1937 college football season

The 1937 college football season ended with the Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh being named the nation’s #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.

1937 college football season
First AP No. 1 of seasonCalifornia[1]
Number of bowls5
Champion(s)Pittsburgh (AP)
HeismanClint Frank (halfback, Yale)
football seasons

The NCAA began keeping official game statistics in 1937.

Conference and program changes
School1936 Conference1937 Conference
Akron ZippersOhio AthleticIndependent
Saint Louis BillikensIndependentMissouri 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 (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 #1, followed by Alabama, Pittsburgh, Minnesota and Yale. LSU, despite a 54-0 scoring edge over its opposition, was sixth.

October 23 #1 California beat #11 USC 20-6. In Washington, #2 Alabama defeated GWU, 19-0. #3 Pittsburgh won at #16 Wisconsin 26-6. #4 Minnesota was idle. #5 Yale beat #19 Cornell, 9-0.

The next top five was 1.California 2.Pittsburgh 3.Alabama 4.Minnesota 5.Yale

October 30 In Los Angeles, #1 California defeated UCLA 27-14, while in Pittsburgh, the #2 Pitt Panthers beat Carnegie Tech, 25-14. #3 Alabama beat Kentucky, 41-0. #4 Minnesota lost to Notre Dame, 7-6, and #5 Yale and #9 Dartmouth played to a 9-9 tie. #6 Baylor, which reached 6-0-0 with a 6-0 win over TCU, and #10 Fordham, which won at #15 North Carolina, 14-0, reached the next Top Five. The next top five was 1.California 2.Alabama 3.Pittsburgh 4.Baylor 5.Fordham

November

November 6 #1 California and Washington played to a 0-0 tie. In New Orleans, #2 Alabama beat #19 Tulane, 9-6. #3 Pittsburgh won at #12 Notre Dame, 21-6 to take the top spot in the next poll. #4 Baylor lost to unranked Texas, 9-6. #5 Fordham beat Purdue, 21-3. #9 Dartmouth, which beat Princeton 33-9, reached the next Top Five: 1.Pittsburgh 2.California 3.Alabama 4.Fordham 5.Dartmouth

November 13 #1 Pittsburgh defeated visiting #11 Nebraska, 13-7. In Portland, #2 California beat Oregon, 26-0. In Birmingham, #3 Alabama beat Georgia Tech, 7-0. #4 Fordham was idle. #5 Dartmouth and Cornell played to a 6-6 tie. #6 Yale returned to the Top Five with a 26-0 win over Princeton: 1.Pittsburgh 2.California 3.Alabama 4.Fordham 5.Yale

November 20 #1 Pittsburgh beat Penn State, 28-7. #2 California won at #13 Stanford, 13-0, to finish at 9-0-1. #3 Alabama was idle. #4 Fordham beat St. Mary’s, 6-0. #5 Yale lost its final game of the season, 13-6, at Harvard. #7 Minnesota closed its season with a 13-6 win over Wisconsin to return to the Top Five: 1.Pittsburgh 2.California 3.Fordham 4.Alabama 5.Minnesota

On Thanksgiving Day, #4 Alabama beat #12 Vanderbilt 9-7 in Nashville. Then, on November 27 #1 Pittsburgh closed its season unbeaten (8-0-1) with a 10-0 win at #18 Duke. #3 Fordham closed its season unbeaten (7-0-1) with a 20-7 win over NYU at Yankee Stadium. #2 California and #5 Minnesota had completed their seasons.

Conference standings

Major conference standings
1937 Big Six Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 11 Nebraska $ 3 –0 –2  6 –1 –2
Oklahoma 3 –1 –1  5 –2 –2
Kansas 2 –1 –2  3 –4 –2
Missouri 2 –2 –1  3 –6 –1
Iowa State 1 –4 –0  3 –6 –0
Kansas State 1 –4 –0  4 –5 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1937 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 5 Minnesota $ 5 –0 –0  6 –2 –0
No. 13 Ohio State 5 –1 –0  6 –2 –0
Indiana 3 –2 –0  5 –3 –0
Michigan 3 –3 –0  4 –4 –0
Northwestern 3 –3 –0  4 –4 –0
Purdue 2 –2 –1  4 –3 –1
Wisconsin 2 –2 –1  4 –3 –1
Illinois 2 –3 –0  3 –3 –2
Chicago 0 –4 –0  1 –6 –0
Iowa 0 –5 –0  1 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1937 Border Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Texas Tech $ 3 –0 –0  8 –4 –0
New Mexico A&M 4 –1 –0  7 –2 –0
Arizona 3 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
Texas Mines 2 –1 –1  7 –1 –2
New Mexico 2 –3 –1  4 –4 –1
Arizona State–Flagstaff 1 –4 –0  5 –5 –0
Arizona State 0 –5 –0  0 –8 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
1937 Middle Three Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Lafayette $ 2 –0 –0  8 –0 –0
Rutgers 1 –1 –0  5 –4 –0
Lehigh 0 –2 –0  1 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1937 Missouri Valley Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Tulsa $ 3 –0 –0  6 –2 –2
Drake 3 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
Saint Louis 1 –1 –0  7 –2 –1
Oklahoma A&M 2 –2 –0  4 –6 –0
Washington University 2 –2 –0  4 –6 –0
Washburn 0 –2 –0  0 –10 –0
Creighton 0 –3 –0  2 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1937 Pacific Coast Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 2 California $ 6 –0 –1  10 –0 –1
Stanford 4 –2 –1  4 –3 –2
Washington 4 –2 –2  7 –2 –2
Washington State 3 –3 –2  3 –3 –3
Idaho 2 –2 –0  4 –3 –1
Oregon State 2 –3 –3  3 –3 –3
USC 2 –3 –2  4 –4 –2
Oregon 2 –5 –0  4 –6 –0
UCLA 1 –5 –1  2 –6 –1
Montana 0 –1 –0  7 –1 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1937 Rocky Mountain Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 17 Colorado $ 7 –0 –0  8 –1 –0
BYU 5 –2 –0  6 –3 –0
Denver 5 –2 –0  6 –3 –0
Utah 5 –2 –0  5 –3 –0
Western State 3 –1 –0  5 –3 –0
Colorado College 3 –3 –0  5 –4 –0
Utah State 2 –4 –1  2 –4 –2
Wyoming 2 –4 –0  3 –5 –0
Colorado State–Greeley 2 –4 –0  2 –6 –0
Montana State 0 –3 –1  3 –4 –1
Colorado Mines 1 –5 –0  2 –5 –0
Colorado A&M 1 –6 –0  1 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1937 Southeastern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 4 Alabama $ 6 –0 –0  9 –1 –0
No. 8 LSU 5 –1 –0  9 –2 –0
Auburn 4 –1 –2  6 –2 –3
Vanderbilt 4 –2 –0  7 –2 –0
Mississippi State 3 –2 –0  5 –4 –1
Georgia Tech 3 –2 –1  6 –3 –1
Tennessee 4 –3 –0  6 –3 –1
Florida 3 –4 –0  4 –7 –0
Tulane 2 –3 –1  5 –4 –1
Georgia 1 –2 –2  6 –3 –2
Ole Miss 0 –4 –0  4 –5 –1
Kentucky 0 –5 –0  4 –6 –0
Sewanee 0 –6 –0  2 –7 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1937 Southern Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Maryland $ 2 –0 –0  8 –2 –0
No. 19 North Carolina 4 –0 –1  7 –1 –1
Clemson 2 –0 –1  4 –4 –1
No. 20 Duke 5 –1 –0  7 –2 –1
VMI 4 –2 –0  5 –5 –0
NC State 4 –2 –1  5 –3 –1
South Carolina 2 –2 –1  5 –6 –1
Washington and Lee 2 –3 –0  4 –5 –0
The Citadel 2 –3 –0  7 –4 –0
Richmond 2 –3 –0  5 –4 –1
Furman 1 –2 –2  4 –3 –2
VPI 2 –4 –0  5 –5 –0
William & Mary 1 –3 –0  4 –5 –0
Wake Forest 1 –4 –0  3 –6 –0
Davidson 1 –6 –0  2 –8 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll
1937 Southwest Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 18 Rice $ 4 –1 –1  6 –3 –2
No. 16 TCU 3 –1 –2  4 –4 –2
No. T–14 Arkansas 3 –2 –1  6 –2 –2
Baylor 3 –3 –0  7 –3 –0
Texas A&M 2 –2 –2  5 –2 –2
SMU 2 –4 –0  5 –6 –0
Texas 1 –5 –0  2 –6 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

Independents
1937 Eastern college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. 1 Pittsburgh   –    9 –0 –1
No. 6 Villanova   –    8 –0 –1
No. 3 Fordham   –    7 –0 –1
No. 7 Dartmouth   –    7 –0 –2
No. T–14 Holy Cross   –    8 –0 –2
No. 12 Yale   –    6 –1 –1
Army   –    7 –2 –0
Cornell   –    5 –2 –1
Harvard   –    5 –2 –1
Syracuse   –    5 –2 –1
No. 12 Manhattan   –    6 –3 –1
Penn State   –    5 –3 –0
Duquesne   –    6 –4 –0
Brown   –    5 –4 –0
NYU   –    5 –4 –0
Temple   –    3 –2 –4
Boston College   –    4 –4 –1
Buffalo   –    4 –4 –0
Princeton   –    4 –4 –0
Tufts   –    3 –4 –1
Colgate   –    3 –5 –0
Columbia   –    2 –5 –2
Hofstra   –    2 –4 –0
Carnegie Tech   –    2 –5 –1
Penn   –    2 –5 –1
La Salle   –    2 –7 –0
Massachusetts State   –    1 –7 –1
Rankings from AP Poll
1937 Midwestern college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Michigan State   –    8 –2 –0
Akron   –    7 –2 –0
Central Michigan   –    6 –2 –0
DePaul   –    5 –1 –2
Wayne   –    6 –2 –0
No. T–9 Notre Dame   –    6 –2 –1
Detroit   –    7 –3 –0
Michigan State Normal   –    5 –2 –1
Western State (MI)   –    5 –3 –0
Xavier   –    4 –5 –1
Marquette   –    3 –6 –0
Rankings from AP Poll
1937 Southern college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Hardin–Simmons   –    8 –0 –1
West Virginia   –    8 –1 –1
Catholic University   –    5 –3 –0
William & Mary Norfolk Division   –    5 –3 –0
Navy   –    4 –4 –1
George Washington   –    3 –4 –1
Georgetown   –    2 –4 –2
Western Maryland   –    3 –6 –0
East Carolina   –    2 –5 –0
Loyola (LA)   –    2 –6 –1
South Georgia Teachers   –    2 –9 –0
Delaware   –    1 –7 –0
Oklahoma City   –    1 –9 –0
1937 Western college football independents records
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
No. T–9 Santa Clara   –    9 –0 –0
San Jose State   –    11 –2 –1
Humboldt State   –    4 –2 –0
Idaho Southern Branch   –    6 –3 –0
Cal Poly   –    4 –2 –2
Portland   –    4 –3 –1
Saint Mary's   –    4 –3 –2
San Francisco   –    4 –5 –1
Loyola (CA)   –    4 –7 –0
Gonzaga   –    2 –6 –2
Hawaii   –    2 –6 –0
San Francisco State   –    1 –6 –1
Rankings from AP Poll

Minor conferences
Conference Champion(s) Record
Alamo Conference Texas A&I —
Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association Morgan College 6–0
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Wichita 4–0
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Drexel 3–1
Far Western Conference Fresno State Normal 4–0
Indiana Intercollegiate Conference Butler 3–0
Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Saint Ambrose
Upper Iowa		 5–0
6–0
Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Baker 4–1
Lone Star Conference East Texas State Teachers 4–0
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Kalamazoo 4–0
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) 4–0–1
Pacific Northwest Conference Willamette 3–0
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Lock Haven State Teachers 5–0–1
South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference Augustana (SD) 5–0
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 League State Normal–Cheney 2–0
Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference North: Superior State Teachers
South: Whitewater State Teachers		 3–0
4–0

Minor conference standings
1937 Alamo Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
St. Mary's (TX) + 1 –0 –1  7 –2 –2
Texas A&I + 1 –0 –1  4 –3 –1
Sul Ross 0 –2 –0  2 –4 –0
  • + – Conference co-champions
1937 Buckeye Athletic Association football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Marshall $ 4 –0 –1  9 –0 –1
Dayton 4 –1 –0  7 –2 –0
Ohio 3 –1 –1  5 –3 –1
Miami (OH) 2 –3 –0  4 –4 –1
Ohio Wesleyan 1 –4 –0  2 –7 –0
Cincinnati 0 –5 –0  0 –10 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1937 Eastern Pennsylvania Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Drexel $ 3 –1 –0  6 –2 –0
Franklin & Marshall 2 –2 –0  4 –4 –0
Muhlenberg 2 –2 –0  5 –5 –0
Gettysburg 2 –2 –0  3 –5 –0
Ursinus 1 –3 –0  ? –? –?
  • $ – Conference champion
1937 Far Western Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Fresno State $ 4 –0 –0  8 –1 –1
Pacific (CA) 3 –1 –0  3 –5 –2
Cal Aggies 2 –2 –0  4 –4 –0
Nevada 1 –3 –0  2 –6 –0
Chico State 0 –4 –0  0 –6 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
1937 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Northern Illinois State 3 –2 –1  3 –2 –3
1937 Lone Star Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
East Texas State $ 4 –0 –0  8 –2 –0
North Texas State 2 –1 –1  4 –4 –2
Southwest Texas State 2 –2 –0  6 –4 –0
Sam Houston State 1 –3 –0  5 –5 –0
Stephen F. Austin 0 –3 –1  1 –6 –1
  • $ – Conference champion
1937 New England Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
New Hampshire + 1 –0 –0  7 –1 –0
Connecticut State + 1 –0 –0  6 –2 –1
Maine 0 –1 –1  2 –3 –2
Rhode Island State 0 –2 –1  3 –4 –1
  • + – Conference co-champions
1937 North Central Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
North Dakota $ 3 –0 –0  4 –4 –0
South Dakota 4 –1 –0  6 –4 –0
Morningside 2 –2 –1  4 –2 –2
North Dakota Agricultural 2 –2 –0  5 –4 –0
Iowa State Teachers 2 –2 –1  2 –4 –3
South Dakota State 2 –3 –0  4 –5 –0
Omaha 0 –5 –0  2 –6 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1937 Southern California Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
San Diego State $ 4 –1 –0  7 –1 –0
Santa Barbara State 3 –1 –1  5 –2 –2
Redlands 2 –1 –2  3 –3 –2
Whittier 2 –2 –1  2 –6 –2
Occidental 1 –2 –2  2 –2 –3
La Verne 0 –5 –0  0 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion
1937 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Southern +   –      –  
Langston +   –      –  
  • + – Conference co-champions
1937 Texas Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T  W L T
Howard Payne $ 7 –0 –0  8 –1 –1
Austin 6 –1 –0  8 –2 –0
McMurry 5 –2 –0  7 –2 –1
Texas Wesleyan 3 –2 –0  6 –3 –0
Daniel Baker 3 –4 –0  4 –6 –0
Southwestern (TX) 2 –4 –0  6 –5 –0
Trinity (TX) 2 –4 –0  2 –7 –0
St. Edward's 1 –5 –0  2 –8 –0
Abilene Christian 0 –6 –0  0 –9 –0
  • $ – Conference champion

Awards and honors

All-Americans
Main article: 1937 College Football All-America Team

The consensus All-America team included:

Position Name Height Weight (lbs.) Class Hometown Team
QB Clint Frank 5'10" 190 Sr. Evanston, Illinois Yale
HB Marshall Goldberg 5'11" 185 Jr. Elkins, West Virginia Pittsburgh
HB Byron White 6'1" 185 Sr. Wellington, Colorado Colorado
FB Sam Chapman 6'0" 180 Sr. Mill Valley, California California
E Chuck Sweeney 6'0" 190 Sr. Bloomington, Indiana Notre Dame
T Ed Franco 5'8" 196 Sr. Jersey City, New Jersey Fordham
G Joe Routt 6'0" 193 Sr. Brenham, Texas Texas A&M
C Alex Wojciechowicz 5'11" 192 Sr. South River, New Jersey Fordham
G Leroy Monsky 5'10" 185 Sr. Montgomery, Alabama Alabama
T Tony Matisi 6'0" 224 Sr. New York, New York Pittsburgh
E Andy Bershak 6'0" 190 Sr. Clairton, Pennsylvania North 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

Rankings
Main article: 1937 NCAA football rankings

Bowl games
Main article: 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

See also

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 29, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2009.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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