Several unbeaten and untied teams competed in the 1929 collegiate football season. Purdue, Tulane, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh all ended the regular season undefeated. The Big Ten's Purdue Boilermakers were selected by some as the pre-season favorite to win the national championship. Purdue opened the season with a 42-0 victory over Ohio State and then defeated Michigan, 34-7, at home before a crowd of 75,000. The game was played on New Year's Day and marked the first time in history that two former winners of the Chicago Tribune Trophy (Purdue in 1927 and Michigan in '28) met on the field simultaneously. Both teams also went into the game ranked number one, but lost for the first time during the season. In its second year under head coach Joe Taylor, Tulane began the season ranked number two behind Iowa. The Green Wave lost their first game of the season, 21-6, to Kentucky but then won their next five games by an average score of 49-6. They finished the season with six straight victories by an average margin of 35 points per game. This is the only time in NCAA history that any team scored 600 points during a season. Notre Dame began the season ranked number three behind Purdue and Tulane.