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1926 Minnesota

5–⁠3 (2–⁠2 Western Conference), coached by Clarence Spears.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1926, game by game: won vs. North Dakota 51–0; lost vs. Notre Dame 7–20; lost at Michigan 0–20; won vs. Wabash 67–7; won at Wisconsin 16–10; won at Iowa 41–0; won vs. Butler 81–0; lost vs. Michigan 6–7+81−20Won 51–0 vs. North Dakota+51North DakotaLost 7–20 vs. Notre Dame-13Notre DameLost 0–20 at Michigan-20MichiganWon 67–7 vs. Wabash+60WabashWon 16–10 at Wisconsin+6WisconsinWon 41–0 at Iowa+41IowaWon 81–0 vs. Butler+81ButlerLost 6–7 vs. Michigan-1Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Oct 2vsNorth DakotaW 51–⁠094%
Oct 9vsNotre DameL 7–⁠2044%
Oct 16atMichiganL 0–⁠2024%
Oct 23vsWabashW 67–⁠787%
Oct 30atWisconsinW 16–⁠1030%
Nov 6atIowaW 41–⁠045%
Nov 13vsButlerW 81–⁠096%
Nov 20vsMichiganL 6–⁠742%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan 7–⁠6; tied for 6th in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 54th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Photographs from 1926

  • Bill Meili
    Bill MeiliPhoto: Hennepin County Library, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
  • Duke Johnson and Shorty Almquist
    Duke Johnson and Shorty AlmquistPhoto: Hennepin County Library, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
  • Leif Strand
    Leif StrandPhoto: Hennepin County Library, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
  • Leif Strand
    Leif StrandPhoto: Hennepin County Library, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
  • Leif Strand
    Leif StrandPhoto: Hennepin County Library, No Copyright – United States, via Digital Public Library of America
  • John Riggs
    John RiggsPhoto: 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 1926.

Consensus All-AmericanHerb Joesting, FB

Record
5–⁠3
Conference
2–⁠2 tied for 6th in Western Conference
AP poll
Began in 1936
Points
269–⁠64
Coach
Clarence Spears
Elo
1571 +45 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
13.6 No. 15 of 96 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Roger Wheeler

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Roger B. WheelerEAP-1; UP-2; BE-1; WE-1
  • Mike GaryOTAP-1; UP-3; BE-3
  • Hal HansonOG
  • Herb JoestingFBAP-1; UP-1; BE-1; WE-1

Second team

  • Harold AlmquistQBAP-2; BE-2

From Wikipedia’s 1926 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1926 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Northwestern5–⁠07–⁠1
Michigan5–⁠07–⁠1
Ohio State3–⁠17–⁠1
Purdue2–⁠1–⁠15–⁠2–⁠1
Wisconsin3–⁠2–⁠15–⁠2–⁠1
Illinois2–⁠26–⁠2
Minnesota2–⁠25–⁠3
Iowa0–⁠53–⁠5
Indiana0–⁠43–⁠5
Chicago0–⁠52–⁠6

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