1905 Western Conference football season

{{Infobox sports season

| title = 1905 Western Conference football season

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| prevseason_year = 1904

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The 1905 Western Conference football season was the tenth season of college football played by the member schools of the Western Conference (later known as the Big Ten Conference) and was a part of the 1905 college football season.

The 1905 Chicago Maroons football team won the conference championship, compiled an 11–0 record, and outscored opponents 271 to 5.{{cite web|title=University of Chicago Football Media Guide|year=2016|publisher=University of Chicago|page=22|accessdate=November 10, 2016|url=https://issuu.com/uchicagoathletics/docs/fb-program-2016-web}} The Maroons were retroactively named national champions by the Billingsley Report, the Helms Athletic Foundation, the National Championship Foundation, and the Houlgate System.{{cite web |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2015/FBS.pdf |title=National Poll Rankings |author=National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) |year=2015|work=NCAA Division I Football Records |publisher=NCAA |page=108 |accessdate=January 4, 2016 }}

Michigan won the first 12 games of the season by a combined score of 495 to 0, but lost the final game of the season by a score of 2–0 against Chicago.

Minnesota compiled a 10-1 record, shut out 10 of 12 opponents, and outscored all opponents 542 to 22.

Season overview

=Results and team statistics=

width="25"\|Conf. Rank !width="100"\|Team !width="100"\|Head coach !width="50"\|Overall record !width="50"\|Conf. record !width="50"\|PPG !width="50"\|PAG
class="sortable wikitable"
align="left" bgcolor="" \|1	Chicago	Amos A. Stagg	11–0	7–0	24.6	0.5
align="left" bgcolor="" \|2 (tie)	Michigan	Fielding H. Yost	12–1	2–1	38.1	0.2
align="left" bgcolor="" \|2 (tie)	Minnesota	Henry L. Williams	10–1	2–1	49.3	2.0
align="left" bgcolor="" \|4	Purdue	Albert Herrnstein	6–1–1	1–1	22.1	3.8
align="left" bgcolor="" \|5	Wisconsin	Philip King	8–2	1–2	22.6	2.8
align="left" bgcolor="" \|6	Indiana	James M. Sheldon	8–1–1	0–1–1	24.0	3.8
align="left" bgcolor="" \|7 (tie)	Iowa	John Chalmers	8–2	0–2	30.9	8.6
align="left" bgcolor="" \|7 (tie)	Northwestern	Walter McCornack	8–2–1	0–2	19.5	11.1
align="left" bgcolor="" \|7 (tie)	Illinois	Fred Lowenthal	5–4	0–3	9.3	15.1

Key

PPG = Average of points scored per game

PAG = Average of points allowed per game{{cite web|title=1905 Western Conference Year Summary|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|work=SR/College Football|accessdate=December 29, 2016|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/conferences/western/1905.html}}

=Regular season=

=Bowl games=

No Western Conference schools participated in any bowl games during the 1905 season.

Awards and honors

=All-Americans=

The following Western Conference players were selected as first-team players on the 1905 College Football All-America Team. (Consensus All-Americans displayed in bold).

Mark Catlin, end, Chicago (Caspar Whitney [CW])
Walter Eckersall, quarterback, Chicago (Walter Camp [WC], CW, New York Evening Post [NYEP])
Thomas S. Hammond, Michigan (NYEP)

=All-Western players=

Eleven players were chosen as first-team players on at least five of the 1905 All-Western college football teams named by the following 10 selectors: Chicago American (CA), Chicago Chronicle (CC),{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3203719/the_minneapolis_journal/|work=The Minneapolis Journal|date=December 5, 1905|title=Chicago Selections for All Western Eleven|accessdate=September 11, 2015|via=Newspapers.com|page=8}} {{Open access}} Chicago Daily News (CDN),{{cite book|title=Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide 1906|publisher=American Sporting Publishing Company|editor=Walter Camp|year=1906|page=29|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7i_yAAAAMAAJ}} Chicago Evening Journal (CEJ), Chicago Evening Post (CP), Chicago Record-Herald (CRH), Chicago Tribune (CT), E. C. Patterson for Collier's Weekly (ECP),Spalding's Guide, p. 31. J. H. Ritchie in Illustrated Outdoor News (JHR), and The Minneapolis Journal (MJ).{{cite news|title=The Journal's All-Western Football Team|newspaper=The Minneapolis Journal|date=December 10, 1905}} (Players unanimously chosen by all 10 selectors are listed in bold.)