The 1963 small college football rankings are rankings of college football teams representing smaller college and university teams during the 1963 college football season, including the 1963 NCAA College Division football season and the 1963 NAIA football season. Separate rankings were published by the Associated Press (AP) and the United Press International (UPI). The AP rankings were selected by a board of sports writers, and the UPI rankings were selected by a board of small-college coaches.
In the final AP poll, the 1963 Northern Illinois Huskies football team (10–0) was rated as the small-college champion. The Huskies were led by the record-setting passing of quarterback George Bork.
In the final UPI poll, the 1963 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team (8–0) was rated as the small-college champion. Delaware was ranked No. 2 in the AP poll.
Legend
AP poll
UPI coaches poll
Pittsburgh Courier rankings
The Pittsburgh Courier, a leading African American newspaper, ranked the top 1963 teams from historically black colleges and universities in an era when college football was often racially segregated.
The rankings were published on December 7:
- 1. Prairie View A&M (10–1)
- 2. North Carolina College (8–1)
- 3. Morgan State (8–1)
- 4. Florida A&M (7–2)
- 5. Southern (7–3)
- 6. Texas Southern (7–3)
- 7. Arkansas AM&N (5–4–1)
- 8. Grambling (5–3–1)
- 9. Virginia Union (7–2)
- 10. North Carolina A&T (7–3)
- 11. Tennessee State (6–3)
- 12. South Carolina State (8–1)
- 13. Alabama A&M (8–0)
- 14. Bethune-Cookman (7–2)
- 15. Clark (7–1)
- 16. Johnson C. Smith (6–2)
References
