1927 Illinois
7–0–1 (5–0 Western Conference), coached by Robert Zuppke. Share
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Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Butler 58–0Oct 8
By 58 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1 | vsBradley | W 19–0 | 92% |
| Oct 8 | vs Butler | W 58–0 | 96% |
| Oct 15 | vs Iowa State | T 12–12 | 70% |
| Oct 22 | at Northwestern | W 7–6 | 38% |
| Oct 29 | vs Michigan | W 14–0 | 44% |
| Nov 5 | at Iowa | W 14–0 | 63% |
| Nov 12 | vsChicago | W 15–6 | 80% |
| Nov 19 | at Ohio State | W 13–0 | 57% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Beat Ohio State 13–0; Western Conference champions.
In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).
Photographs from 1927
Illinois vs. Northwestern, October 22, 1927, Dyche Stadium, Evanston, Ill.Photo: Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Panoramic photographs, no known restrictions on publication
Photographs from the Library of Congress’s Prints & Photographs Division, with no known restrictions on publication. Captions as each collection catalogues them.
National championsa title the school claims
Western Conference champions5–0 in the conference, shared with Minnesota
- Record
- 7–0–1
- Conference
- 5–0 first in Western Conference
- AP poll
- Began in 1936
- Points
- 152–24
- Coach
- Robert Zuppke
- Elo
- 1666 +93 this season
- SP+ rating
- —
- SRS
- 11.0 No. 20 of 99 major-college teams
- Recruiting class
- —
- Captain
- Robert Reitsch
- Offense
- Single-wing
All-Big Ten
3 first team, 3 second teamFirst team
Butch NowackOTAP-1; CDN-1; HJ-2; WE-1- Robert ReitschCAP-2; CDN-2; HJ-1; UP-1; WE-2
- Jud TimmRBAP-2; CDN-1; HJ-1; UP-1; WE-1
Second team
- Garland GrangeEAP-2; CDN-2; WE-2
- Ernest W. SchultzOGHJ-2
- Russ CraneOGCDN-2; WE-2
From Wikipedia’s 1927 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1927 Western Conference standings
| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois | 5–0 | 7–0–1 | |
 Minnesota | 3–0–1 | 6–0–2 | |
| Michigan | 3–2 | 6–2 | |
| Chicago | 3–3 | 4–4 | |
 Purdue | 2–2 | 6–2 | |
| Ohio State | 2–3 | 4–4 | |
| Northwestern | 2–3 | 4–4 | |
 Indiana | 1–2–1 | 3–4–1 | |
| Iowa | 1–4 | 4–4 | |
 Wisconsin | 1–4 | 4–4 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.