1971 saw unanimous national champion Nebraska finish atop the RPR following a 2nd straight unbeaten campaign and Orange Bowl victory. The Cornhuskers tied for the best Win % and had Top 5 finishes in SOS and Score Ratio as well. Alabama was the only other team to finish in the CCT cutoff, but Nebraska’s head-to-head win over the Crimson Tide ensured there only one true champion.

Note: I rated 118 teams instead of 128, which most rating systems rate for the 1971 season. Based on NCAA Football Record books, the following schools weren’t considered “major college”/FBS-equivalent for 1971 and were not rated: California State-Los Angeles, California-Santa Barbara, Chattanooga, Drake, Fresno State, Furman, Hawaii, Long Beach State, Tampa, and Texas-Arlington.

Co-champion Consideration Threshold: 0.0394; CCT Rating Cutoff: 0.7217

Rank	Team	Rating
1	Nebraska (AP/C)	0.7611
2	Alabama	0.7423
3	Toledo	0.7096
4	Oklahoma	0.7067
5	Georgia	0.6910
6	Penn State	0.6787
7	Colorado	0.6758
8	Auburn	0.6732
9	Arizona State	0.6691
10	Tennessee	0.6690
11	Michigan	0.6683
12	Mississippi	0.6474
13	LSU	0.6452
14	Notre Dame	0.6411
15	Dartmouth	0.6387
16	Houston	0.6358
17	Cornell	0.6344
18	Boston College	0.6301
19	Stanford	0.6180
20	Iowa State	0.6113
21	Texas	0.6018
22	Washington	0.5999
23	Temple	0.5975
24	North Carolina	0.5972
25	Western Michigan	0.5946
26	Utah State	0.5929
27	Southern California	0.5913
28	Arkansas	0.5886
29	Miami OH	0.5853
30	Florida State	0.5798
31	Ohio State	0.5716
32	West Virginia	0.5682
33	Idaho	0.5598
34	Columbia	0.5587
35	New Mexico	0.5514
36	Air Force	0.5483
37	Georgia Tech	0.5474
38	Louisville	0.5406
39	Villanova	0.5402
40	Northwestern	0.5374
41	Bowling Green	0.5349
42	Michigan State	0.5344
43	Southern Mississippi	0.5323
44	Cincinnati	0.5315
45	Memphis	0.5250
46	Ohio	0.5232
47	Duke	0.5216
48	South Carolina	0.5196
49	Oregon	0.5182
50	California	0.5161
51	Harvard	0.5153
52	San Jose State	0.5132
53	Kansas State	0.5115
54	San Diego State	0.5109
55	TCU	0.5107
56	Oregon State	0.5016
57	Princeton	0.5011
58	The Citadel	0.4985
59	Syracuse	0.4976
60	Army	0.4966
61	Wyoming	0.4928
62	Brigham Young	0.4923
63	Yale	0.4902
64	Wake Forest	0.4874
65	Oklahoma State	0.4800
66	Richmond	0.4800
67	Clemson	0.4793
68	Texas A&M	0.4789
69	Dayton	0.4784
70	Vanderbilt	0.4780
71	Colgate	0.4773
72	Northern Illinois	0.4768
73	William & Mary	0.4760
74	Illinois	0.4760
75	Florida	0.4739
76	New Mexico State	0.4694
77	Arizona	0.4677
78	Holy Cross	0.4676
79	Rutgers	0.4663
80	Kansas	0.4641
81	Miami, FL	0.4615
82	Texas Tech	0.4577
83	Wisconsin	0.4541
84	UTEP	0.4524
85	Washington State	0.4514
86	Minnesota	0.4483
87	Pittsburgh	0.4447
88	Purdue	0.4435
89	East Carolina	0.4429
90	UCLA	0.4410
91	Utah	0.4395
92	Tulane	0.4388
93	SMU	0.4373
94	Kentucky	0.4371
95	Virginia Tech	0.4370
96	Rice	0.4363
97	Pacific	0.4363
98	Mississippi State	0.4335
99	Tulsa	0.4328
100	Navy	0.4231
101	Kent State	0.4160
102	Colorado State	0.4086
103	Pennsylvania	0.4053
104	North Texas	0.3938
105	NC State	0.3905
106	Missouri	0.3891
107	Maryland	0.3884
108	Virginia	0.3869
109	Indiana	0.3752
110	Wichita State	0.3579
111	Xavier	0.3551
112	Brown	0.3505
113	Marshall	0.3459
114	West Texas A&M	0.3357
115	Iowa	0.3333
116	Baylor	0.3049
117	Davidson	0.2959
118	VMI	0.2879

Best Win Percentage: Nebraska/Toledo
Best SOS: Alabama
Best Score Ratio: Michigan