1937 Northwestern
4–4 (3–3 Western Conference), coached by Pappy Waldorf. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Iowa State 33–0Oct 2
By 33 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2 | vs Iowa State | W 33–0 | 70% |
| Oct 9 | vs Michigan | W 7–0 | 77% |
| Oct 16 | vs Purdue | W 14–7 | 64% |
| Oct 23 | at 12Ohio State | L 0–7 | 37% |
| Oct 30 | at Wisconsin | W 14–6 | 56% |
| Nov 6 | vs Illinois | L 0–6 | 76% |
| Nov 13 | at 10Minnesota | L 0–7 | 30% |
| Nov 20 | vs 12Notre Dame | L 0–7 | 50% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Lost to Notre Dame 7–0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Western Conference.
In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).
AP poll, week by week
- Wk 1: 7
- Wk 3: 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 1937.
- Record
- 4–4
- Conference
- 3–3 tied for 4th in Western Conference
- AP final
- Unranked peak No. 7
- Points
- 68–40
- Coach
- Pappy Waldorf
- Elo
- 1545 −18 this season
- SP+ rating
- —
- SRS
- 7.4 No. 37 of 126 major-college teams
- Recruiting class
- —
- Captain
- Don Heap
- Most valuable player
- Don Heap
- Offense
- Single-wing
Drafted in 1938
The 1938 draft| Rd 3 | Fred Vanzo B | New York Giants |
| Rd 7 | Johnny Kovatch E | Green Bay Packers |
All-Big Ten
1 first team, 1 second teamFirst team
Don HeapRB
Second team
- Fred VanzoQBAP-2
From Wikipedia’s 1937 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1937 Western Conference standings
| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 5–0 | 6–2 | 5 |
| Ohio State | 5–1 | 6–2 | 13 |
 Indiana | 3–2 | 5–3 | |
| Northwestern | 3–3 | 4–4 | |
| Michigan | 3–3 | 4–4 | |
| Wisconsin | 2–2–1 | 4–3–1 | |
| Purdue | 2–2–1 | 4–3–1 | |
| Illinois | 2–3 | 3–3–2 | |
| Chicago | 0–4 | 1–6 | |
 Iowa | 0–5 | 1–7 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.