The 1898 Western Conference football season was the third season of college football played by the member schools of the Western Conference (later known as the Big Ten Conference) and was a part of the

1898 college football season Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

. The

1898 Michigan Wolverines football team The 1898 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1898 Western Conference football season. With Gustave Ferbert in his second year as head coach, the team compiled an undefeated 10–0 record, outscored i ...

, under head coach

Gustave Ferbert Gustave Herman Ferbert (July 22, 1873 – January 15, 1943), nicknamed "Dutch," was first a player (1893–1896) and then the head coach (1897–1899) for the University of Michigan American football team. In 1898, his Michigan team went 10–0 a ...

, won the conference championship with a 10–0 record, shut out six opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 205 to 26. The team concluded its season by playing

Amos Alonzo Stagg Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfiel ...

's 1898 Chicago Maroons football team for the conference championship. The Wolverines beat Chicago by a 12–11 score in a game that inspired

Louis Elbel "The Victors" is the fight song of the University of Michigan. Michigan student Louis Elbel wrote the song in 1898 after the football team's victory over the University of Chicago, which clinched an undefeated season and the Western Conferen ...

to write Michigan's fight song "

The Victors "The Victors" is the fight song of the University of Michigan. Michigan student Louis Elbel wrote the song in 1898 after the football team's victory over the University of Chicago, which clinched an undefeated season and the Western Conferen ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, under head coach Philip King, compiled a 9–1 record, lost to Chicago, and finished in third place in the conference.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Key
PPG = Average of points scored per game
PAG = Average of points allowed per game

Regular season

Only 10 conference games were played during the 1898 season as follows: * October 22, 1898: Chicago defeated Northwestern, 34-5, at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

* October 29, 1898: Wisconsin defeated Minnesota, 29-0, at

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

* November 5, 1898: Chicago defeated Purdue, 17-0, at Chicago * November 5, 1898: Michigan defeated Northwestern, 6-5, at Ann Arbor, Michigan * November 12, 1898: Chicago defeated Wisconsin, 6-0, at Chicago * November 12, 1898: Michigan defeated Illinois, 12-5, at

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

* November 12, 1898: Minnesota defeated Northwestern, 17-6, at

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

* November 24, 1898: Illinois defeated Minnesota, 11-10, at

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metro ...

* November 24, 1898: Michigan defeated Chicago, 12-11, at Chicago * November 24, 1898: Wisconsin defeated Northwestern, 47-0, at

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

Notable non-conference games during the 1898 season included the following: * October 8, 1898: Chicago defeated

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to th ...

, 38–0, at Chicago * October 8, 1898: Illinois lost to Notre Dame, 5–0, at Champaign, Illinois * October 12, 1898: Michigan defeated Michigan Agricultural, 39–0, at Ann Arbor (first

Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry The Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the University of Michigan Wolverines and the Michigan State University Spartans. The teams first played in 1898 and have met 114 times. The game has ...

game) * October 18, 1898: Purdue defeated

Haskell Haskell () is a general-purpose, statically-typed, purely functional programming language with type inference and lazy evaluation. Designed for teaching, research and industrial applications, Haskell has pioneered a number of programming lan ...

, 5–0, at Lawrence, Kansas * October 22, 1898 Purdue defeated Haskell, 15–0, at

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister cit ...

* October 22, 1898: Minnesota lost to Iowa State, 6–0, at Minneapolis * October 23, 1898: Michigan defeated Notre Dame, 23–0, at Ann Arbor, Michigan * October 29, 1898: Michigan lost to Penn, 23–11, at

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

* November 5, 1898: Minnesota defeated , 15–0, at Minneapolis * November 12, 1898: Purdue defeated

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, 14–0, at West Lafayette, Indiana * November 19, 1898: Illinois lost to Carlisle, 11–0, at Chicago

Bowl games

No bowl games were played during the 1898 season.

All-Western players

Ends

Neil Snow Neil Worthington Snow (November 10, 1879 – January 22, 1914) was an American athlete. He competed in American football, baseball, and track and field at the University of Michigan from 1898 to 1902. He was selected as a first-team All-American f ...

, Michigan (CW) (CFHOF) * John W. F. Bennett, Michigan (CW)

Tackles

* Allen Steckle, Michigan (CW) * Bothne, Northwestern (CW)

Guards

* Rogers, Chicago (CW) * Bunge, Beloit (CW)

Centers

* William Cunningham, Michigan (CW)

Quarterbacks

* Walter S. Kennedy, Chicago (CW)

Halfbacks

* William Caley, Michigan (CW) * F. L. Slaker, Chicago (CW)

Fullbacks

Pat O'Dea Patrick John "Kangaroo Kicker" O'Dea (17 March 1872 – 5 April 1962) was an Australian rules and American football player and coach. An Australian by birth, O'Dea played Australian rules football for the Melbourne Football Club in the Victoria ...

, Wisconsin (CW) (CFHOF)

References

{{Big Ten Conference football navbox