The 1928 Big Ten Conference football season was the 33rd season of college football played by the member schools of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

(also known as the Western Conference) and was a part of the 1928 college football season. The

1928 Illinois Fighting Illini football team The 1928 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1928 college football season. In their 16th season under head coach Robert Zuppke, the Illini compiled a 7–1 ...

, under head coach

Robert Zuppke Robert Carl Zuppke (July 2, 1879 – December 22, 1957) was an American football coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 1913 until 1941, compiling a career college football record of 131–81� ...

, compiled a 7–1 record, won the Big Ten championship, led the conference in scoring defense (2.0 points allowed per game), and was ranked No. 7 in the

Dickinson System The Dickinson System was a mathematical point formula that awarded national championships in college football. Devised by University of Illinois economics professor Frank G. Dickinson, the system crowned national champions from 1925 to 1940. Dicki ...

rankings. Tackles Albert J. Nowack and Russell Crane and guard Leroy Wietz were selected as first-team All-Americans. The

1928 Wisconsin Badgers football team The 1928 Wisconsin Badgers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Wisconsin in the 1928 Big Ten Conference football season. The team compiled a 7–1–1 record (3–1–1 against conference opponents), fi ...

, under head coach

Glenn Thistlethwaite Glenn Franklin Thistlethwaite (March 18, 1885 – October 6, 1956) was an American football, basketball, baseball, and track and field coach. He served as the head football coach at Illinois College (1908), Earlham College (1909–1912), Northwest ...

, compiled a 7–1–1 record and was ranked No. 4 in the Dickinson System rankings. Guard Rube Wagner was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten player. The

1928 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team The 1928 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1928 college football season. In their fourth year under head coach Clarence Spears, the Golden Gophers compiled a 6–2 record and outscored their opp ...

, under head coach

Clarence Spears Clarence Wiley "Doc" Spears (July 24, 1894 – February 1, 1964) was an American football player, coach, and doctor. He was an All-American guard at Dartmouth College (1914–1915) and served as the head football coach at Dartmouth (1917–1920), ...

, compiled a 6–2 record, finished third in the Big Ten, and led the conference in scoring offense (23.9 points per game). Guard George Gibson and end

Ken Haycraft Kenneth C. Haycraft (February 16, 1907 – June 29, 1995) was an American football player in the National Football League (NFL). Biography Haycraft was born on February 16, 1907, in Bemidji, Minnesota. Career Haycraft played with the Minneapolis ...

were named All-Americans by the Associated Press and Look Magazine. Gibson, Haycraft and quarterback Frederick L. Hovde received first-team All-Big Ten honors. The

1928 Iowa Hawkeyes football team The 1928 Iowa Hawkeyes football team represented the University of Iowa in the 1928 college football season. This was the last season Iowa played their home games in at Iowa Field. The team was ranked No. 6 in the nation in the Dickinson System ...

, under head coach

Burt Ingwersen Burton Aherns Ingwersen (August 29, 1898 – July 15, 1969) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach of football and baseball. He served as the head football coach at the University of Iowa from 1924 to 1931, compiling ...

, compiled a 6–2 record and was ranked No. 6 in the Dickinson System rankings. Halfback

Willis Glassgow Willis Allen "Bill" Glassgow (April 21, 1907 – November 1, 1959) graduated from Shenandoah Iowa high school. Willis was an American football player and attorney. He played halfback for the University of Iowa from 1927 to 1929, was selected ...

received first-team All-Big Ten honors. Indiana halfback

Chuck Bennett Charles Henry Bennett (August 9, 1907 – June 9, 1973) was an American football player and coach. He played halfback for the Indiana University football team from 1926 to 1928 and won the 1928 Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most ...

received the ''Chicago Tribune'' Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the conference. Northwestern's triple threat star

Walt Holmer Walter Ree Holmer (December 5, 1902 – August 27, 1976) was an American football player and coach. He played professionally as a quarterback and running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals, Boston R ...

finished second in close voting for the trophy; Bennett received eight of 22 first place votes, and Holmer received seven.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Key
DS = Rankings from

. See 1928 college football season
PPG = Average of points scored per game
PAG = Average of points allowed per game
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 The Chicago Tribune Silver Football is awarded by the ''Chicago Tribune'' to the college football player determined to be the best player from the Big Ten Conference. The award has been presented annually since 1924, when Red Grange of Illinois w ...

trophy

Regular season

Bowl games

No Big Ten teams participated in any bowl games during the 1928 season.

All-Big Ten players

The following players were picked by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

(AP), the

United Press United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20t ...

(UP), and/or

Walter Eckersall Walter Herbert "Eckie" Eckersall (June 17, 1883 – March 24, 1930) was an American college football player, official, and sportswriter for the ''Chicago Tribune''. He played for the Maroons of the University of Chicago, and was elected to the ...

(WE) as first-team players on the

1928 All-Big Ten Conference football team The 1928 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference teams chosen by various selectors for the 1928 Big Ten Conference football season. All Big-Ten selections Ends * Wes Fesler, ...

All-Americans

Two Big Ten players were selected as consensus first-team players on the

1928 College Football All-America Team The 1928 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1928. The seven selectors recognized by the ...

. They were: Other Big Ten players received first-team honors from at least one selector. They were:

References

{{Big Ten Conference football navbox