1947 Big Nine Conference football season

1947 Big Nine Conference football season
SportFootball
Number of teams9
Top draft pickJug Girard
ChampionMichigan
  Runners-upWisconsin
Season MVPBump Elliott
Football seasons
← 1946
1948 →
1947 Big Nine Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 2 Michigan $ 6 0 0 10 0 0
Wisconsin 3 2 1 5 3 1
Minnesota 3 3 0 6 3 0
Illinois 3 3 0 5 3 1
Purdue 3 3 0 5 4 0
Indiana 2 3 1 5 3 1
Iowa 2 3 1 3 5 1
Northwestern 2 4 0 3 6 0
Ohio State 1 4 1 2 6 1
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1947 Big Nine Conference football season was the 52nd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Nine Conference (also known as the Western Conference and the Big Ten Conference) and was a part of the 1947 college football season.

The 1947 Big Ten champion was Michigan. The Wolverines compiled a perfect 10–0 record, outscored its opponents by a combined total of 394 to 53, and defeated the USC Trojans by a score of 49 to 0 in the 1948 Rose Bowl game.

Michigan halfback Bob Chappuis led the conference with 1,395 yards of total offense, which was also the fourth best in the country.[1] Chappuis also finished second in the voting for the 1947 Heisman Trophy, trailing Johnny Lujack by a tally of 742 votes to 555 votes, with both finishing ahead of Doak Walker and Bobby Layne.[2]

Wisconsin finished in second place in the conference, led by sophomore halfback Jug Girard. Girard, a triple-threat man who also returned two punts for touchdowns,[3] was the first conference player selected in the 1948 NFL draft, being chosen by the Green Bay Packers with the seventh pick in the first round.[4]

  1. ^ "Arizona Back Edges Conerly In Total Yards". Decatur Herald. December 12, 1947. p. 21.
  2. ^ "Lujack Nips Chappuis for Heisman Trophy". Detroit Free Press. December 2, 1947. p. 17.
  3. ^ "Girard Quits At Wisconsin". The Des Moines Register. December 9, 1947. p. 14.
  4. ^ "1948 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved December 22, 2016.