1943 Big Ten Conference football season


The 1943 Big Ten Conference football season was the 48th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1943 college football season.
The 1943 Purdue Boilermakers football team compiled a perfect 9–0 record, tied for the Big Ten championship, led the conference in scoring defense, and were ranked No. 5 in the final AP Poll. Guard Alex Agase was a consensus first-team pick on the 1943 College Football All-America Team. Another guard, Dick Barwegen, received the team's most valuable player award.
Michigan, under head coach Fritz Crisler, compiled an 8–1, tied with Purdue for the conference championship, led the conference in scoring offense, and was ranked No. 3 in the final AP Poll. The team's sole loss was to consensus national champion Notre Dame. Bill Daley was a consensus first-team All-American and finished seventh in the voting for the Heisman Trophy. Bob Wiese received the team's most valuable player award.
Northwestern, under head coach Pappy Waldorf, compiled a 6–2 record and was ranked No. 9 in the final AP Poll. Quarterback Otto Graham received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten. Northwestern's two losses were to No. 1 Notre Dame and No. 3 Michigan.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Key
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 trophy

Regular season

Bowl games

During the 1943 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 and/or the United Press as first-team players on the 1943 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
At the end of the 1943 season, Big Ten players secured two of the consensus first-team picks for the 1943 College Football All-America Team. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
The following Big Ten players were selected in the first six rounds of the 1944 NFL Draft:
NamePositionTeamRoundOverall pick
Pat HarderFullbackWisconsin12
Otto GrahamQuarterbackNorthwestern14
Billy HillenbrandHalfbackIndiana16
Merv PregulmanGuardMichigan17
Paul MitchellTackleMinnesota212
Tom KuzmaHalfbackMichigan322
Rudy SmejaEndMichigan324
Babe DimancheffHalfbackPurdue327
Jack TavenerCenterIndiana428
Rudy SikichTackleMinnesota429
John GreeneTackleMichigan535
Bill GarnaasBackMinnesota644