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1926 Northwestern

7–⁠1 (5–⁠0 Western Conference), coached by Glenn Thistlethwaite.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1926, game by game: won vs. South Dakota 34–0; won vs. Carleton 31–3; won vs. Indiana 20–0; lost vs. Notre Dame 0–6; won at Indiana 21–0; won vs. Purdue 22–0; won vs. Chicago 38–7; won at Iowa 13–6+34−6Won 34–0 vs. South Dakota+34South DakotaWon 31–3 vs. Carleton+28CarletonWon 20–0 vs. Indiana+20IndianaLost 0–6 vs. Notre Dame-6Notre DameWon 21–0 at Indiana+21IndianaWon 22–0 vs. Purdue+22PurdueWon 38–7 vs. Chicago+31ChicagoWon 13–6 at Iowa+7Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Oct 2vsSouth DakotaW 34–⁠092%
Oct 9vsCarletonW 31–⁠387%
Oct 16vsIndianaW 20–⁠062%
Oct 23vsNotre DameL 0–⁠636%
Oct 30atIndianaW 21–⁠053%
Nov 6vsPurdueW 22–⁠065%
Nov 13vsChicagoW 38–⁠771%
Nov 20atIowaW 13–⁠658%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Iowa 13–⁠6; Western Conference champions.

In program history: The 18th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

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.

Western Conference champions5–⁠0 in the conference, shared with Michigan

Consensus All-AmericanRalph Baker, RB

Record
7–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠0 shared first in Western Conference
AP poll
Began in 1936
Points
179–⁠22
Coach
Glenn Thistlethwaite
Elo
1584 +107 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
21.7 No. 6 of 96 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Ralph Baker

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Robert W. JohnsonOT
  • BartOGUP-1
  • Ralph BakerRBAP-1; UP-1; BE-1; WE-1

Second team

  • Waldo A. FisherEUP-3; BE-2
  • Tiny LewisFBAP-2; UP-2; BE-3

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.