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1936 Northwestern

7–⁠1 (6–⁠0 Western Conference), coached by Pappy Waldorf, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1936, game by game: won vs. Iowa 18–7; won vs. North Dakota State 40–7; won vs. Ohio State 14–13; won at Illinois 13–2; won vs. No. 1 Minnesota 6–0; won vs. Wisconsin 26–18; won at Michigan 9–0; lost at No. 11 Notre Dame 6–26+33−20Won 18–7 vs. Iowa+11IowaWon 40–7 vs. North Dakota State+33North Dakota St…Won 14–13 vs. Ohio State+1Ohio StateWon 13–2 at Illinois+11IllinoisWon 6–0 vs. No. 1 Minnesota+6No. 1 MinnesotaWon 26–18 vs. Wisconsin+8WisconsinWon 9–0 at Michigan+9MichiganLost 6–26 at No. 11 Notre Dame-20No. 11 Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Oct 3vsIowaW 18–⁠757%
Oct 10vsNorth Dakota StateW 40–⁠793%
Oct 17vsOhio StateW 14–⁠1344%
Oct 24atIllinoisW 13–⁠249%
Oct 31vs1MinnesotaW 6–⁠036%
Nov 7vsWisconsinW 26–⁠1883%
Nov 14atMichiganW 9–⁠066%
Nov 21at11Notre DameL 6–⁠2638%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Notre Dame 26–⁠6; No. 7 in the final AP poll; Western Conference champions.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 4
  2. Wk 2: 3
  3. Wk 3: 1
  4. Wk 4: 1
  5. Wk 5: 1
  6. Wk 6: 7
  7. Final: 7

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 1936.

Western Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanSteve Reid, OG

Record
7–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠0 first in Western Conference
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 1
Points
132–⁠73
Coach
Pappy Waldorf
Elo
1594 +84 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
12.0 No. 22 of 131 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Steve Reid
Offense
Single-wing

Drafted in 1937

The 1937 draft
Rd 5Dewitt Gibson OGGreen Bay Packers

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1936 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1936 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Northwestern6–⁠07–⁠17
Minnesota4–⁠17–⁠11
Ohio State4–⁠15–⁠3
Purdue3–⁠1–⁠15–⁠2–⁠1
Indiana3–⁠1–⁠15–⁠2–⁠1
Illinois2–⁠2–⁠14–⁠3–⁠1
Chicago1–⁠42–⁠5–⁠1
Iowa0–⁠4–⁠13–⁠4–⁠1
Wisconsin0–⁠42–⁠6
Michigan0–⁠51–⁠7

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