The 1944 Big Ten Conference football season was the 49th 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

1944 college football season The 1944 college football season was the 76th season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six Co ...

. The

1944 Ohio State Buckeyes football team The 1944 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the 1944 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–0 record. The Buckeyes also outscored opponents 287–79 during the season. The team was nam ...

, under head coach

Carroll Widdoes Carroll Curtis Widdoes (December 3, 1903 – September 22, 1971) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head coach at Ohio State University (1944–1945) and Ohio University (1949–1957), compiling a ...

, compiled a perfect 9–0 record, won the Big Ten championship, led the conference in scoring offense (31.9 points per game), and was ranked No. 2 in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broad ...

. The team was retroactively selected as a national champion by the

National Championship Foundation The National Championship Foundation (NCF) was established by Mike Riter of Hudson, New York. The NCF retroactively selected college football national champions for each year from 1869 to 1979, and its selections are among the historic national ch ...

. Quarterback

Les Horvath Leslie Horvath (October 12, 1921 – November 14, 1995) was an American football quarterback and halfback who won the Heisman Trophy while playing for Ohio State University in 1944. Horvath was the first Ohio State player to win the Heisman, a ...

was a consensus first-team pick for the

1944 College Football All-America Team The 1944 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 1944. The nine selectors recognized by the ...

and received 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 as the most valuable player in the Big Ten and . End

Jack Dugger John Richard Rabbit Dugger (January 13, 1923 – February 23, 1988) was an American football player who played three seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steeler ...

and center

John Tavener Sir John Kenneth Tavener (28 January 1944 – 12 November 2013) was an English composer, known for his extensive output of choral religious works. Among his best known works are '' The Lamb'' (1982), ''The Protecting Veil'' (1988), and '' Song ...

were also consensus first-team All-Americans.

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, under head coach

Fritz Crisler Herbert Orin "Fritz" Crisler (; January 12, 1899 – August 19, 1982) was an American college football coach who is best known as "the father of two-platoon football," an innovation in which separate units of players were used for offense and ...

, compiled an 8–2 record, finished in second place in the conference, and was ranked No. 8 in the final AP Poll. Fullback Don Lund received the team's most valuable player award.

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 ...

, under head coach

Bo McMillin Alvin Nugent "Bo" McMillin (January 12, 1895 – March 31, 1952) was an American football player and coach at the collegiate and professional level. He played college football at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, where he was a three-tim ...

, compiled a 7–3 record and led the conference in scoring defense (7.9 points per game). Center

was a consensus first-team All-American and received Indiana's most valuable player award.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final

of the 1945 season
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1945 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

trophy

Regular season

Bowl games

During the 1944 season, the Big Ten maintained its long-standing ban on postseason games. Accordingly, no Big Ten teams participated in any bowl games.

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) and/or 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) as first-team players on the

1944 All-Big Nine Conference football team The 1944 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) for the 1944 Big Ten Conference football season. All Big-Te ...

. *

, end, Ohio State (AP, UP) * Frank Bauman, end, Purdue (AP, UP) *

Milan Lazetich Milan "Sheriff" Lazetich (August 27, 1921 – July 9, 1969) was an American football player in the 1940s. He played college football for the University of Montana and University of Michigan. He was a first-team All-Big Ten tackle and second-te ...

, tackle, Michigan (AP, UP) * Bill Willis, tackle, Ohio State (AP, UP) *

Bill Hackett William Charles Hackett (December 9, 1923 – June 2, 1995) was an American football guard at Ohio State University. He was a consensus All-American in 1944. After college, he became a doctor of veterinary medicine and played a part in the found ...

, guard, Ohio State (AP, UP) * Ralph Serpico, guard, Illinois (AP, UP) *

, center, Indiana (AP, UP) *

, halfback/quarterback, Ohio State (AP, UP) *

Joe Ponsetto Joseph Ponsetto (March 29, 1926 – November 24, 2004) was an American football player who was the starting quarterback for the University of Michigan Wolverines football teams of 1944 and 1945. Playing under head coach Fritz Crisler, Ponset ...

, quarterback, Michigan (AP) * Buddy Young, halfback, Illinois (AP, UP) *

Babe Dimancheff Boris Stephan "Babe" Dimancheff (September 6, 1922 – October 17, 2008) was an American football halfback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Boston Yanks (1945–1946), the Chicago Cardinals (1947–1950), and the Chicago Bears (19 ...

, fullback/halfback, Purdue (AP, UP) *

Bob Wiese Robert Lee Wiese (January 25, 1923 – November 19, 1971) was an American football player. He played college football for Fritz Crisler's University of Michigan Wolverines football teams in 1942, 1943, 1944 and 1946—missing the 1945 season du ...

, fullback, Michigan (UP)

All-Americans

At the end of the 1944 season, Big Ten players secured four of the consensus first-team picks for the

. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were: *

, end, Ohio State (FWAA, INS, SN, UP, WC) *

, guard, Ohio State (AAB, AP, COL, FN, FWAA, CP, WC) *

, center, Indiana (UP, FWAA, INS, LK, CP) *

, quarterback, Ohio State (AAB, AP, COL, FN, FWAA, INS, LK, NEA, SN, UP, CP, WC) Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were: * Bill Willis, tackle, Ohio State (LK, SN, UP) * Ralph Serpico, guard, Illinois (SN) * Buddy Young, quarterback, Illinois (LK) *

Jug Girard Earl Francis "Jug" Girard (January 25, 1927 – January 17, 1997) was an American football player. He played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as an End (football), end, Halfback (American football), halfback, quarterback, Punter ...

, halfback, Wisconsin (LK) *

, fullback, Purdue (INS, CP)

1945 NFL draft

The following Big Ten players were selected in the first 10 rounds of the

1945 NFL draft The 1945 National Football League Draft was held on April 8, 1945, at the Commodore Hotel in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Chicago Cardinals selected halfback Charley Trippi. Player selections Round o ...

References

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