1946 Big Nine Conference football season

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1946 Big Nine Conference football season
SportFootball
Number of teams9
Top draft pickVic Schwall
ChampionIllinois
Season MVPAlex Agase
Football seasons
← 1945
1947 →
1946 Big Nine Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 5 Illinois $ 6 – 1 – 0 8 – 2 – 0
No. 6 Michigan 5 – 1 – 1 6 – 2 – 1
No. 20 Indiana 4 – 2 – 0 6 – 3 – 0
Iowa 3 – 3 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Minnesota 3 – 4 – 0 5 – 4 – 0
Ohio State 2 – 3 – 1 4 – 3 – 2
Northwestern 2 – 3 – 1 4 – 4 – 1
Wisconsin 2 – 5 – 0 4 – 5 – 0
Purdue 0 – 5 – 1 2 – 6 – 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1946 Big Nine Conference football season was the 51st season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Nine Conference (also known as the Big Ten Conference and the Western Conference) and was a part of the 1946 college football season.

The 1946 Illinois Fighting Illini football team, under head coach Ray Eliot, won the Big Nine championship, compiled an 8–2 record, was ranked No. 5 in the final AP Poll, and defeated UCLA, 45–14, in the 1947 Rose Bowl. Illinois guard Alex Agase was a consensus first-team All-American and received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the conference.

Michigan, under head coach Fritz Crisler, compiled a 6-2-1 record, led the conference in both scoring offense (25.9 points per game) and scoring defense (8.1 points allowed per game), and was ranked No. 6 in the final AP Poll. The team's two losses came against No. 2 Army and No. 5 Illinois. Halfback Bob Chappuis received the team's most valuable player award.

Indiana, under head coach Bo McMillin, compiled a 6–3 record, finished third in the conference, and was ranked No. 20 in the final AP Poll. End Pete Pihos received the team's most valuable player award. Quarterback Ben Raimondi won first team All-Big Nine honors.

Season overview[]

Results and team statistics[]

Conf. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG MVP
1 Illinois Ray Eliot #5 #5 8–2 6–1 21.7 10.5 Alex Agase
2 Michigan Fritz Crisler #6 #4 6–2–1 5–1–1 25.9 8.1 Bob Chappuis
3 Indiana Bo McMillin #20 #18 6–3 4–2 14.3 10.6 Pete Pihos
4 Iowa Eddie Anderson NR #16 5–4 3–3 14.3 10.2 Bill Kay
5 Minnesota Bernie Bierman NR NR 5–4 3–4 14.4 12.7 Bill Bye
6 (tie) Ohio State Paul Bixler NR #12 4–3–2 2–3–1 18.4 18.9 Cecil Souders
6 (tie) Northwestern Pappy Waldorf NR #6 4–4–1 2–3–1 17.3 15.1 Ed Hirsch
8 Wisconsin Harry Stuhldreher NR #15 4–5 2–5 15.6 16.0 Fred Negus
9 Purdue Cecil Isbell NR NR 2–6–1 0–5–1 10.8 23.1 Norman Maloney

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1946 season[1]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1946 season[1]
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

Regular season[]

Bowl games[]

Main article: 1947 Rose Bowl

In 1946, the Big Nine dropped its long-standing ban on participation in bowl games. Conference champion Illinois accepted an invitation to play UCLA in the 1947 Rose Bowl. The Illini defeated the Bruins by a 45–14 score. Buddy Young scored two touchdowns for Illinois, and Russ Steger returned an interception 68 yards for a touchdown.

All-Big Nine players[]

For the complete All-Big Nine selections, see 1946 All-Big Nine 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 1946 All-Big Nine Conference football team.[2][3]

Position Name Team Selectors
End Elmer Madar Michigan AP, UP
End Cecil Souders Ohio State AP
End Ike Owens Illinois UP
Tackle Russ Deal Indiana AP, UP
Tackle Warren Amling Ohio State AP
Tackle Jack Carpenter Michigan UP
Guard Alex Agase Illinois AP, UP
Guard Dick Barwegen Purdue AP
Guard Earl Banks Iowa UP
Center John Cannady Indiana AP
Center Fred Negus Wisconsin UP
Quarterback Ben Raimondi Indiana AP, UP
Halfback Bob Chappuis Michigan AP, UP
Halfback Vic Schwall Northwestern AP, UP
Fullback Dick Hoerner Iowa AP
Fullback Joe Whisler Ohio State UP

All-Americans[]

For the complete All-America selections, see 1946 College Football All-America Team.

At the end of the 1946 season, Big Nine players secured two of the consensus first-team picks for the 1946 College Football All-America Team.[4] The Big Nine's consensus All-Americans were:

Position Name Team Selectors
Guard Alex Agase Illinois AAB, AFCA, AP, INS, NEA, TSN, UP, CP, WCFF)
Tackle Warren Amling Ohio State FWAA, INS, NEA, TSN, UP, CP

Other Big Nine players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:

Position Name Team Selectors
End Elmer Madar Michigan AP
Guard Ed Hirsch Northwestern CP

1947 NFL Draft[]

The following Big Nine players were among the first 100 picks of the 1947 NFL Draft:[5]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Vic Schwall Halfback Northwestern 1 10
Don Kindt Back Wisconsin 1 11
Russ Thomas Tackle Ohio State 2 12
John Cannady Center Indiana 3 22
Bob Chappuis Back Michigan 5 26
Frank Aschenbrenner Back Northwestern 6 38
Ben Raimondi Back Indiana 6 41
Dick Connors Back Northwestern 7 52
George Maddock Tackle Northwestern 8 60
Art Dufelmeier Back Illinois 9 70
Dwight Eddleman Back Illinois 9 75
Bump Elliott Back Michigan 10 76
Alex Sarkisian Center Northwestern 11 91
Russ Steger Back Illinois 11 93
Robert Hoernschemeyer Back Indiana 11 93

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d "1946 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 5, 2017.
  2. ^ "Indiana Places Three on Big Ten All-Stars". The Milwaukee Journal (AP story). November 26, 1946. p. 6.
  3. ^ "Michigan Gets Three Places On UP Team". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (UP story). November 30, 1946. p. 13.
  4. ^ "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. pp. 5–6. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  5. ^ "1947 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved January 4, 2017.
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