8-0, won AP's final poll with the most first-place votes of the four claimants.
Minnesota’s 1940 schedule1940 National Champion: And Who Else Claims It
MULTIPLEDISPUTEDMinnesota's AP title is undisputed at the top selector; Stanford, Tennessee, and Boston College each hold rival claims from other, lower-tier systems rather than from AP itself.
The case for each side
Claimed by the program: no recognized selector picked them
Unbeaten, beat SEC champion Tennessee 19-13 in the Sugar Bowl; the school's own historical claim (see bceagles.com and the school-commissioned "1940 Team of Destiny" history) rests on minor selectors reported as Cliff Morgan and Ray Bryne rating BC No. 1; sourcing for the specific selector is thin and largely school-promoted.
Boston College’s 1940 schedule
Claimed by the program: no recognized selector picked them
9-0 and Rose Bowl champion over Nebraska; named champion by minor contemporary systems (reported as the HF and B&P systems), not by AP.
Stanford’s 1940 schedule
Claimed by the program: no recognized selector picked them
10-0 in the regular season and SEC champion; named champion by the Dunkel and Williamson systems before losing the Sugar Bowl to Boston College.
Tennessee’s 1940 scheduleNo national title game was played after the 1940 season: before 1998 there was no mechanism to play one, which is why so many of these seasons were settled by vote instead.