The 1899 Western Conference football season was the fourth 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 1899 college football season.

The 1899 Chicago Maroons football team, under head coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, won the conference championship with a 16–0–2 overall record (4–0 against conference opponents), led the conference in both scoring offense (28.1 points per game) and scoring defense (1.6 points per game), shut out 13 of 18 opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 505 to 28.

Season overview

Results and team statistics Conf. RankTeamHead coachOverall recordConf. recordPPGPAG1ChicagoAmos A. Stagg16–0–24–028.11.62WisconsinPhilip King9–24–124.53.03 (tie)MichiganGustave Ferbert7–2–11–117.64.33 (tie)NorthwesternCharles Hollister7–62–211.113.65PurdueAlpha Jamison4–4–11–211.113.66 (tie)MinnesotaWilliam C. LearyJack Harrison6–3–20-313.77.26 (tie)IllinoisGeorge Huff3–5–10–34.410.7 Key

PPG = Average of points scored per game PAG = Average of points allowed per game

Regular season

Only 12 conference games were played during the 1899 Western Conference season. The results were as follows:

October 14, 1899: Wisconsin defeated Northwestern, 38-0, at Madison, Wisconsin October 28, 1899: Michigan defeated Illinois, 5-0, at Champaign, Illinois November 4, 1899: Chicago defeated Purdue, 44-0, at Chicago November 4, 1899: Northwestern defeated Minnesota, 11-0, at Minneapolis November 11, 1899: Chicago defeated Northwestern, 76-0, at Chicago November 11, 1899: Wisconsin defeated Illinois, 23-0, at Milwaukee November 18, 1899: Wisconsin defeated Minnesota, 19-0, at Minneapolis November 22, 1899: Purdue defeated Illinois, 5-0, at West Lafayette, Indiana November 25, 1899: Chicago defeated Minnesota, 29-0, at Chicago November 25, 1899: Northwestern defeated Purdue, 29-0, at Evanston, Illinois November 30, 1899: Wisconsin defeated Michigan, 17-5, at Chicago December 9, 1899: Chicago defeated Wisconsin, 17-0, at Madison, Wisconsin

Notable non-conference games during the 1899 season included the following: October 4, 1899: Chicago defeated Notre Dame, 23–6, at Chicago October 14, 1899: Illinois lost to Indiana, 5–0, at Champaign, Illinois October 18, 1899: Michigan defeated Notre Dame, 12–0, at Ann Arbor, Michigan October 21, 1899: Minnesota defeated Iowa State, 6–0, at Minneapolis October 7, 1899: Chicago tied with Iowa, 5–5, at Chicago October 14, 1899: Chicago defeated Cornell, 17–6, at Chicago October 21, 1899: Wisconsin lost to Yale, 6–0, at New Haven, Connecticut October 28, 1899: Chicago tied with Penn, 5–5, at Chicago October 28, 1899: Northwestern lost to Notre Dame, 12–0, at South Bend, Indiana November 4, 1899: Michigan defeated Virginia, 38–0, at Detroit November 11, 1899: Michigan lost to Penn, 11–10, at Philadelphia November 18, 1899: Northwestern defeated Indiana, 11–6, at Evanston, Illinois November 18, 1899: Purdue tied Notre Dame, 10–10, at West Lafayette, Indiana November 25, 1899: Illinois defeated , 29–0, at St. Louis November 30, 1899: Chicago defeated Brown, 17–6, at Chicago November 30, 1899: Purdue lost to Indiana, 17–5, at West Lafayette, Indiana November 30, 1899: Illinois lost to Iowa, 58–0, at Champaign, Illinois

Bowl games No bowl games were played during the 1899 season.

Awards and honors

All-Western players

The Northwestern named a 1899 All-Western college football team that consisted of the following players:

Neil Snow, end, Michigan James M. Sheldon, end, Chicago Arthur Hale Curtis, tackle, Wisconsin Jonathan E. Webb, tackle, Chicago Richard France, guard, Michigan C. Rogers, guard, Wisconsin Roy Chamberlain, center, Wisconsin Walter S. Kennedy, quarterback, Chicago Ralph C. Hamill, halfback, Chicago John McLean, halfback, Michigan Pat O'Dea, fullback, Wisconsin

All-Americans

No Western Conference players were selected as first-team players on the 1899 College Football All-America Teams selected by Walter Camp and Caspar Whitney. However, the Philadelphia Inquirer picked an All-American that named four Western Conference players to the first team: end Neil Snow of Michigan; tackle Richard France of Michigan; quarterback Walter S. Kennedy of Chicago; and halfback John McLean of Michigan.

References