1957 NCAA University Division football rankings

Two human polls comprised the 1957 NCAA University Division football rankings. Unlike most sports, college football's governing body, the NCAA, does not bestow a national championship, instead that title is bestowed by one or more different polling agencies. There are two main weekly polls that begin in the preseason—the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll.

AP Poll
The final AP Poll was released on December 2, at the end of the 1957 regular season, weeks before the major bowls. The AP would not release a post-bowl season final poll regularly until 1968.

Final Coaches Poll
The final UPI Coaches Poll was released prior to the bowl games on December 2. Ohio State received 14 of the 35 first-place votes; Auburn received eleven, Michigan State eight, and two to Arizona State.
 * Prior to the 1975 season, the Big Ten and Pacific Coast (later AAWU / Pac-8) conferences allowed only one postseason participant each, for the Rose Bowl.
 * The Ivy League has prohibited its members from participating in postseason football since the league was officially formed in 1954.

Litkenhous Ratings
The final Litkenhous Ratings, released in December 1957, ranked over 550 teams. The top 100 teams as ranked by Litkenhous were:

1. Ohio State 2. Auburn 3. Michigan State 4. Iowa 5. Ole Miss 6. Navy 7. Wisconsin 8. Oklahoma 9. Rice 10. Texas A&M 11. Tennessee 12. Notre Dame 13. Purdue 14. Duke 15. Arizona State 16. Illinois 17. Florida 18. Clemson 19. Michigan 20. Mississippi State 21. Texas 22. Arkansas 23. NC State 24. LSU 25. UCLA 26. Army 27. Minnesota 28. North Carolina 29. TCU 30. Georgia Tech 31. Oregon State 32. Miami (FL) 33. Oregon 34. Kentucky 35. Stanford 36. South Carolina 37. Maryland 38. Washington State 39. Vanderbilt 40. SMU 41. California 42. Georgia 43. Baylor 44. Colorado 45. West Virginia 46. Pittsburgh 47. Penn State 48. Houston 49. Oklahoma State 50. Mississippi Southern 51. Idaho 52. Virginia 53. Washington 54. Syracuse 55. Utah 56. Holy Cross 57. Missouri 58. 59. Boston College 60. Alabama 61. VMI 62. Florida State 63. Tulane 64. West Texas 65. Louisville 66. USC 67. 68. Drake 69. Detroit 70. Villanova 71. Texas Western 72. Yale 73. North Texas 74. Memphis State 75. Princeton 76. Northwestern 77. Bowling Green 78. 79. Texas Tech 80. Kansas State 81. William & Mary 82. Pacific 83. Virginia Tech 84. Delaware 85. Wake Forest 86. 87. Middle Tennessee 88. Hardin Simmons 89. Iowa State 90. 91. Chattanooga 92. Miami (OH) 93. Kansas 94. Tulsa 95. Cincinnati 96. Dartmouth 97. Boston University 98. 99. Lehigh