1933 Big Ten Conference football season

1933 Big Ten Conference football season
Sport	Football
Number of teams	10
Co-champions	Michigan, Minnesota
Season MVP	Joe Laws

1933 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Michigan +	5	–	0	–	1			7	–	0	–	1
No. 3 Minnesota +	2	–	0	–	4			4	–	0	–	4
No. 5 Ohio State	4	–	1	–	0			7	–	1	–	0
No. 10 Purdue	3	–	1	–	1			6	–	1	–	1
Illinois	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Iowa	3	–	2	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	4	–	1			1	–	5	–	2
Chicago	0	–	3	–	2			3	–	3	–	2
Indiana	0	–	3	–	2			1	–	5	–	2
Wisconsin	0	–	5	–	1			2	–	5	–	1
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from Dickinson System

The 1933 Big Ten Conference football season was the 38th 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 1933 college football season.

Michigan compiled a 7–0–1 record, extended its unbeaten streak to 22 games, shut out five of eight opponents, gave up an average of 2.3 points per game, outscored opponents 131 to 18, and was the Big Ten champion. In December 1933, Michigan was awarded the Knute K. Rockne Trophy as the No. 1 team in the country under the Dickinson System. Two other Big Ten teams also finished among the top five teams in the post-season Dickinson ratings: Minnesota at No. 3 and Ohio State at No. 5. Center Chuck Bernard and tackle Francis Wistert were consensus first-team picks for the 1933 College Football All-America Team.

Ohio State finished in third place with a 7–1 and its sole loss being against Michigan.

Iowa quarterback/halfback Joe Laws received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the conference.

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	7–0–1	5–0–1	16.4	2.3	H. Everhardus
1 (tie)	Minnesota	Bernie Bierman	#3	4-0-4	2-0-4	8.0	4.0	Pug Lund
3	Ohio State	Sam Willaman	#5	7–1	4–1	20.1	3.3	M. Vuchinich
4	Purdue	Noble Kizer	#10	6–1–1	3–1–1	13.6	4.6	Fred Hecker
5 (tie)	Illinois	Robert Zuppke	NR	5–3	3–2	9.6	4.0	Dave Cook
5 (tie)	Iowa	Ossie Solem	NR	5–3	3–2	16.4	7.0	Joe Laws
7	Northwestern	Dick Hanley	NR	1–5–2	1–4–1	3.1	5.3	Ed Manske
8	Chicago	C. Shaughnessy	NR	3–3–2	0–3–2	14.8	7.0	Jay Berwanger
9	Indiana	Earl C. Hayes	NR	1–5–2	0–3–2	3.1	12.0	Bob Jones
10	Wisconsin	Clarence Spears	NR	2–5–1	0–5–1	6.8	9.9	Robert Schiller

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^[1]
PPG = Average of points scored per game^[2]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game^[2]
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^[3]

All-conference players

For the complete All-Big Ten selections, see 1933 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 1933 All-Big Ten Conference football team:

• Ted Petoskey, end, Michigan (AP, UP)
• Frank Larson, end, Minnesota (AP, UP)
• Whitey Wistert, tackle, Michigan (AP, UP)
• Ted Rosequist, tackle, Ohio State (UP)
• Dutch Fehring, tackle, Purdue (AP)
• Zud Schammel, guard, Iowa (AP, UP)
• Joseph T. Gailus, guard, Ohio State (AP, UP)
• Chuck Bernard, center, Michigan (UP)
• Jack Beynon, quarterback, Illinois (UP)
• Joe Laws, quarterback/halfback, Iowa (AP, UP)
• Pug Lund, halfback, Minnesota (AP, UP)
• Herman Everhardus, halfback, Michigan (AP)
• Duane Purvis, fullback, Purdue (AP, UP)

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 1933 College Football All-America Team.

Three Big Ten players were consensus first-team picks on the 1933 College Football All-America Team:^[4]

• Chuck Bernard, center, Michigan (AAB, AP, CO, FWAA, INS, LIB, NANA, NEA, UP, CP, DJW, MP, NYS, WC, WD)
• Francis Wistert, tackle, Michigan (AAB, CO, FWAA, UP, DJW, NYS, WC)
• Duane Purvis, fullback, Purdue (AAB, CO, LIB, NANA, UP, WC, WD)

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

• Ted Petoskey, end, Michigan (INS, CP, MP)
• Frank Larson, end, Minnesota (CO, NEA, NYS)
• Edgar Manske, end, Northwestern (UP)
• Zud Schammel, guard, Iowa (AP, LIB, NANA, UP)
• Joseph Gailus, guard, Ohio State (MP)
• Pug Lund, halfback, Minnesota (AP, FWAA, INS, CP, DJW, MP)

References

1. "Dickinson Rates Michigan Eleven First in the Nation". Detroit Free Press. December 10, 1933. p. 39.
2. "1933 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
3. "Most Valuable Player Ballots Sent to Judges". Chicago Tribune. December 10, 1933. p. 2-2.
4. "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.