1972 small college football rankings

The 1972 small college football rankings are rankings of college football teams representing smaller college and university teams during the 1972 college football season, including the 1972 NCAA College Division football season and the 1972 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.

The 1972 Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens football team (10–0), led by head coach Tubby Raymond, was rated No. 1 by both the AP and UPI. Louisiana Tech (12–0) and Cal Poly (8–1–1) were ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, by the AP and UPI.

Legend
1972 was the last year the polls would be used to crown a national "Small College" or "College Division" champion. In 1973, season-ending playoffs were begun to determine a champion for "Division II". The UPI and AP continued publishing "College Division" polls through the 1974 season.

HBCU rankings
The Mutual Black Network ranked the top 1972 teams from historically black colleges and universities.


 * 1. Grambling (11–2)
 * 2. Tennessee State (11–1)
 * 3. Albany State (7–2–1)
 * 4. Jackson State (8–3)
 * 5. North Carolina College (9–2)
 * 6. Fort Valley State (8–2)
 * 7. North Carolina A&T (9–2)
 * 8. Fisk (7–1–1)
 * 9. Alabama A&M (7–1–1)
 * 10. Virginia State (7–3)