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1940 Northwestern

6–⁠2 (4–⁠2 Western Conference), coached by Pappy Waldorf, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1940, game by game: won at Syracuse 40–0; won vs. Ohio State 6–3; won at Wisconsin 27–7; won vs. Indiana 20–7; lost vs. No. 4 Minnesota 12–13; won vs. Illinois 32–14; lost at No. 6 Michigan 13–20; won vs. No. 14 Notre Dame 20–0+40−7Won 40–0 at Syracuse+40SyracuseWon 6–3 vs. Ohio State+3Ohio StateWon 27–7 at Wisconsin+20WisconsinWon 20–7 vs. Indiana+13IndianaLost 12–13 vs. No. 4 Minnesota-1No. 4 MinnesotaWon 32–14 vs. Illinois+18IllinoisLost 13–20 at No. 6 Michigan-7No. 6 MichiganWon 20–0 vs. No. 14 Notre Dame+20No. 14 Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Oct 5atSyracuseW 40–⁠047%
Oct 12vsOhio StateW 6–⁠351%
Oct 19atWisconsinW 27–⁠761%
Oct 26vsIndianaW 20–⁠775%
Nov 2vs4MinnesotaL 12–⁠1355%
Nov 9vsIllinoisW 32–⁠1479%
Nov 16at6MichiganL 13–⁠2036%
Nov 23vs14Notre DameW 20–⁠050%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Notre Dame 20–⁠0; No. 8 in the final AP poll; 3rd in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 8th-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: 7
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 10
  5. Wk 5: 10
  6. Wk 6: 10
  7. Wk 7: 7
  8. Final: 8

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 1940.

Consensus All-AmericanAlf Bauman, OT

Record
6–⁠2
Conference
4–⁠2 3rd in Western Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 4
Points
170–⁠64
Coach
Pappy Waldorf
Elo
1628 +108 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
23.0 No. 3 of 121 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Dick Richards
Most valuable player
Paul Hiemenz
Offense
Single-wing

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Alf BaumanOTAP-1; UP-1
  • Joe LokaneOGAP-1; UP-1
  • Paul HiemenzCAP-1; UP-1

Second team

  • Ollie HahnensteinRBAP-2; UP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1940 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1940 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Minnesota6–⁠08–⁠01
Michigan3–⁠17–⁠13
Northwestern4–⁠26–⁠28
Ohio State3–⁠34–⁠4
Wisconsin3–⁠34–⁠4
Iowa2–⁠34–⁠4
Indiana2–⁠33–⁠5
Purdue1–⁠42–⁠6
Illinois0–⁠51–⁠7

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