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The 1944 Big Ten Conference football season was the 49th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference (also known as the Western Conference) and was a part of the 1944 college football season.
| 1944 Big Ten Conference football season | |
|---|---|
| Sport | Football |
| Number of teams | 9 |
| Top draft pick | Elroy Hirsch |
| Champion | Ohio State |
| Season MVP | Les Horvath |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 2 Ohio State $ | 6 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 0 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 8 Michigan | 5 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 4 | – | 2 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 3 | – | 2 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 3 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 4 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 7 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 15 Illinois | 3 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 5 | – | 4 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 2 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 0 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 1 | – | 7 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 0 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 1944 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach Carroll Widdoes, compiled a perfect 9–0 record, won the Big Ten championship, led the conference in scoring offense (31.9 points per game), and was ranked No. 2 in the final AP Poll. The team was retroactively selected as a national champion by the National Championship Foundation. Quarterback Les Horvath was a consensus first-team pick for the 1944 College Football All-America Team and received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the Big Ten and . End Jack Dugger and center John Tavener were also consensus first-team All-Americans.
Michigan, under head coach Fritz Crisler, compiled an 8–2 record, finished in second place in the conference, and was ranked No. 8 in the final AP Poll. Fullback Don Lund received the team's most valuable player award.
Indiana, under head coach Bo McMillin, compiled a 7–3 record and led the conference in scoring defense (7.9 points per game). Center John Tavener was a consensus first-team All-American and received Indiana's most valuable player award.
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Results and team statistics
| Conf. Rank | Team | Head coach | AP final | AP high | Overall record | Conf. record | PPG | PAG | MVP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ohio State | Carroll Widdoes | #2 | #2 | 9–0 | 6–0 | 31.9 | 8.8 | Les Horvath |
| 2 | Michigan | Fritz Crisler | #8 | #5 | 8–2 | 5–2 | 20.4 | 9.1 | Don Lund |
| 3 | Purdue | Cecil Isbell | NR | #7 | 5–5 | 4–2 | 20.7 | 16.6 | Babe Dimancheff |
| 4 | Minnesota | George Hauser | NR | NR | 5–3–1 | 3–2–1 | 25.0 | 18.0 | John Lundquist |
| 5 | Indiana | Bo McMillin | NR | #15 | 7–3 | 4–3 | 29.2 | 7.9 | John Tavener |
| 6 | Illinois | Ray Eliot | #15 | #9 | 5–4–1 | 3–3 | 27.3 | 14.9 | Buddy Young |
| 7 | Wisconsin | Harry Stuhldreher | NR | #19 | 3–6 | 2–4 | 12.4 | 20.0 | Clarence Esser |
| 8 | Northwestern | Pappy Waldorf | NR | NR | 1–7–1 | 0–5–1 | 11.3 | 17.8 | Max Morris |
| 9 | Iowa | Slip Madigan | NR | NR | 1–7 | 0–6 | 6.6 | 30.0 | Bob Snyder |
Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1945 season[1]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1945 season[1]
PPG = Average of points scored per game[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[1]
MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy[2]
Regular season
Bowl games
During the 1944 season, the Big Ten maintained its long-standing ban on postseason games. Accordingly, no Big Ten teams participated in any bowl games.
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The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press (UP) as first-team players on the 1944 All-Big Nine Conference football team.[3][4]
- Jack Dugger, end, Ohio State (AP, UP)
- Frank Bauman, end, Purdue (AP, UP)
- Milan Lazetich, tackle, Michigan (AP, UP)
- Bill Willis, tackle, Ohio State (AP, UP)
- Bill Hackett, guard, Ohio State (AP, UP)
- Ralph Serpico, guard, Illinois (AP, UP)
- John Tavener, center, Indiana (AP, UP)
- Les Horvath, halfback/quarterback, Ohio State (AP, UP)
- Joe Ponsetto, quarterback, Michigan (AP)
- Buddy Young, halfback, Illinois (AP, UP)
- Babe Dimancheff, fullback/halfback, Purdue (AP, UP)
- Bob Wiese, fullback, Michigan (UP)
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At the end of the 1944 season, Big Ten players secured four of the consensus first-team picks for the 1944 College Football All-America Team.[5] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:
- Jack Dugger, end, Ohio State (FWAA, INS, SN, UP, WC)
- Bill Hackett, guard, Ohio State (AAB, AP, COL, FN, FWAA, CP, WC)
- John Tavener, center, Indiana (UP, FWAA, INS, LK, CP)
- Les Horvath, quarterback, Ohio State (AAB, AP, COL, FN, FWAA, INS, LK, NEA, SN, UP, CP, WC)
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
- Bill Willis, tackle, Ohio State (LK, SN, UP)
- Ralph Serpico, guard, Illinois (SN)
- Buddy Young, quarterback, Illinois (LK)
- Jug Girard, halfback, Wisconsin (LK)
- Babe Dimancheff, fullback, Purdue (INS, CP)
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The following Big Ten players were selected in the first 10 rounds of the 1945 NFL draft:[6]
| Name | Position | Team | Round | Overall pick |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elroy Hirsch | Wide receiver | Michigan | 1 | 5 |
| Don Lund | Back | Michigan | 1 | 7 |
| Jack Dugger | End | Ohio State | 2 | 12 |
| Wayne Williams | Back | Minnesota | 2 | 13 |
| Milan Lazetich | Tackle | Michigan | 2 | 16 |
| Stan Mohrbacher | Guard | Iowa | 3 | 24 |
| Gordon Appleby | Center | Ohio State | 3 | 26 |
| Bob Wiese | Back | Michigan | 5 | 39 |
| Forest Masterson | Center | Iowa | 5 | 40 |
| Pete Pihos | Wide receiver | Indiana | 5 | 41 |
| Dick Barwegen | Guard | Purdue | 6 | 44 |
| Gene Fekete | Back | Ohio State | 6 | 49 |
| Chuck Dellago | Guard | Minnesota | 6 | 52 |
| Fred Negus | Center | Wisconsin | 7 | 59 |
| Jack Mead | End | Wisconsin | 7 | 64 |
| Pat O'Brien | Tackle | Purdue | 8 | 73 |
| Nick Vodick | Back | Northwestern | 8 | 75 |
| Les Joop | Tackle | Illinois | 9 | 82 |
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