1937 college football season

American college football season January 2019 1937 November 27, 1937 Official Football Program for the Duke versus Pittsburgh game.jpg 200 Pittsburgh v Duke game program California 5 Pittsburghper AP poll, Boand System, Dickinson System, Houlgate System, Litkenhous Ratings, Poling System, Williamson System, Berryman QPRS, Billingsley Report, College Football Researchers Association, National Championship Foundation, Sagarin Ratings Elo chess method, Sagarin Ratings Predictor methodCaliforniaper Dunkel System and Helms Athletic Foundation Clint Frank (halfback, Yale) The 1937 college football season ended with the Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh being named the nation's No. 1 team (and "mythical national champion") by 30 of the 33 voters in the Associated Press writers' poll. The AP poll was in its second year, and seven votes were taken during the final weeks of the 1937 season, starting with October 18. Each writer listed his choice for the top ten teams, and points were tallied based on 10 for first place, 9 for second, etc., and the AP then ranked the twenty teams with the highest number of points. With 33 writers polled, Pitt received 30 first place votes and 3 second-place, for a total of 327 points. Most other major rankings (both contemporary and retroactive) also have found Pittsburgh to have been the champion, though two (the contemporary Dunkel System and retroactive Helms Athletic Foundation rankings) have found California the champion. 1937 marks the first season in which the NCAA began keeping official game statistics. Conference and program changes School 1936 Conference 1937 Conference Akron Zippers Ohio Athletic Independent Saint Louis Billikens Independent Missouri Valley September September 25 The defending champion Minnesota Gophers opened their season with a 69–7 win over visiting North Dakota State. LSU beat Florida, 19–0. Alabama beat Samford 41–0. California won 30–7 over St. Mary's. In Seattle, Washington beat Iowa, 14–0. The day before, Pittsburgh had opened with a 59–0 win over Ohio Wesleyan. October October 2 Minnesota lost at Nebraska, 14–9. LSU defeated Texas 9–0. Pittsburgh won at West Virginia, 20–0. In Birmingham, Alabama beat Sewanee, 65–0. In Los Angeles, Washington defeated USC, 7–0. California beat Oregon State, 24–6. Yale beat Maine, 26–0. October 9 In Houston, LSU defeated Rice, 13–0. Pittsburgh beat its cross-town rival, Duquesne, 6–0. Alabama beat South Carolina, 20–0. All three teams had held their opposition scoreless. California defeated Washington State 27–0. Washington lost to Oregon State, 6–3. Yale beat Penn, 27–7. Minnesota recovered from its Nebraska loss to beat Indiana 6–0. October 16 LSU registered its fourth shutout in four starts, a 13–0 win over Ole Miss. Pittsburgh and Fordham played to a 0–0 tie in New York. Alabama yielded its first points, but won at Tennessee, 14–7. California beat the California Aggies (later UC-Davis) 14–0 and Pacific, 20–0, in a doubleheader. Yale defeated Army, 15–7. Minnesota won at Michigan, 39–6. In the first poll taken, California was No. 1, followed by Alabama, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, and Yale. LSU, despite a 54–0 scoring edge over its opposition, was sixth. October 23 No. 1 California beat No. 11 USC 20–6. In Washington, No. 2 Alabama defeated GWU, 19–0. No. 3 Pittsburgh won at No. 16 Wisconsin 26–6. No. 4 Minnesota was idle. No. 5 Yale beat No. 19 Cornell, 9–0. The next top five was No. 1 California, No. 2 Pittsburgh, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Minnesota, and No. 5 Yale October 30 In Los Angeles, No. 1 California defeated UCLA 27–14, while in Pittsburgh, the No. 2 Pitt Panthers beat Carnegie Tech, 25–14. No. 3 Alabama beat Kentucky, 41–0. No. 4 Minnesota lost to Notre Dame, 7–6, and No. 5 Yale and No. 9 Dartmouth played to a 9–9 tie. No. 6 Baylor, which reached 6–0–0 with a 6–0 win over TCU, and No. 10 Fordham, which won at No. 15 North Carolina, 14–0, moved up to fourth and fifth place in the next Top Five, behind California, Alabama, and Pittsburgh. November November 6 No. 1 California and Washington played to a 0–0 tie. In New Orleans, No. 2 Alabama beat No. 19 Tulane, 9–6. No. 3 Pittsburgh won at No. 12 Notre Dame, 21–6 to take the top spot in the next poll. No. 4 Baylor lost to unranked Texas, 9–6. No. 5 Fordham beat Purdue, 21–3. No. 9 Dartmouth, which beat Princeton 33–9, reached the next Top Five: No. 1 Pittsburgh, No. 2 California, No. 3 Alabama, No. 4 Fordham, and No. 5 Dartmouth. November 13 No. 1 Pittsburgh defeated visiting No. 11 Nebraska, 13–7. In Portland, No. 2 California beat Oregon, 26–0. In Birmingham, No. 3 Alabama beat Georgia Tech, 7–0. No. 4 Fordham was idle. No. 5 Dartmouth and Cornell played to a 6–6 tie. No. 6 Yale returned to the Top Five with a 26–0 win over Princeton, ranking fifth behind Pittsburgh, California, Alabama, and Fordham. November 20 No. 1 Pittsburgh beat Penn State, 28–7. No. 2 California won at No. 13 Stanford, 13–0, to finish at 9–0–1. No. 3 Alabama was idle. No. 4 Fordham beat St. Mary's, 6–0. No. 5 Yale lost its final game of the season, 13–6, at Harvard. No. 7 Minnesota closed its season with a 13–6 win over Wisconsin and moved up to fifth place behind Pittsburgh, California, Fordham, and Alabama. On Thanksgiving Day, No. 4 Alabama beat No. 12 Vanderbilt 9–7 in Nashville. Then, on November 27 No. 1 Pittsburgh closed its season unbeaten (8–0–1) with a 10–0 win at No. 18 Duke. No. 3 Fordham closed its season unbeaten (7–0–1) with a 20–7 win over NYU at Yankee Stadium. No. 2 California and No. 5 Minnesota had completed their seasons, and the top five remained unchanged from the previous week. Conference standings Major conference standings Independents Minor conferences ConferenceChampion(s)Record Alamo Conference Texas A&I — Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association Morgan College 6–0 Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wichita 4–0 Eastern Pennsylvania Collegiate Conference Drexel 3–1 Far Western Conference Fresno State Normal 4–0 Indiana Intercollegiate Conference Butler 3–0 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Saint AmbroseUpper Iowa 5–06–0 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Baker 4–1 Lone Star Conference East Texas State Teachers 4–0 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Kalamazoo 4–0 Michigan-Ontario Collegiate Conference Ferris StateLawrence Technological University – Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference Cornell College 7–0 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Gustavus Adolphus 5–0 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association Southeast Missouri State Teachers 5–0 Nebraska College Athletic Conference Hastings 2–0–1 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Association Nebraska State Teachers–Chadron 2–0 North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference North Dakota 3–0 North Dakota College Athletic Conference North Dakota Science 4–0–1 Northern Teachers Athletic Conference St. Cloud State Teachers 4–0 Northern Teachers Athletic Conference Duluth State Teachers 3–0 Ohio Athletic Conference Baldwin Wallace 4–0 Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference Central State Teachers (OK) 5–0–1 Pacific Northwest Conference Willamette 3–0 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Lock Haven State Teachers 5–0–1 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference Augustana (SD) 4–0 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference San Diego State 4–1 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Florida A&M College 5–0–1 Southwestern Athletic Conference Texas College 5–0–1 Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference Howard Payne 7–0 Tri-Normal Conference Eastern Washington 2–0 Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference North: Superior State TeachersSouth: Whitewater State Teachers 3–04–0 Minor conference standings Awards and honors All-Americans 1937 College Football All-America Team The consensus All-America team included: PositionNameHeightWeight (lbs.)ClassHometownTeamQBClint Frank5'10"190Sr.Evanston, IllinoisYaleHBMarshall Goldberg5'11"185Jr.Elkins, West VirginiaPittsburghHBByron White6'1"185Sr.Wellington, ColoradoColoradoFBSam Chapman6'0"180Sr.Mill Valley, CaliforniaCaliforniaEChuck Sweeney6'0"190Sr.Bloomington, IndianaNotre DameTEd Franco5'8"196Sr.Jersey City, New JerseyFordhamGJoe Routt6'0"193Sr.Brenham, TexasTexas A&MCAlex Wojciechowicz5'11"192Sr.South River, New JerseyFordhamGLeroy Monsky5'10"185Sr.Montgomery, AlabamaAlabamaTTony Matisi6'0"224Sr.New York, New YorkPittsburghEAndy Bershak6'0"190Sr.Clairton, PennsylvaniaNorth Carolina Individual leaders Rushing yards (total): Byron White, Colorado, 1,121 yards Rushing yards (per carry): Dick Cassiano, Pittsburgh, 9.0 yards/carry Passing yards (total): Billy Patterson, Baylor, 1,109 yards Receiving yards (total): Jim Benton, Arkansas, 814 yards Points scored: Byron White, Colorado, 122 points Punting: Johnny Pingel, Michigan State, 42.9 yards/punt Heisman Trophy voting The Heisman Trophy is given to the year's most outstanding player Player School Position Total Clint Frank Yale HB/QB 524 Byron White Colorado HB 264 Marshall Goldberg Pittsburgh HB 211 Alex Wojciechowicz Fordham C 85 Rankings 1937 college football rankings In the Associated Press poll of 33 sportswriters, taken on November 29, the Pitt Panthers received 29 first place votes and 327 points out of a possible 330 under the weighted scoring system. The writers agreed on the same four teams (Pitt, California, Fordham and Alabama) being the best four in the nation. California had 277, Fordham 253 and Alabama 246 points to finish second, third and fourth in the poll, and the Minnesota Gophers a distant fifth with 104 points."Final Vote Leaves Pitt As Nation's Grid Leader— Twenty-Nine Out of Thirty-Three Experts Pick Panthers; California Is Runnerup", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 30, 1937, p.17 At the time, the final poll was taken at the end of season and was not affected by the outcome of the postseason bowl games. Bowl games 1937–38 NCAA football bowl games Bowl game Winning team Losing team Rose Bowl No. 2 California 13 No. 4 Alabama 0 Sugar Bowl No. 9 Santa Clara 6 No. 8 LSU 0 Orange Bowl Auburn 6 Michigan State 0 Cotton Bowl Classic No. 18 Rice 28 No. 17 Colorado 14 Sun Bowl West Virginia 7 Texas Tech 6 Charity Bowl Fresno State 27 Arkansas State Teachers 26 Notes References