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1917 Minnesota

4–⁠1 (3–⁠1 Western Conference), coached by Henry Williams.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1917, game by game: won vs. South Dakota State 64–0; won vs. Indiana 33–9; lost at Wisconsin 7–10; won vs. Chicago 33–0; won at Illinois 27–6+64−3Won 64–0 vs. South Dakota State+64South Dakota St…Won 33–9 vs. Indiana+24IndianaLost 7–10 at Wisconsin-3WisconsinWon 33–0 vs. Chicago+33ChicagoWon 27–6 at Illinois+21Illinois
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Oct 20vsSouth Dakota StateW 64–⁠097%
Oct 27vsIndianaW 33–⁠977%
Nov 3atWisconsinL 7–⁠1056%
Nov 17vsChicagoW 33–⁠064%
Nov 24atIllinoisW 27–⁠647%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Illinois 27–⁠6; 2nd in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 14th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Photographs from 1917

  • Joseph M. Sprafka
    Joseph M. SprafkaPhoto: Hennepin County Library, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
  • University of Minnesota Football Team
    University of Minnesota Football TeamPhoto: Hennepin County Library, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America

Photographs from libraries and archives found through the Digital Public Library of America, each under the rights statement its holder gives (no copyright in the United States, public domain or Creative Commons) and credited to it. Captions as each collection catalogues them.

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1917.

Consensus All-AmericanGeorge Hauser, OT

Record
4–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠1 2nd in Western Conference
AP poll
Began in 1936
Points
164–⁠25
Coach
Henry Williams
Elo
1680 +57 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
39.3 No. 1 of 88 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
George Hauser

All-Big Ten

2 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1917 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1917 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State4–⁠08–⁠0–⁠1
Minnesota3–⁠14–⁠1
Northwestern3–⁠25–⁠2
Wisconsin3–⁠24–⁠2–⁠1
Illinois2–⁠2–⁠15–⁠2–⁠1
Chicago2–⁠2–⁠13–⁠2–⁠1
Indiana1–⁠25–⁠2
Michigan0–⁠18–⁠2
Purdue0–⁠43–⁠4
Iowa0–⁠23–⁠5

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.