1896 college football season

The 1896 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Lafayette and Princeton as having been selected national champions.^[1] Lafayette finished with an 11–0–1 record while Princeton had a 10–0–1 record. In the second game of the season for both teams, Lafayette and Princeton played to a scoreless tie. Both teams had signature wins: Lafayette defeated Penn 6–4, giving the Quakers their only loss of the season, while Princeton defeated previously unbeaten Yale, 24–6, on Thanksgiving Day in the last game of the season. Princeton was retroactively named the 1896 national champions by the Billingsley Report, the Helms Athletic Foundation, the Houlgate System, and Lafayette and Princeton were named national co-champions by the National Championship Foundation and Parke Davis.

1896 college football season
Lafayette on defense in its 6–4 upset victory over Pennsylvania
Champion(s)	Lafayette Princeton
← 1895 · football seasons · 1897 →

Conference and program changes

Conference changes

• The Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, commonly known as the Western Conference and the precursor to the modern Big Ten Conference, began its first season of play in 1896 with seven founding members from across the Midwest.

Membership changes

School	1895 Conference	1896 Conference
Central Michigan Normal Normalites	Program established	Independent
Chicago Maroons	Independent	Western Conference
Clemson Tigers	Program established	SIAA
Cumberland Bulldogs	Independent	SIAA
Illinois Illini	Independent	Western Conference
Indiana State Sycamores	Program Established	Independent
Kansas State Agricultural Aggies	Program established	Independent
Kentucky State Wildcats	Independent	SIAA
Louisiana State Tigers	Independent	SIAA
Mercer Baptists	Independent	SIAA
Michigan Wolverines	Independent	Western Conference
Minnesota Golden Gophers	Independent	Western Conference
Mississippi Rebels	Independent	SIAA
Mississippi A&M Aggies	Independent	SIAA
Nashville ?	Independent	SIAA
Nevada State Sagebrushers	Program established	Independent
Northwestern Wildcats	Independent	Western Conference
Purdue Boilermakers	Independent	Western Conference
Southwestern Presbyterian Lynx	Independent	SIAA
Storrs Agricultural Aggies	Program established	Independent
Texas Longhorns	Independent	SIAA
Texas Christian Horned Frogs	Program established	Independent
Tennessee Volunteers	Independent	SIAA
Territorial Normal Normals	Program established	Independent
Wisconsin Badgers	Independent	Western Conference

Conference standings

Major conference standings

1896 Colorado Football Association standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Colorado $ 2 – 0 – 0 5 – 0 – 0 Colorado Mines 1 – 1 – 0 1 – 2 – 0 Colorado College 0 – 2 – 0 3 – 4 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1896 Maryland Intercollegiate Football Association standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Maryland   –   –   6 – 2 – 2 $ – Conference champion	1896 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T LSU + 3 – 0 – 0 6 – 0 – 0 Georgia + 2 – 0 – 0 4 – 0 – 0 Vanderbilt 2 – 0 – 2 3 – 2 – 2 Auburn 3 – 1 – 0 3 – 1 – 0 Texas 1 – 1 – 0 4 – 2 – 1 Alabama 1 – 1 – 0 2 – 1 – 0 Kentucky State College 1 – 1 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Sewanee 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 3 – 0 Tennessee 0 – 0 – 0 4 – 0 – 0 Tulane 1 – 2 – 0 3 – 2 – 0 Nashville 0 – 1 – 1 0 – 1 – 1 Mercer 0 – 2 – 1 0 – 2 – 1 Central (KY) 0 – 2 – 1 0 – 3 – 1 Mississippi A&M 0 – 2 – 0 0 – 4 – 0 SW Presbyterian 0 – 2 – 0 0 – 3 – 0 Cumberland (TN)   –     –   + – Conference co-champions
1896 Triangular Football League standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Dartmouth $ 2 – 0 – 0 5 – 2 – 1 Amherst 1 – 1 – 0 3 – 6 – 1 Williams 0 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 1 $ – Conference champion	1896 Western Conference football standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Wisconsin $ 2 – 0 – 1 7 – 1 – 1 Michigan 2 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 0 Northwestern 2 – 1 – 1 6 – 1 – 2 Chicago 3 – 2 – 0 15 – 2 – 1 Minnesota 1 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Illinois 0 – 2 – 1 4 – 2 – 1 Purdue 0 – 2 – 1 4 – 2 – 1 $ – Conference champion	1896 Western Interstate University Football Association standings v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Iowa $ 2 – 0 – 1 7 – 1 – 1 Kansas 2 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Nebraska 1 – 1 – 1 6 – 3 – 1 Missouri 0 – 3 – 0 7 – 5 – 0 $ – Conference champion

Independents

1896 Eastern college football independents records v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Fordham   –   1 – 0 – 0 Lafayette   –   11 – 0 – 1 Princeton   –   10 – 0 – 1 Washington & Jefferson   –   8 – 0 – 1 Penn   –   14 – 1 – 0 Yale   –   13 – 1 – 0 Pittsburgh College   –   11 – 2 – 0 Buffalo   –   9 – 1 – 2 Villanova   –   10 – 4 – 0 Bucknell   –   5 – 2 – 1 Harvard   –   7 – 4 – 0 Boston College   –   5 – 3 – 0 Storrs   –   5 – 3 – 0 Cornell   –   5 – 3 – 1 Syracuse   –   5 – 3 – 2 Temple   –   3 – 2 – 0 Army   –   3 – 2 – 1 Rutgers   –   6 – 6 – 0 Carlisle   –   5 – 5 – 0 Holy Cross   –   2 – 2 – 2 Brown   –   4 – 5 – 1 Wesleyan   –   4 – 5 – 1 Dickinson   –   4 – 5 – 0 Frankin & Marshall   –   3 – 4 – 2 Geneva   –   3 – 4 – 0 Penn State   –   3 – 4 – 0 Colgate   –   3 – 4 – 1 Amherst   –   3 – 6 – 1 Western Univ. Penn.   –   3 – 6 – 0 Lehigh   –   2 – 5 – 0 Tufts   –   2 – 6 – 1 Swarthmore   –   2 – 6 – 0 New Hampshire   –   1 – 4 – 0 Drexel   –   1 – 5 – 0 Massachusetts   –   0 – 4 – 0 Rhode Island   –   0 – 4 – 0	1896 Midwestern college football independents records v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Carthage   –   4 – 0 – 0 St. Ignatius College Chicago   –   1 – 0 – 0 Washburn   –   6 – 1 – 1 Iowa Agricultural   –   8 – 2 – 0 Central Michigan   –   3 – 1 – 0 Miami (OH)   –   3 – 1 – 0 Ohio Wesleyan   –   6 – 2 – 0 Detroit College   –   5 – 2 – 0 North Dakota Agricultural   –   3 – 1 – 1 Heidelberg   –   2 – 1 – 0 Ohio   –   4 – 2 – 1 Indiana   –   5 – 3 – 0 Beloit   –   2 – 1 – 3 Missouri   –   7 – 5 – 0 Butler   –   4 – 3 – 0 Iowa State Normal   –   4 – 3 – 0 Notre Dame   –   4 – 3 – 0 Cincinnati   –   4 – 3 – 1 Wittenberg   –   5 – 4 – 0 Baldwin–Wallace   –   2 – 2 – 0 College of Emporia   –   2 – 3 – 0 Ohio State   –   5 – 5 – 1 Lake Forest   –   3 – 4 – 1 Mount Union   –   3 – 4 – 1 Wabash   –   3 – 4 – 0 Drake   –   2 – 3 – 0 Chicago P&S   –   2 – 4 – 2 Michigan Agricultural   –   1 – 2 – 1 Kansas State   –   0 – 1 – 1 Indiana State Normal   –   0 – 1 – 0 Buchtel   –   0 – 1 – 0 Washington University   –   0 – 2 – 0 Doane   –   0 – 5 – 0 Haskell   –   0 – 5 – 0	1896 Southern college football independents records v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Centre   –   6 – 0 – 1 Texas A&M   –   2 – 0 – 1 Oklahoma   –   2 – 0 – 0 North Carolina A&M   –   1 – 0 – 0 Virginia   –   7 – 2 – 2 VPI   –   5 – 2 – 1 Navy   –   5 – 3 – 0 Arkansas   –   2 – 1 – 0 Clemson   –   2 – 1 – 0 Columbian   –   2 – 1 – 0 Georgia Tech   –   2 – 2 – 1 Add-Ran   –   1 – 1 – 1 Centenary   –   1 – 1 – 0 VMI   –   3 – 4 – 0 North Carolina   –   3 – 4 – 1 Furman   –   2 – 3 – 0 Ole Miss   –   1 – 2 – 0 West Virginia   –   3 – 7 – 2 South Carolina   –   1 – 3 – 0 Erskine   –   0 – 1 – 0 William & Mary   –   0 – 2 – 0 Davidson   –   0 – 1 – 0 Delaware   –   0 – 6 – 0
1896 Far West college football independents records v t e Conf. Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Gonzaga   –   2 – 0 – 0 Wyoming   –   2 – 0 – 0 Washington Agricultural   –   2 – 0 – 1 California   –   6 – 2 – 2 Stanford   –   2 – 1 – 1 Oregon   –   2 – 1 – 0 Utah   –   3 – 2 – 0 Saint Mary's   –   1 – 1 – 0 Washington   –   2 – 3 – 0 Nevada State   –   1 – 2 – 0 Oregon Agricultural   –   1 – 2 – 0 Utah Agricultural   –   0 – 1 – 0 New Mexico A&M   –   0 – 2 – 0 USC   –   0 – 3 – 0

Minor conferences

Conference	Champion(s)	Record
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Michigan State Normal	2–0

See also

• 1896 College Football All-America Team

References

1. Official 2009 NCAA Division I Football Records Book (PDF). Indianapolis, IN: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2009. p. 70. Retrieved October 16, 2009.