
.
6-1
.
11
10/27/96
11
1037
.
7-1
.
12
11/3/96
18
518
.
7-2
.
13
11/10/96
13
813
.
8-2
.
14
11/17/96
11
959
.
9-2
.
15
11/24/96
11
950
.
9-2
.
16
12/1/96
10
990
.
9-2
.
17 (Reg. Seas. Final)
12/8/96
11
1000
.
9-2
.
18 (Final)
1/3/97
15
663
.
9-3
.

1997 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 25 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
2
8/25/97
24
194
.
1-0
Not ranked in poll 1.
3
8/31/97
22
245
.
1-0
Not ranked again in '97.

2000 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 25 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
7
10/2/00
22
312
.
4-1
Not ranked in polls 1-6.
8
10/9/00
17
632
.
5-1
.
9
10/16/00
25
146
.
5-2
.
10
10/23/00
23
204
.
5-2
.
11
10/30/00
21
391
.
6-2
.
12
11/6/00
12
839
.
7-2
(15th in BCS Standings)
13
11/13/00
23
284
.
7-3
.
14
11/20/00
20
415
.
8-3
.
15
11/27/00
19
499
.
8-3
.
16 (Reg. Seas. Final)
12/4/00
18
553
.
8-3
Not ranked in final poll.

2001 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 25 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
1
8/20/01 (p.s.)
16
667
.
0-0
.
2
8/27/01
16
660
.
0-0
.
3
9/3/01
16
674
.
0-0
.
4
9/10/01
16
676
.
1-0
.
5
9/24/01
16
772
.
2-0
.
6
10/1/01
14
884
.
3-0
Not ranked in poll 7.
8
10/15/01
22
238
.
4-1
Not ranked again in 2001.

2005 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 25 Poll;
BCS Reg. Season Final Rank: 25th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
9
10/23/05
21
240
.
5-2
Not ranked in polls 1-8 or 10.
(21st in BCS)
11
11/6/05
25
82
.
6-3
Not ranked again in 2005.
13 11/20/05 NR 2 . 7-4 (25th in BCS)
14 11/27/05 NR 8 . 7-4 (22nd in BCS)
15 (Reg. Seas. Final) 12/4/05 NR 4 . 7-4 (25th in BCS)

2008 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 25 Poll;
BCS Reg. Season Final Rank: 23rd
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
8
10/19/08
NR
62
.
6-1
Not ranked in AP Poll (Coaches Poll #22 wk 6)
(22nd in BCS)
10 11/2/08 NR 88 . 7-2 Not ranked in AP Poll
(24th in BCS)
13 11/23/08 24 145 . 9-3 (24th in BCS)
14 11/30/08 24 190 . 9-3 (22nd in BCS)
15 (Reg. Seas. Final) 12/7/08 22 262 . 9-3 (23rd in BCS)

2010 - Not Ranked in A.P. or BCS Polls
(Coaches Poll #25, wk 5; #25, wk 11)
 
2012 - A.P. Top 25 Final Rank: 17th
BCS Reg. Season Final Rank: 20th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Place Votes
Record
Comments
6
9/30/12
24
143
.
5-0
Not ranked in polls 1-5.
11  11/4/12 NR 32
.
 7-2 Not ranked in polls 7-13
(24th in BCS)
14 11/25/12 22 189 . 9-3   (22nd in BCS)
15 (Reg. Seas. Final)
 12/2/12 21 266 . 9-3 (20th in BCS)
16 (Final)
 1/8/13 17 443 . 10-3 .

2013 - Not Ranked in Final A.P. Top 25 Poll
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Pl
Votes
Record
Comments
1
8/17/13 (p.s.)
22
199
.
0-0
Ranked 22 in all major polls.
2 9/3/13 19 320
 .
1-0 .
3 9/8/13 17 452 . 2-0 .
4 9/15/13 18 487 . 3-0 .
5 9/22/13 17 477 . 4-0 .
6 9/29/13 16 550 . 4-0 .
7 10/6/13 19 418 . 4-1 Not ranked again in 2013.

2015 - A.P. Top 25 Final Rank: 23rd
CF Playoffs Reg. Season Final Rank: 13th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Pl
Votes
Record
Comments
3
  9/13/15 
23
170
.
2-0
Not ranked in polls 1-2.
4 9/20/15 17 469 . 3-0 .
5 9/27/15 16 566 . 4-0 .
6 10/4/15 13 753 . 5-0 .
7 10/11/15 20 317 . 5-1 Not ranked, weeks 8-10
10 11/1/15 NR 21 . 6-2 (21st in Playoffs)
11 11/8/15 24 177 . 7-2 (18th in Playoffs)
12 11/15/15 20 397 . 8-2 (20th in Playoffs)
13 11/22/15 17 593 . 9-2 (16th in Playoffs)
14 11/29/15 13 711 . 10-2 (14th in Playoffs)
15 (Reg. Seas.
Final)
 12/6/15 12 776 . 10-2 (13th in Playoffs)
16 (Final)
 1/12/16 23 203 . 10-3 .


2017 - A.P. Top 25 Final Rank: 17th
CF Playoffs Reg. Season Final Rank: 21st
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Pl
Votes
Record
Comments
11
 11/5/17
NR
6
.
6-3
Not ranked in AP polls 1-10;
(25th in Playoffs)
12 11/12/17 NR 72 . 7-3 (23rd in Playoffs)
13 11/19/17 23 232 . 8-3 (22nd in Playoffs)
14 11/26/17 20 378 . 9-3 (21st in Playoffs)
15 (Reg. Seas. Final)
 12/3/17 20 398 . 9-3 (21st in Playoffs)
16 (Final)
 1/11/18 17 528 . 10-3 .


2018 - A.P. Top 25 Final Rank: 21st
CF Playoffs Reg. Season Final Rank: 22nd
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Pl
Votes
Record
Comments
12
 11/11/18
24
136
.
6-4
Not ranked in AP polls 1-11;
(22nd in Playoffs)
13 11/18/18 20 307 . 7-4 (19th in Playoffs)
14 11/25/18 21 322 . 8-4 (21st in Playoffs)
15 (Reg. Seas. Final)
 12/2/18 NR 109 . 8-5 (22nd in Playoffs)
16 (Final)
1/13/19 21 284 . 9-5 .

2019 - Not Ranked in A.P. or BCS Polls
(Coaches Poll #25, Preseason)


 2020 - A.P. Top 25 Final Rank: 10th
CF Playoffs Reg. Season Final Rank: 14th
Poll Wk.
Date
Rank
Points
1st Pl
Votes
Record
Comments
11
 11/8/20
23
250
.
3-0
Not ranked in AP polls 1-10;
12 11/15/20 19 378 . 4-0 -
13 11/22/20 11 922 . 5-0 Highest ranking since 1996.
(8th in Playoffs)
14
 11/29/20 16 577 . 5-1 (14th in Playoffs)
15
 12/6/20 15 647 . 5-1 (14th in Playoffs)
16 (Reg. Seas. Final)
 12/13/20 15 691 . 6-1 (14th in Playoffs)
17 (Final)
 1/10/21 10 893 . 7-2 -