1939 Illinois
3–4–1 (3–3 Western Conference), coached by Robert Zuppke. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest upsetBeat No. 2 Michigan 16–7Nov 4
Michigan was ranked No. 2, above it.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 30 | vsBradley | T 0–0 | 85% |
| Oct 14 | at USC | L 0–26 | 20% |
| Oct 21 | vs Indiana | L 6–7 | 51% |
| Oct 28 | at Northwestern | L 0–13 | 32% |
| Nov 4 | vs 2Michigan | W 16–7 | 29% |
| Nov 11 | vs Wisconsin | W 7–0 | 62% |
| Nov 18 | at 8Ohio State | L 0–21 | 24% |
| Nov 25 | atChicago | W 46–0 | 68% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Beat Chicago 46–0; unranked in the final AP poll; 6th in the Western Conference.
In program history: The 83rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).
- Record
- 3–4–1
- Conference
- 3–3 6th in Western Conference
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 75–74
- Coach
- Robert Zuppke
- Elo
- 1479 +17 this season
- SP+ rating
- —
- SRS
- 0.2 No. 65 of 124 major-college teams
- Recruiting class
- —
- Captain
- William Lenich
- Most valuable player
- Mel Brewer
All-Big Ten
1 first team, 1 second teamFirst team
Jim ReederOTAP-1; UP-1
Second team
- Mel BrewerOGAP-2
From Wikipedia’s 1939 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1939 Western Conference standings
| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ohio State | 5–1 | 6–2 | 15 |
 Iowa | 4–1–1 | 6–1–1 | 9 |
| Michigan | 3–2 | 6–2 | 20 |
 Purdue | 2–1–2 | 3–3–2 | |
| Northwestern | 3–2–1 | 3–4–1 | |
| Illinois | 3–3 | 3–4–1 | |
 Minnesota | 2–3–1 | 3–4–1 | |
| Indiana | 2–3 | 2–4–2 | |
| Wisconsin | 0–5–1 | 1–6–1 | |
| Chicago | 0–3 | 2–6 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.