1896 Week 12 College Football Team Rankings
1896 rankings calculated with the Classic formula (Ken's 2016-based hybrid, applied retroactively); records, NOW and game results come from James Howell's historical college football score archive.
| Rank | Change | Rating | Team | Conf | Record | Win % | Place | NOW | Game Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | 0.556 |  Princeton (PRINCETON) | IND FBSI | 9–0–1 | 0.950 | 4 | +22 | BYE |
| 2 | 0 | 0.727 |  Michigan (MICHIGAN) |  B10 | 8–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +16 | Beat Oberlin 10–0 |
| 3 | 0 | 0.757 |  Wisconsin (WISCONSIN) | B10 | 6–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +17 | BYE |
| 4 | 3 | 1.043 |  Pennsylvania (PENNSYLVANIA) | IND FBSI | 12–1 | 0.923 | 6 | +30 | Beat Penn State 27–0 |
| 5 | 0 | 1.088 |  Lafayette (LAFAYETTE) | IND FBSI | 9–0–1 | 0.950 | 4 | +18 | Beat Bloomsburg 17–0; Beat WYOMING SEMINARY 23–0; Beat FRANKLIN & MARSHALL 38–0 |
| 6 | 0 | 1.174 |  Yale (YALE) | IND FBSI | 13–0 | 1.000 | 1 | +31 | Beat NEW Jersey A.c. 16–0 |
| 7 | -3 | 1.590 |  Northwestern (NORTHWESTERN) | B10 | 6–1–1 | 0.813 | 9 | +16 | Lost to Chicago 6–18 |
| 8 | 0 | 1.694 |  Minnesota (MINNESOTA) | B10 | 7–1 | 0.875 | 7 | +4 | BYE |
| 9 | 0 | 1.716 | Chicago (CHICAGO) | B10 | 14–2–1 | 0.853 | 8 | +9 | Tied Lake Forest 0–0; Beat NORTHWESTERN 18–6 |
| 10 | 2 | 2.080 |  Cornell (CORNELL) | IND FBSI | 5–2–1 | 0.688 | 11 | +3 | Tied Williams 0–0 |
| 11 | 0 | 2.211 |  Illinois (ILLINOIS) | B10 | 4–2 | 0.667 | 12 | 0 | BYE |
| 12 | -2 | 2.404 |  Harvard (HARVARD) | IND FBSI | 7–3 | 0.700 | 10 | +26 | Lost to Boston A.c. 6–8 |
| 13 | 0 | 2.405 |  Navy (NAVY) | IND FBSI | 4–2 | 0.667 | 12 | +4 | BYE |
| 14 | 1 | 2.733 |  Purdue (PURDUE) | B10 | 4–2 | 0.667 | 12 | -1 | Beat Notre Dame 28–22 |
| 15 | -1 | 2.819 |  Army (ARMY) | IND FBSI | 2–2–1 | 0.500 | 20 | +2 | BYE |
| 16 | 2 | 2.988 |  Dartmouth (DARTMOUTH) | IND FBSI | 3–2–1 | 0.583 | 19 | +5 | Beat Amherst 32–0 |
| 17 | -1 | 3.033 |  Williams (WILLIAMS) | IND FBSI | 6–3–1 | 0.650 | 16 | -1 | Tied Cornell 0–0 |
| 18 | -1 | 3.774 | Trinity (connecticut) (TRINITY (CONNECTICUT)) | IND FBSI | 5–3 | 0.625 | 17 | -3 | Lost to Wesleyan 12–24; Beat NEW YORK UNIVERSITY 40–0 |
| 19 | 2 | 3.838 |  Bowdoin (BOWDOIN) | IND FBSI | 4–2–2 | 0.625 | 17 | -3 | Beat Maine 12–6 |
| 20 | 2 | 3.945 |  Bucknell (BUCKNELL) | IND FBSI | 4–2 | 0.667 | 12 | 0 | Beat Bloomsburg 18–6 |
| 21 | 2 | 3.971 | Carlisle (CARLISLE) | IND FBSI | 3–4 | 0.429 | 26 | -1 | Beat Cincinnati 28–0 |
| 22 | -2 | 4.122 |  Brown (BROWN) | IND FBSI | 3–4–1 | 0.438 | 23 | 0 | BYE |
| 23 | -4 | 4.408 |  Penn State (PENN STATE) | IND FBSI | 3–3 | 0.500 | 20 | 0 | Lost to Pennsylvania 0–27 |
| 24 | 2 | 4.567 | Wesleyan (WESLEYAN) | IND FBSI | 4–4–1 | 0.500 | 20 | -3 | Beat Trinity (CONNECTICUT) 24–12 |
| 25 | -1 | 4.864 | Dickinson (DICKINSON) | IND FBSI | 3–4 | 0.429 | 26 | -8 | BYE |
| 26 | 1 | 6.054 | Franklin & Marshall (FRANKLIN & MARSHALL) | IND FBSI | 3–4–1 | 0.438 | 23 | -3 | Lost to Lafayette 0–38 |
| 27 | -2 | 6.188 |  Lake Forest (LAKE FOREST) | IND FBSI | 3–4–1 | 0.438 | 23 | -2 | Tied Chicago 0–0; Lost to RIPON 0–12 |
| 28 | 1 | 6.404 |  Lehigh (LEHIGH) | IND FBSI | 2–5 | 0.286 | 28 | -7 | Beat Maryland A.c. 26–0 |
| 29 | -1 | 7.523 | Amherst (AMHERST) | IND FBSI | 2–6–1 | 0.278 | 29 | -4 | Lost to Dartmouth 0–32 |
| 30 | 0 | 8.545 |  Tufts (TUFTS) | IND FBSI | 2–6 | 0.250 | 30 | -13 | Lost to Andover 8–12 |