# 1936 Big Ten Conference football season

The 1936 Big Ten Conference football season was the 41st 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 1936 college football season.
The 1936 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, under head coach Bernie Bierman, compiled a 7–1 record and was ranked No. 1 in the final AP Poll, giving Minnesota its third consecutive national championship. Tackle Ed Widseth was a consensus first-team All-American and was the first Big Ten player taken in the 1937 NFL draft with the fourth overall pick.
The 1936 Northwestern Wildcats football team, under head coach Pappy Waldorf, compiled a 7–1 record, won the Big Ten championship, and was ranked No. 7 in the final AP Poll. The team's only loss came on the last day of the season against Notre Dame. Guard Steve Reid was a consensus first-team All-American.
The 1936 Ohio State Buckeyes football team, under head coach Francis Schmidt, compiled a 5–3 record, led the Big Ten in scoring defense (3.4 points allowed per game), and outscored opponents 160 to 27. End Merle Wendt, tackle Charley Hamrick, and guard Inwood Smith were first-team All-Big Ten players.

## Season overview
### Results and team statistics

| Conf. Rank | Team | Head coach | AP final | AP high | Overall record | Conf. record | PPG | PAG | MVP |
| 1 | Northwestern | Pappy Waldorf | #7 | #1 | 7–1 | 6–0 | 16.5 | 9.1 | Steve Reid |
| 2 (tie) | Minnesota | Bernie Bierman | #1 | #1 | 7-1 | 4-1 | 25.4 | 4.0 | Ed Widseth |
| 2 (tie) | Ohio State | Francis Schmidt | NR | #18 | 5–3 | 4–1 | 20.0 | 3.4 | Ralph Wolfe |
| 4 (tie) | Indiana | Bo McMillin | NR | NR | 5–2–1 | 3–1–1 | 5.4 | 7.9 | Vern Huffman |
| 4 (tie) | Purdue | Noble Kizer | NR | #5 | 5–2–1 | 3–1–1 | 19.6 | 11.9 | John Drake |
| 6 | Illinois | Robert Zuppke | NR | NR | 4–3–1 | 2–2–1 | 7.1 | 9.5 | Cliff Kuhn |
| 7 | Chicago | Clark Shaughnessy | NR | NR | 2–5–1 | 1–4 | 8.5 | 20.8 | Sam Whiteside |
| 8 | Iowa | Ossie Solem | NR | NR | 3–4–1 | 0–4–1 | 10.6 | 12.9 | Homer Harris |
| 9 | Wisconsin | Harry Stuhldreher | NR | #16 | 2–6 | 0–4 | 11.9 | 18.0 | Eddie Jankowski |
| 10 | Michigan | Harry Kipke | NR | NR | 1–7 | 0–5 | 4.5 | 15.9 | Matt Patanelli |
Key PPG = Average of points scored per game PAG = Average of points allowed per game 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

### Bowl games

No Big Ten teams participated in any bowl games during the 1936 season.

## All-Big Ten players

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press (UP) as first-team players on the 1936 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| End | Merle Wendt | Ohio State | AP, UP |
| End | Johnny Kovatch | Northwestern | AP, UP |
| Tackle | Ed Widseth | Minnesota | AP, UP |
| Tackle | Charley Hamrick | Ohio State | AP, UP |
| Guard | Steve Reid | Northwestern | AP, UP |
| Guard | Inwood Smith | Ohio State | AP |
| Guard | Lester G. Schreiber | Northwestern | UP |
| Center | Ed Sayre | Illinois | AP, UP |
| Quarterback | Fred Vanzo | Northwestern | AP, UP |
| Halfback | Andy Uram | Minnesota | AP, UP |
| Halfback | Don Heap | Northwestern | AP |
| Halfback | Vern Huffman | Indiana | UP |
| Fullback | Cecil Isbell | Purdue | AP |
| Fullback | Johnny Drake | Purdue | UP |

## All-Americans

Two Big Ten players were selected as consensus first-team players on the 1936 College Football All-America Team. They were:
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Tackle | Ed Widseth | Minnesota | AAB, AP, COL, INS, LIB, NANA, NEA, TSN, UP, CP, WCFF |
| Guard | Steve Reid | Northwestern | AAB, COL, LIB, NANA, NEA, TSN, WCFF |
Other Big Ten players received first-team honors from at least one selector. They were:
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors |
| Halfback | Don Heap | Northwestern | CP |
| Halfback | Andy Uram | Minnesota | TSN |

## 1937 NFL draft

The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 players selected in the 1937 NFL draft:
| Name | Position | Team | Round | Overall pick |
| Ed Widseth | Back | Minnesota | 1 | 4 |
| Eddie Jankowski | Back | Wisconsin | 1 | 9 |
| Johnny Drake | Tackle | Purdue | 1 | 10 |
| Charley Hamrick | Tackle | Ohio State | 2 | 17 |
| Jules Alfonse | Tackle | Minnesota | 2 | 20 |
| Vern Huffman | End | Indiana | 3 | 27 |
| Bud Wilkinson | End | Minnesota | 3 | 29 |
| Bud Svendsen | End | Minnesota | 4 | 39 |
| Dewitt Gibson | Guard | Northwestern | 5 | 49 |
| Inwood Smith | Tackle | Ohio State | 5 | 50 |
| John Golemgeske | Tackle | Wisconsin | 6 | 53 |
| George Bell | Tackle | Purdue | 6 | 57 |
| Merle Wendt | Tackle | Ohio State | 6 | 59 |
| Chris Del Sasso | Tackle | Indiana | 6 | 60 |
| Steve Reid | Tackle | Northwestern | 8 | 71 |
| Elvin Sayre | Back | Illinois | 8 | 77 |
| Steve Toth | Center | Northwestern | 8 | 78 |
| Matt Patanelli | Tackle | Michigan | 9 | 85 |
| Ray Antil | Back | Minnesota | 10 | 91 |