1937 Big Ten Conference football season
SportFootball
Number of teams10
Top draft pickCorbett Davis
ChampionMinnesota
  Runners-upOhio State
Season MVPCorbett Davis
Football seasons
← 1936
1938 →
1937 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Minnesota $ 5 – 0 – 0 6 – 2 – 0
No. 13 Ohio State 5 – 1 – 0 6 – 2 – 0
Indiana 3 – 2 – 0 5 – 3 – 0
Michigan 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 4 – 0
Northwestern 3 – 3 – 0 4 – 4 – 0
Purdue 2 – 2 – 1 4 – 3 – 1
Wisconsin 2 – 2 – 1 4 – 3 – 1
Illinois 2 – 3 – 0 3 – 3 – 2
Chicago 0 – 4 – 0 1 – 6 – 0
Iowa 0 – 5 – 0 1 – 7 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1937 Big Ten Conference football season was the 42nd 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 1937 college football season.

The 1937 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, under head coach Bernie Bierman, won the Big Ten championship, led the conference in scoring offense (23.0 points per game), compiled a 6–2 record, and was ranked No. 5 in the final AP poll. End Ray King was named a first-team All-American by two selectors, and fullback Andy Uram was received first-team honors from the Associated Press. Halfback Rudy Gmitro was awarded the team's most valuable player award.

The 1937 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach Francis Schmidt finished in second place with a 6–2 record, shut out six of eight opponents, led the Big Ten in scoring defense (2.9 points allowed per game), and was ranked No. 8 in the final AP poll. Guard Gust Zarnas was selected as a first-team All-American by three selectors. Back Jim McDonald was the second player selected in the 1938 NFL draft.

Corbett Davis of Indiana won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the Big Ten's most valuable player. He was also the first player selected in the 1938 NFL draft.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG MVP
1 Minnesota Bernie Bierman #5 #4 6-2 5-0 23.0 6.3 Rudy Gmitro
2 Ohio State Francis Schmidt #13 #8 6–2 5–1 15.6 2.9 Ralph Wolf
3 Indiana Bo McMillin NR #17 5–3 3–2 9.0 4.0 Corbett Davis
4 (tie) Purdue Mal Elward NR NR 4–3–1 2–2–1 10.4 8.6 Cecil Isbell
4 (tie) Wisconsin Harry Stuhldreher NR #16 4–3–1 2–2–1 12.9 7.6 Howard Weiss
6 (tie) Michigan Harry Kipke NR NR 4–4 3–3 6.8 13.8 Ralph Heikkinen
6 (tie) Northwestern Pappy Waldorf NR #7 4–4 3–3 8.5 5.0 Don Heap
8 Illinois Robert Zuppke NR NR 3–3–2 2–3 7.4 5.6 Jack Berner
9 (tie) Chicago Clark Shaughnessy NR NR 1–6 0–4 6.4 20.4 Kendall Peterson
9 (tie) Iowa Irl Tubbs NR NR 1–7 0–5 4.5 15.0 Bob Lannon

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

Regular season

September 25

October 2

October 9

October 16

October 23

October 30

November 6

November 13

November 20

Bowl games

No Big Ten teams participated in any bowl games during the 1937 season.

All-Big Ten players

For the complete All-Big Ten selections, see 1937 All-Big Ten Conference football team.

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press (UP) as first-team players on the 1937 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[3][4]

Position Name Team Selectors
Quarterback Jim McDonald Ohio State AP, UP
Halfback Cecil Isbell Purdue AP
Halfback Don Heap Northwestern AP
Halfback Nile Kinnick Iowa UP
Halfback Rudy Gmitro Minnesota UP
Fullback Corbett Davis Indiana AP, UP
End Ray King Minnesota AP, UP
End Bob Lannon Iowa AP
End Jim Zachary Purdue UP
Tackle Lou Midler Minnesota AP
Tackle Marty Schreyer Purdue AP
Tackle Bob Haak Indiana UP
Tackle Carl Kaplanoff Ohio State UP
Guard Francis Twedell Minnesota AP, UP
Guard Gust Zarnas Ohio State AP
Guard Ralph Heikkinen Michigan UP
Center Ralph Wolf Ohio State AP
Center George Miller Indiana UP

All-Americans

For the complete All-America selections, see 1937 College Football All-America Team.

No Big Ten players were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1937 College Football All-America Team. However, three Big Ten players received first-team honors from at least one selector. They were:

Position Name Team Selectors
Halfback Corbett Davis Indiana CP, WCFF, AAB, LIB, NANA, NW
End Ray King Minnesota INS, CE, WCFF, AAB, NW
Guard Gust Zarnas Ohio State WCFF, AAB, NW

1938 NFL draft

The following Big Ten players were selected in the first seven rounds of the 1938 NFL draft:[5]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Corbett Davis Back Indiana 1 1
Jim McDonald Back Ohio State 1 2
Cecil Isbell Back Purdue 1 7
Frank Filchock Back Indiana 2 14
Marty Schreyer Tackle Purdue 3 22
Fred Vanzo Back Northwestern 3 23
Lou Midler Tackle Minnesota 5 34
Gust Zarnas Guard Ohio State 5 40
Andy Uram Back Minnesota 6 47
Bob Lannon End Iowa 7 52
Ray King End Minnesota 7 54
Johnny Kovatch End Northwestern 7 57

References

  1. ^ a b "1937 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
  2. ^ Wilfrid Smith (December 19, 1937). "Davis Is Voted Most Valuable In Big Ten: Indiana Star Defeats Isbell by One Point; Heap Third; Gmitro Fourth". Chicago Tribune. p. 2-1.
  3. ^ "Six Schools Get Places on Big Ten Selection". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (AP story). November 23, 1937. p. 20.
  4. ^ "Big Ten Team Named by United Press". The San Bernardino County Sun. November 21, 1937. p. 18.
  5. ^ "1938 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved February 7, 2017.
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