NCAA football standings at the end of September 4, 1981
| Atlantic Coast Conference | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Clemson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Danny Ford | 
| Duke | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Red Wilson | 
| Maryland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jerry Claiborne | 
| #14 North Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dick Crum | 
| North Carolina State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Monte Kiffin | 
| Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dick Bestwick | 
| Wake Forest | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Al Groh | 
| Big Ten Conference | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Illinois | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mike White | 
| Indiana | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lee Corso | 
| Iowa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hayden Fry | 
| #12 Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bo Schembechler | 
| Michigan State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Frank Waters | 
| Minnesota | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Joe Salem | 
| Northwestern | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dennis Green | 
| #1 Ohio State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Earle Bruce | 
| #9 Purdue | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jim Young | 
| Wisconsin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dave McClain | 
| Big Eight Conference | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Colorado | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Chuck Fairbanks | 
| Iowa State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Donnie Duncan | 
| Kansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Don Fambrough | 
| Kansas State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jim Dickey | 
| #17 Missouri | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Warren Powers | 
| #7 Nebraska | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tom Osborne | 
| #5 Oklahoma | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Barry Switzer | 
| Oklahoma State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jimmy Johnson | 
| Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Fresno State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jim Sweeney | 
| San Jose State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jack Elway | 
| Utah State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bruce Snyder | 
| Ivy League | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | John Anderson | 
| Columbia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Robert Naso | 
| Cornell | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bob Blackman | 
| Dartmouth | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Joe Yukica | 
| Harvard | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Joseph Restic | 
| Pennsylvania | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jerry Berndt | 
| Princeton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Frank Navarro | 
| Yale | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Carmen Cozza | 
| Missouri Valley Conference | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Drake | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Chuck Shelton | 
| Illinois State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bob Otolski | 
| Indiana State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dennis Raetz | 
| New Mexico State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gil Krueger | 
| Southern Illinois | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rey Dempsey | 
| Tulsa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | John Cooper | 
| West Texas A&M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bill Yung | 
| Wichita State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Willie Jeffries | 
| Mid-America Conference | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Ball State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dwight Wallace | 
| Bowling Green State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Denny Stolz | 
| Central Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Herb Deromedi | 
| Eastern Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mike Stock | 
| Kent State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ed Chlebek | 
| Miami (Ohio) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tom Reed | 
| Northern Illinois | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bill Mallory | 
| Ohio University | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Brian Burke | 
| Toledo | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Chuck Stobart | 
| Western Michigan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Elliot Uzelac | 
| Pac Ten Conference | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Arizona | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Larry Smith | 
| Arizona State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Darryl Rogers | 
| California | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Roger Theder | 
| Oregon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rich Brooks | 
| Oregon State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Joe Avezzano | 
| #4 Southern California | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | John Robinson | 
| #15 Stanford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Paul Wiggin | 
| UCLA | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Terry Donahue | 
| #20 Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Don James | 
| Washington State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jim Walden | 
| Southeastern Conference | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| #2 Alabama | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Paul "Bear" Bryant | 
| #19 Auburn | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Pat Dye | 
| Florida | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Charley Pell | 
| #16 Georgia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Vince Dooley | 
| Kentucky | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fran Curci | 
| Louisiana State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jerry Stovall | 
| Mississippi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Steve Sloan | 
| Mississippi State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Emory Bellard | 
| Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Johnny Majors | 
| Vanderbilt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | George MacIntyre | 
| Southern Conference | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Appalachian State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mike Working | 
| Citadel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Art Baker | 
| Furman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dick Sheridan | 
| Marshall | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sonny Randle | 
| Tennessee-Chattanooga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bill "Brother" Oliver | 
| Virginia Military | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bob Thalman | 
| Western Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bob Waters | 
| Southwestern Conference | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| #6 Arkansas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lou Holtz | 
| Baylor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Grant Teaff | 
| #8 Houston | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bill Yeoman | 
| Rice | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ray Alborn | 
| Southern Methodist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ron Meyer | 
| #10 Texas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Fred Akers | 
| Texas A&M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tom Wilson | 
| Texas Christian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | F.A. Dry | 
| Texas Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jerry Moore | 
| Western Athletic Conference | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Air Force | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ken Hatfield | 
| Brigham Young | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lavell Edwards | 
| Colorado State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sark Arslanian, Chester Caddas | 
| Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dick Tomey | 
| New Mexico | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Joe Morrison | 
| San Diego State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Doug Scovil | 
| Texas-El Paso | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bill Michael, Bill Alton | 
| Utah | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Wayne Howard | 
| Wyoming | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Al Kincaid | 
| Southland Conference | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Arkansas State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Larry Lacewell | 
| Louisiana Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Billy Brewer | 
| Louisiana-Lafayette | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Sam Robertson | 
| Louisiana-Monroe | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Pat Collins | 
| McNeese State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ernie Duplechin | 
| Major Independents | 
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES | 
|---|
|  | CONFERENCE GAMES |  | 
|---|
|  | W | L | T | PF | PA | STRK | W | L | T | PF | PA | COACH(ES) | 
|---|
| Army | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ed Cavanaugh | 
| Boston College | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jack Bicknell | 
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mike Gottfried | 
| Colgate | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Frederick Dunlap | 
| East Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ed Emory | 
| #13 Florida State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bobby Bowden | 
| Georgia Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bill Curry | 
| Holy Cross | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rick Carter | 
| Louisville | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bob Weber | 
| Memphis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Rex Dockery | 
| Miami (Florida) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Howard Schnellenberger | 
| Navy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | George Welsh | 
| North Texas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bob Tyler | 
| #11 Notre Dame | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gerry Faust | 
| #18 Penn State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Joe Paterno | 
| #3 Pittsburgh | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jackie Sherrill | 
| Richmond | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dal Shealy | 
| Rutgers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Frank Burns | 
| South Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jim Carlen | 
| Southern Mississippi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bobby Collins | 
| Syracuse | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dick MacPherson | 
| Temple | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Wayne Hardin | 
| Tulane | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Vince Gibson | 
| UNLV | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tony Knap | 
| Virginia Tech | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bill Dooley | 
| West Virginia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Don Nehlen | 
| William & Mary | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |  | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jimmye Laycock |