The 1951 Big Ten Conference football season was the 56th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference (also known as the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) and was a part of the 1951 college football season.
The 1951 Wisconsin Badgers football team, under head coach Ivy Williamson, compiled a 7–1–1 record, led the conference in scoring defense (5.9 points allowed per game), and was ranked No. 8 in the final AP poll. Quarterback John Coatta was the first-team All-Big Ten quarterback. Defensive end Pat O'Donahue was selected as a first-team All-American by multiple selectors.
Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1951 season[1]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1951 season[1]
PPG = Average of points scored per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold[1]
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; trophy winner in bold
Preseason
Regular season
September 29
Illinois 27, UCLA 13.
Texas 14, Purdue 0.
Wisconsin 22, Marquette 6.
Michigan State 25, Michigan 0.
Ohio State 7, SMU 0.
Northwestern 35, Colorado 14.
Washington 25, Minnesota 20.
Notre Dame 48, Indiana 6.
Iowa 16, Kansas State 0.
October 6
Illinois 14, Wisconsin 10.
Purdue 34, Iowa 30.
Stanford 23, Michigan 13.
Michigan State 24, Ohio State 20.
Northwestern 20, Army 14.
California 55, Minnesota 14.
Indiana 13, Pittsburgh 6.
October 13
Illinois 41, Syracuse 20.
Miami (FL) 7, Purdue 0 (game played Friday, October 12).
The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP)as first-team players on the 1951 All-Big Ten Conference football team. The AP picked separate offensive and defensive units, whereas the UP selected a single, eleven man unit.
At the end of the 1951 season, only one Big Ten player secured a consensus first-team pick on the 1951 College Football All-America Team.[2] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were: