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1941 Northwestern

5–⁠3 (4–⁠2 Western Conference), coached by Pappy Waldorf, finished No. 11 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1941, game by game: won vs. Kansas State 51–3; won vs. Wisconsin 41–14; lost vs. No. 6 Michigan 7–14; won at No. 11 Ohio State 14–7; lost at No. 1 Minnesota 7–8; won vs. Indiana 20–14; lost vs. No. 5 Notre Dame 6–7; won vs. Illinois 27–0+48−7Won 51–3 vs. Kansas State+48Kansas StateWon 41–14 vs. Wisconsin+27WisconsinLost 7–14 vs. No. 6 Michigan-7No. 6 MichiganWon 14–7 at No. 11 Ohio State+7No. 11 Ohio StateLost 7–8 at No. 1 Minnesota-1No. 1 MinnesotaWon 20–14 vs. Indiana+6IndianaLost 6–7 vs. No. 5 Notre Dame-1No. 5 Notre DameWon 27–0 vs. Illinois+27Illinois
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Oct 4vsKansas StateW 51–⁠379%
Oct 11vsWisconsinW 41–⁠1479%
Oct 18vs6MichiganL 7–⁠1449%
Oct 25at11Ohio StateW 14–⁠741%
Nov 1at1MinnesotaL 7–⁠832%
Nov 8vsIndianaW 20–⁠1478%
Nov 15vs5Notre DameL 6–⁠747%
Nov 22vsIllinoisW 27–⁠083%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Illinois 27–⁠0; No. 11 in the final AP poll; 4th in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 9th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 5
  2. Wk 2: 13
  3. Wk 3: 9
  4. Wk 4: 10
  5. Wk 5: 8
  6. Wk 6: 10
  7. Wk 7: 9
  8. Final: 11

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 1941.

Record
5–⁠3
Conference
4–⁠2 4th in Western Conference
AP final
No. 11 peak No. 5
Points
173–⁠67
Coach
Pappy Waldorf
Elo
1625 +40 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
19.0 No. 4 of 119 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Floyd Chambers
Most valuable player
Alf Bauman
Offense
Single-wing

Drafted in 1942

The 1942 draft
Rd 2Alf Bauman OTDetroit Lions

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Bob MotlEAP-1; UP-2; INS-1
  • Alf BaumanOTAP-1; UP-1; INS-1
  • Bill DeCorrevontRB

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1941 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1941 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Minnesota5–⁠08–⁠01
Michigan3–⁠1–⁠16–⁠1–⁠15
Ohio State3–⁠1–⁠16–⁠1–⁠113
Northwestern4–⁠25–⁠311
Wisconsin3–⁠33–⁠5
Iowa2–⁠43–⁠5
Purdue1–⁠32–⁠5–⁠1
Indiana1–⁠32–⁠6
Illinois0–⁠52–⁠6

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