The 1941 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference team for the 1941 Big Ten Conference football season. The organizations selecting All-Big Ten teams in 1941 were: the Associated Press (AP), selected by the conference coaches; the United Press (UP), chosen by experts from the conference region; and International News Service (INS), selected based on input from scouts and scribes from the conference region.
Five players were selected on the first team by all three selectors: quarterback Billy Hillenbrand of Indiana; fullback Bob Westfall of Michigan; end Dave Schreiner of Wisconsin; and tackles Alf Bauman of Northwestern and Dick Wildung of Minnesota. Westfall was the only Big Ten player selected in the first round of the 1942 NFL draft. Schreiner was killed in action during the Battle of Okinawa in June 1945.
Three Big Ten players were also selected as consensus first-team players on the 1941 All-America team: Bob Westfall; Dick Wildung; and Minnesota halfback Bruce Smith. [1] Smith also won the 1941 Heisman Trophy.
The 1941 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was selected as the national champion in the final AP Poll and led all other teams with seven players named to the first and second teams: quarterback Bill Garnaas (AP-2, UP-2); halfbacks Bill Daley (AP-1, UP-1, INS-2) and Bruce Smith (AP-1, UP-2, INS-1); end Bob Fitch (AP-2, UP-1, INS-2); tackle Dick Wildung (AP-1, UP-1, INS-1); and guards Butch Levy (AP-1, UP-1) and Helge Pukema (AP-2, INS-2).
Though not picked for the first team by any of the selectors, Ohio State fullback Jack Graf won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football award as the conference's most valuable player. [2]
AP = Associated Press, chosen by conference coaches [3]
UP = United Press, selected "by experts representing every section blanketed by the western conference" [4]
INS = International News Service, "with the assistance of scouts and scribes from all parts of the conference" [5]
Bold = Consensus first-team selection of the AP, UPI, and INS
The 1941 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team represented the University of Minnesota in the 1941 Big Ten Conference football season. In their tenth year under head coach Bernie Bierman, the Golden Gophers compiled an undefeated 8–0 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 186 to 38. The team's national championship run in the days before the attack on Pearl Harbor was chronicled in journalist Danny Spewak's book, "From the Gridiron to the Battlefield: Minnesota's March to a College Football Title and into World War II," published in 2021 by Rowman & Littlefield.
The 1940 college football season was the 72nd season of intercollegiate football in the United States. Competition included schools from the Big Ten Conference, the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC), the Southeastern Conference (SEC), the Big Six Conference, the Southern Conference, the Southwestern Conference, and numerous smaller conferences and independent programs.
The 1940 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1940 Big Ten Conference football season. Under third-year head coach Fritz Crisler, Michigan compiled a 7–1 record and finished the season ranked No. 3 in the final AP Poll. The team outscored opponents 196 to 34. The team's sole setback was a 7–6 loss on the road against a Minnesota team that finished the season No. 1 in the final AP Poll.
The 1942 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1942. The nine selectors recognized by the NCAA as "official" for the 1942 season are (1) Collier's Weekly, as selected by Grantland Rice, (2) the Associated Press, (3) the United Press, (4) the All-America Board, (5) the International News Service (INS), (6) Look magazine, (7) the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), (8) Newsweek, and (9) the Sporting News.
The 1941 College Football All-America team is composed of college football players who were selected as All-Americans by various organizations and writers that chose College Football All-America Teams in 1941. The nine selectors recognized by the NCAA as "official" for the 1941 season are (1) Collier's Weekly, as selected by Grantland Rice, (2) the Associated Press, (3) the United Press, (4) the All-America Board, (5) the International News Service (INS), (6) Liberty magazine, (7) the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), (8) Newsweek, and (9) the Sporting News.
The 1941 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1941 Big Ten Conference football season. Under fourth-year head coach Fritz Crisler, Michigan compiled a record of 6–1–1, outscored opponents 147 to 41 and was ranked No. 5 in the final AP Poll. The team played three ranked opponents, defeating No. 5 Northwestern (14–7), playing to a tie with No. 14 Ohio State (20–20), and losing by a 7–0 score to the 1941 Minnesota team that won the 1941 national championship. With a strong, veteran line, the Wolverines also shut out four of their eight opponents: Pittsburgh (40–0); Columbia (28–0); Illinois (20–0); and Iowa (6–0).
The 1940 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) for the 1940 Big Ten Conference football season.
The 1942 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) for the 1942 Big Ten Conference football season. Dave Schreiner was the only unanimous pick with 18 points ; Julius Franks and Dick Wildung followed with 17 points each.
The 1948 All-Big Nine Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Nine Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP), United Press (UP) and the International News Service (INS) for the 1948 Big Nine Conference football season. Players selected as first-team honorees by the AP, UP and INS are displayed in bold.
The 1949 All-Big Nine Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Nine Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP), United Press (UP) and the International News Service (INS) for the 1949 Big Nine Conference football season.
The 1955 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP), United Press (UP) and the International News Service (INS) for the 1955 Big Ten Conference football season.
The 1960 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Ten Conference teams for the 1960 Big Ten Conference football season.
The 1976 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by various organizations for All-Big Ten Conference teams for the 1976 Big Ten Conference football season.
The 1954 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players chosen by the Associated Press (AP), the United Press (UP), and newspaper sports editors (Ed) as the best players at their positions during the 1954 Big Ten Conference football season. The UP team was selected by the Big Ten head coaches.
The 1952 All-Big Ten Conference football team consists of American football players selected to the All-Big Ten Conference teams selected by the Associated Press (AP) and United Press (UP) for the 1952 Big Ten Conference football season.
The 1939 Big Ten Conference football season was the 44th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1939 college football season.
The 1940 Big Ten Conference football season was the 45th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1940 college football season. The University of Chicago terminated its football program after the 1939 season, leaving only nine conference members fielding football teams. However, Chicago remained a member of the conference and participated in other sports, and the conference remained known generally as the Big Ten.
The 1941 Big Ten Conference football season was the 46th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1941 college football season.
The 1942 Big Ten Conference football season was the 47th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1942 college 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.