1932 Big Ten Conference football season

1932 Big Ten Conference football season
Sport	Football
Number of teams	10
Co-champions	Michigan, Purdue
Season MVP	Harry Newman[1]

1932 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Michigan +	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	0	–	0
No. 4 Purdue +	5	–	0	–	1			7	–	0	–	1
No. 11 Wisconsin	4	–	1	–	1			6	–	1	–	1
No. 6 Ohio State	2	–	1	–	2			4	–	1	–	3
Northwestern	2	–	3	–	1			3	–	4	–	1
Minnesota	2	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Illinois	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Indiana	1	–	4	–	1			3	–	4	–	1
Chicago	1	–	4	–	0			3	–	4	–	1
Iowa	0	–	5	–	0			1	–	7	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from Dickinson System

The 1932 Big Ten Conference football season was the 37th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference (also known as the Western Conference) and was a part of the 1932 college football season.

Big Ten co-champion Michigan compiled a perfect 8–0 record, outscored opponents 123 to 12, shut out six of eight opponents, and allowed an average of only 1.6 points per game. Michigan quarterback Harry Newman was a consensus first-team All-American and won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the conference. Michigan was awarded the Knute K. Rockne Trophy, narrowly prevailing over USC as the national champion under the Dickinson System.

Co-champion Purdue compiled a 7–0–1 record, had the conference's leading scoring offense with an average of 20.5 points per game, and was ranked No. 4 under the Dickinson System. Fullback Roy Horstmann was Purdue's most valuable player and was selected as a first-team All-American by several selectors. End Paul Moss was a consensus first-team All-American.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank	Team	Head coach	DS	Overall record	Conf. record	PPG	PAG	MVP
1 (tie)	Michigan	Harry Kipke	#1	8–0	6–0	15.4	1.6	Harry Newman
1 (tie)	Purdue	Noble Kizer	#4	7–0–1	5–0–1	20.5	5.3	Roy Horstmann
3	Wisconsin	Clarence Spears	#11	6–1–1	4–1–1	18.9	6.0	Mickey McGuire
4	Ohio State	Sam Willaman	#5	4–1–3	2–1–2	11.3	5.1	Lewis Hinchman
5	Northwestern	Dick Hanley	NR	3–4–1	2–3–1	14.5	9.5	Pug Rentner
6	Minnesota	Bernie Bierman	NR	5-3	2-3	10.8	5.3	Roy Oen
7	Illinois	Robert Zuppke	NR	5–4	2–4	10.7	11.2	Gil Berry
8	Indiana	Earl C. Hayes	NR	3–4–1	1–4–1	8.1	9.5	John Keckich
9	Chicago	Amos A. Stagg	NR	3–4–1	1–4	11.9	11.8	William Cassels
10	Iowa	Ossie Solem	NR	1–7	0–5	7.8	21.4	Joe Laws

Key
DS = Ranking in the Dickinson System, a system used at the time to rank the country's best college football teams and to award the Knute Rockne Trophy to the national champion^[2]
PPG = Average of points scored per game^[3]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game^[3]
MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy^[4]

All-conference players

For the complete All-Big Ten selections, see 1932 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

The following players received first-team honors from either the Associated Press (AP) or United Press (UP) on the 1932 All-Big Ten Conference football team:

• Paul Moss, end, Purdue (AP, UP)
• Ivy Williamson, end, Michigan (AP)
• Sid Gillman, end, Ohio State (UP)
• Marshall Wells, tackle, Minnesota (AP, UP)
• Whitey Wistert, tackle, Michigan (UP)
• Ted Rosequist, tackle, Ohio State (AP)
• Greg Kabat, guard, Wisconsin (AP, UP)
• Joseph T. Gailus, guard, Ohio State (AP)
• John Oehler, guard, Purdue (UP)
• Chuck Bernard, center, Michigan (AP, UP)
• Harry Newman, quarterback, Michigan (AP, UP)
• Gil Berry, halfback, Illinois (AP, UP)
• Lew Hinchman, halfback, Ohio State (AP, UP)
• Roy Horstmann, fullback, Purdue (AP, UP)

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 1932 College Football All-America Team.

Two Big Ten players were consensus first-team picks on the 1932 College Football All-America Team:^[5]

• Paul Moss, end, Purdue (AP, UP, CO, AAB, NEA, INS, CP, NYS, NYT, WC, FWAA, LIB, TR, PD, PM)
• Harry Newman, quarterback, Michigan (AP, UP, CO, AAB, NEA, INS, CP, NYS, NYT, WC, FWAA, LIB, TR, PD, PM)

Other Big Ten players receiving first-team All-American honors from at least one selector were:

• Ted Petoskey, end, Michigan (AAB, WC)
• Sid Gillman, end, Ohio State (PD)
• Joseph Gailus, guard, Ohio State (PM)
• Chuck Bernard, center, Michigan (NEA, INS, FWAA)
• Roy Horstmann, fullback, Purdue (AAB, NEA, INS, NYS, NYT, WC, TR, PM)
• Jack Manders, Minnesota (CP)

References

1. "Newman Voted Most Valuable Big 10 Player". Chicago Tribune. December 25, 1932. p. 2-1.
2. "Trojans Beat Irish But Michigan Gets Title: Kipke Eleven Rated at Top by Dickinson". Detroit Free Press. December 11, 1932. p. 39.
3. "1932 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
4. "Board Begins Vote On Big Ten Most Valuable Player Award". Chicago Tribune. December 4, 1932. p. 2-1.
5. "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 22, 2014. Retrieved August 16, 2014.