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1948 Minnesota

7–⁠2 (5–⁠2 Western Conference), coached by Bernie Bierman, finished No. 16 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1948, game by game: won at Washington 20–0; won vs. Nebraska 39–13; lost at No. 3 Northwestern 16–19; won vs. Illinois 6–0; lost vs. No. 1 Michigan 14–27; won vs. Indiana 30–7; won vs. Purdue 34–7; won at Iowa 28–21; won at Wisconsin 16–0+27−13Won 20–0 at Washington+20WashingtonWon 39–13 vs. Nebraska+26NebraskaLost 16–19 at No. 3 Northwestern-3No. 3 NorthwesternWon 6–0 vs. Illinois+6IllinoisLost 14–27 vs. No. 1 Michigan-13No. 1 MichiganWon 30–7 vs. Indiana+23IndianaWon 34–7 vs. Purdue+27PurdueWon 28–21 at Iowa+7IowaWon 16–0 at Wisconsin+16Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 25atWashingtonW 20–⁠050%
Oct 2vsNebraskaW 39–⁠1377%
Oct 9at3NorthwesternL 16–⁠1947%
Oct 16vsIllinoisW 6–⁠063%
Oct 23vs1MichiganL 14–⁠2734%
Oct 30vsIndianaW 30–⁠763%
Nov 6vsPurdueW 34–⁠771%
Nov 13atIowaW 28–⁠2164%
Nov 20atWisconsinW 16–⁠068%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Wisconsin 16–⁠0; No. 16 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 28th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 8
  2. Wk 2: 11
  3. Wk 3: 13
  4. Wk 4: 15
  5. Wk 5: 19
  6. Wk 6: 14
  7. Wk 7: 15
  8. Wk 8: 13
  9. Final: 16

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 1948.

Consensus All-AmericanLeo Nomellini, OT

Record
7–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠2 3rd in Western Conference
AP final
No. 16 peak No. 8
Points
203–⁠94
Coach
Bernie Bierman
Elo
1641 +100 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
17.4 No. 14 of 117 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Warren Beson
Most valuable player
Ev Faunce

All-Big Nine

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1948 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1948 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan6–⁠09–⁠01
Northwestern5–⁠18–⁠27
Minnesota5–⁠27–⁠216
Ohio State3–⁠36–⁠3
Iowa2–⁠44–⁠5
Purdue2–⁠43–⁠6
Indiana2–⁠42–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠53–⁠6
Wisconsin1–⁠52–⁠7

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