In September 1896, the members of the Western Conference, seven of the most prominent teams in the Midwest, arranged their schedules so as to "compete for the championship of the West."[1]
The 1896 Wisconsin Badgers football team, under head coach Philip King, won the first Western Conference championship with a 7–1–1 record (2–0–1 against conference opponents).[2] Wisconsin's sole loss was to the Carlisle Indians in a night game played indoors and under the lights at the Chicago Coliseum before a crowd of 16,000 persons.[3]
Michigan, led by head coach William Ward, compiled a 9–1 record and led the conference in both scoring offense (26.2 points per game) and scoring defense (1.1 points per game).[4] Michigan started the season with nine consecutive wins in which the Wolverines outscored their opponents by a combined score of 256 to 4. In the final game of the season, Michigan lost to Chicago by a score of 7–6. The 1896 Chicago–Michigan football rivalry game was the first college football game played indoors, and the last portion of the game was also played under electric lights.[5][6]
Northwestern finished in third place with a 6–1–2 record, its only loss coming against Chicago by an 18–6 score.[7]
In their fifth season under head coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, the Chicago Maroons compiled a 15–2–1 record, finished in fourth place in the conference with a 3–2 record against conference opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 368 to 82.[8]
October 31, 1896, in the only intersectional match played by a Western Conference team, Michigan defeated Lehigh by a 40–0 score at the Detroit Athletic Club.[24][25]
November 14, 1896, Purdue defeated Notre Dame by a 28–22 at South Bend, Indiana.[26]
^"Chicago Wins by a Point: University Team Defeats Michigan for the First Time; Indoor Play Proves a Success; Coliseum Utilized and Twenty Thousand In Attendance—Herschberger of the Home Eleven Kicks His Way Into Fame". Nebraska State Journal. November 27, 1896.