1940 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1940 Illinois Fighting Illini football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record1–7 (0–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
MVPGeorge Bernhardt
CaptainThomas J. Riggs
Home stadiumMemorial Stadium
Seasons
← 1939
1941 →
1940 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 1 Minnesota $ 6 0 0 8 0 0
No. 3 Michigan 3 1 0 7 1 0
No. 8 Northwestern 4 2 0 6 2 0
Ohio State 3 3 0 4 4 0
Wisconsin 3 3 0 4 4 0
Iowa 2 3 0 4 4 0
Indiana 2 3 0 3 5 0
Purdue 1 4 0 2 6 0
Illinois 0 5 0 1 7 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1940 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1940 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 28th season under head coach Robert Zuppke, the Illini compiled a 1–7 record (0–5 against conference opponents), finished in last place in the Big Ten Conference, and were outscored by a total of 144 to 71.[1] Fullback George Bernhardt was selected as the team's most valuable player.[2]

Illinois was ranked at No. 62 (out of 697 college football teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score system for 1940.[3]

The team played its home games at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois.

  1. ^ "1940 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
  2. ^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
  3. ^ Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 19, 1940). "Final 1940 Litkenhous Ratings". The Boston Globe. p. 22 – via Newspapers.com.