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1939 Ohio State

6–⁠2 (5–⁠1 Western Conference), coached by Francis Schmidt, finished No. 15 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1939, game by game: won vs. Missouri 19–0; won vs. Northwestern 13–0; won at Minnesota 23–20; lost vs. No. 7 Cornell 14–23; won vs. Indiana 24–0; won at Chicago 61–0; won vs. Illinois 21–0; lost at Michigan 14–21+61−9Won 19–0 vs. Missouri+19MissouriWon 13–0 vs. Northwestern+13NorthwesternWon 23–20 at Minnesota+3MinnesotaLost 14–23 vs. No. 7 Cornell-9No. 7 CornellWon 24–0 vs. Indiana+24IndianaWon 61–0 at Chicago+61ChicagoWon 21–0 vs. Illinois+21IllinoisLost 14–21 at Michigan-7Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Oct 7vsMissouriW 19–⁠056%
Oct 14vsNorthwesternW 13–⁠065%
Oct 21atMinnesotaW 23–⁠2039%
Oct 28vs7CornellL 14–⁠2353%
Nov 4vsIndianaW 24–⁠069%
Nov 11atChicagoW 61–⁠084%
Nov 18vsIllinoisW 21–⁠076%
Nov 25atMichiganL 14–⁠2150%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan 21–⁠14; No. 15 in the final AP poll; Western Conference champions.

In program history: The 79th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 10
  2. Wk 2: 4
  3. Wk 3: 14
  4. Wk 4: 9
  5. Wk 5: 8
  6. Wk 6: 6
  7. Wk 7: 12
  8. Wk 8: 12
  9. Final: 15

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 1939.

Western Conference champions5–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanEsco Sarkkinen, E

Record
6–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠1 first in Western Conference
AP final
No. 15 peak No. 4
Points
189–⁠64
Coach
Francis Schmidt
Elo
1605 +59 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
14.2 No. 13 of 124 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Most valuable player
Steve Andrako

Drafted in 1940

The 1940 draft
Rd 5Esco Sarkkinen EGreen Bay Packers

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Steve AndrakoCAP-2
  • Jimmy StrausbaughRBAP-2
  • Jim LanghurstFBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1939 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1939 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State5–⁠16–⁠215
Iowa4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠1–⁠19
Michigan3–⁠26–⁠220
Purdue2–⁠1–⁠23–⁠3–⁠2
Northwestern3–⁠2–⁠13–⁠4–⁠1
Illinois3–⁠33–⁠4–⁠1
Minnesota2–⁠3–⁠13–⁠4–⁠1
Indiana2–⁠32–⁠4–⁠2
Wisconsin0–⁠5–⁠11–⁠6–⁠1
Chicago0–⁠32–⁠6

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