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1947 Minnesota

6–⁠3 (3–⁠3 Western Conference), coached by Bernie Bierman.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1947, game by game: won vs. Washington 7–6; won at Nebraska 28–13; won vs. Northwestern 37–21; lost at No. 6 Illinois 13–40; lost at No. 1 Michigan 6–13; won vs. Pittsburgh 29–0; won vs. No. 14 Purdue 26–21; lost at Iowa 7–13; won vs. Wisconsin 21–0+29−27Won 7–6 vs. Washington+1WashingtonWon 28–13 at Nebraska+15NebraskaWon 37–21 vs. Northwestern+16NorthwesternLost 13–40 at No. 6 Illinois-27No. 6 IllinoisLost 6–13 at No. 1 Michigan-7No. 1 MichiganWon 29–0 vs. Pittsburgh+29PittsburghWon 26–21 vs. No. 14 Purdue+5No. 14 PurdueLost 7–13 at Iowa-6IowaWon 21–0 vs. Wisconsin+21Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 27vsWashingtonW 7–⁠657%
Oct 4atNebraskaW 28–⁠1356%
Oct 11vsNorthwesternW 37–⁠2164%
Oct 18at6IllinoisL 13–⁠4031%
Oct 25at1MichiganL 6–⁠1322%
Nov 1vsPittsburghW 29–⁠070%
Nov 8vs14PurdueW 26–⁠2161%
Nov 15atIowaL 7–⁠1360%
Nov 22vsWisconsinW 21–⁠056%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Wisconsin 21–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 63rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 17
  2. Wk 2: 13
  3. Wk 6: 20
  4. Wk 8: 19

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 1947.

Record
6–⁠3
Conference
3–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Western Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 13
Points
174–⁠127
Coach
Bernie Bierman
Elo
1561 +57 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
14.3 No. 16 of 120 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Steve Silianoff
Most valuable player
Larry Olsonoski

Drafted in 1948

The 1948 draft
Rd 6Larry Olsonoski OGGreen Bay Packers

All-Big Nine

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Dean WidsethOTAP-2; INS-2

From Wikipedia’s 1947 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1947 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan6–⁠010–⁠02
Wisconsin3–⁠2–⁠15–⁠3–⁠1
Minnesota3–⁠36–⁠3
Illinois3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠1
Purdue3–⁠35–⁠4
Indiana2–⁠3–⁠15–⁠3–⁠1
Iowa2–⁠3–⁠13–⁠5–⁠1
Northwestern2–⁠43–⁠6
Ohio State1–⁠4–⁠12–⁠6–⁠1

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