1971 Reward Ranking (before bowl games)
| Rank | Name | W | L | T | Reward | AP | UPI |
| 1 | Nebraska | 12 | 0 | 0 | 6.7706 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Alabama | 11 | 0 | 0 | 6.6225 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 10 | 1 | 0 | 5.4891 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Auburn | 9 | 1 | 0 | 5.4048 | 5 | 5 |
| 5 | Michigan | 11 | 0 | 0 | 4.6687 | 4 | 4 |
| 6 | Georgia | 10 | 1 | 0 | 4.5523 | 6 | 8 |
| 7 | ArizonaState | 10 | 1 | 0 | 4.1740 | 8 | 6 |
| 8 | Colorado | 9 | 2 | 0 | 4.1190 | 7 | 7 |
| 9 | PennState | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3.9201 | 10 | 11 |
| 10 | Tennessee | 9 | 2 | 0 | 3.9054 | 9 | 9 |
| 11 | Toledo | 11 | 0 | 0 | 3.8218 | 14 | 13 |
| 12 | Mississippi | 9 | 2 | 0 | 3.5512 | 17 | 20T |
| 13 | Houston | 9 | 2 | 0 | 3.1731 | 15 | 14 |
| 14 | NotreDame | 8 | 2 | 0 | 3.0403 | 13 | 15 |
| 15 | Texas | 8 | 2 | 0 | 2.8758 | 12 | 12 |
| 16 | LouisianaState | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2.7043 | 11 | 10 |
| 17 | IowaState | 8 | 3 | 0 | 2.5111 | NR | 17 |
| 18 | Dartmouth | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2.4742 | NR | NR |
| 19 | Arkansas | 8 | 2 | 1 | 2.2770 | 18 | 20T |
| 20 | NorthCarolina | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2.1965 | NR | 18 |
| 21 | Cornell | 8 | 1 | 0 | 2.1400 | ||
| 22 | Washington | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1.8588 | ||
| 23 | SouthernCalifornia | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1.8452 | ||
| 24 | Stanford | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1.7963 | 16 | 16 |
| 25 | BostonCollege | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1.7544 | ||
| 26 | FloridaState | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1.5406 | NR | 19 |
| 27 | UtahState | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1.3771 | ||
| 28 | GeorgiaTech | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1.1046 | ||
| 29 | AirForce | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0.9355 | ||
| 30 | OhioState | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0.9071 | ||
| 31 | Oregon | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0.8804 | ||
| 32 | OregonState | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0.7970 | ||
| 33 | California | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0.7926 | ||
| 34 | Miami(Ohio) | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0.7059 | ||
| 35 | OklahomaState | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0.6883 | ||
| 36 | Florida | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0.6640 | ||
| 37 | KansasState | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0.6607 | ||
| 38 | Army | 6 | 4 | 0 | 0.6072 | ||
| 39 | Northwestern | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0.5816 | 19 | NR |
| 40 | TexasChristian | 6 | 4 | 1 | 0.5627 | ||
| 41 | SouthCarolina | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0.5486 | ||
| 42 | MichiganState | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0.5427 | ||
| 43 | Temple | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0.5329 | ||
| 44 | NewMexico | 6 | 3 | 2 | 0.5140 | ||
| 45 | WestVirginia | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0.4578 | ||
| 46 | WesternMichigan | 7 | 3 | 0 | 0.4141 | ||
| 47 | Illinois | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0.3995 | ||
| 48 | Duke | 6 | 5 | 0 | 0.3879 | ||
| 49 | SanJoseState | 5 | 5 | 1 | 0.3332 | ||
| 50 | Kansas | 4 | 7 | 0 |