The 1967 Big Ten Conference football season was the 72nd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1967 NCAA University Division football season.
The season resulted in a three-way tie for the conference championship, as Indiana, Purdue, and Minnesota each finished with a conference record of 6–1. Each team was 1–1 against the others; as Indiana defeated Purdue, Purdue defeated Minnesota, and Minnesota defeated Indiana. As of December 6th 2025, this was the last conference championship for Minnesota. Purdue has won one conference title since then, in 2000.
The 1967 Indiana Hoosiers football team, under head coach John Pont, was ranked No. 4 in the final AP Poll. The Hoosiers lost to USC in the 1968 Rose Bowl. Quarterback Harry Gonso was selected as the team's most valuable player.
The 1967 Purdue Boilermakers football team, under head coach Jack Mollenkopf, was ranked No. 9 in the final AP Poll. Purdue running back Leroy Keyes led the conference with 114 points scored, was a consensus first-team All-American, won the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the most valuable player in the conference, and finished third in the voting for the 1968 Heisman Trophy.
The 1967 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team, under head coach Murray Warmath, was unranked in the final AP Poll (which ranked only ten teams at the time), but was 14th in the final Coaches Poll. Offensive tackle John Williams was the first Big Ten player selected in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft with the 23rd overall pick.
Due to Big Ten's "no-repeat" policy barring teams from making consecutive Rose Bowl appearances, Purdue was ineligible. The next tiebreaker was the team which had gone the longest since last playing in Pasadena. Since Indiana had never been, and Minnesota appeared following the 1960 and '61 seasons, the Hoosiers got the nod despite their loss to the Gophers.
Season overview Results and team statistics
Conf. RankTeamHead coachAP finalAP highOverall recordConf. recordPPGPAGMVP1 (tie)IndianaJohn Pont#4#49–26–117.914.5Harry Gonso1 (tie)MinnesotaMurray WarmathNRNR8–26–116.310.6Tom Sakal1 (tie)PurdueJack Mollenkopf#9#28–26–129.115.4Leroy Keyes4Ohio StateWoody HayesNRNR6–35–216.113.3Dick Worden5 (tie)IllinoisJim ValekNRNR4–63–414.321.3John Wright5 (tie)MichiganBump ElliottNRNR4–63–414.417.9Ron Johnson5 (tie)Michigan StateDuffy DaughertyNR#33–73–417.319.3Dwight Lee8NorthwesternAlex AgaseNRNR3–72–514.921.3Bruce Gunstra9 (tie)IowaRay NagelNRNR1–8–10–6–116.127.7Silas McKinnie9 (tie)WisconsinJohn CoattaNRNR0–9–10–6–112.022.4Tom Domres Key AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1967 season AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1967 season 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; trophy winner in bold
Preseason
Regular season
Bowl games
Post-season developments
Statistical leaders
The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1967 season include the following:
Passing yards RankNameTeamYards1Mike PhippsPurdue1,8002Bill MelzerNorthwestern1,1463Ed PodolakIowa1,0144Dean VolkmanIllinois1,0055John BoyajianWisconsin966
Rushing yards RankNameTeamYards1Ron JohnsonMichigan1,0052Leroy KeyesPurdue9863Rich JohnsonIllinois7684Perry WilliamsPurdue7465Silas McKinnieIowa588
Receiving yards RankNameTeamYards1Leroy KeyesPurdue7582Al BreamIowa7033John WrightIllinois6984Jim BeirnePurdue6435Jim BerlineMichigan624
Total yards RankNameTeamYards1Mike PhippsPurdue2,0202Harry GonsoIndiana1,4433Ed PodolakIowa1,3374Dennis BrownMichigan1,2865Bill MelzerNorthwestern1,205
Scoring RankNameTeamPoints1Leroy KeyesPurdue1142Perry WilliamsPurdue663Jade ButcherIndiana604Curt WilsonMinnesota485Ron JohnsonMichigan425Chico KurzawskiNorthwestern42
Awards and honors
All-Big Ten honors
The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1967 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
Offense PositionNameTeamSelectorsQuarterbackMike PhippsPurdueAPQuarterbackHarry GonsoIndianaUPIRunning backLeroy KeyesPurdueAP, UPIRunning backRon JohnsonMichiganAP, UPIRunning backPerry WilliamsPurdueAP, UPI [fullback]Offensive endJim BeirnePurdueAP, UPIOffensive endJohn WrightIllinoisAPOffensive endBilly AndersOhio StateUPIOffensive tackleJohn WilliamsMinnesotaAP, UPIOffensive tackleDick HimesOhio StateAP, UPIOffensive guardBruce GunstraNorthwesternAP, UPIOffensive guardGary CassellsIndianaAP, UPICenterJoe DaytonMichiganAP, UPI
Defense
PositionNameTeamSelectorsDefensive endBob SteinMinnesotaAP, UPIDefensive endGeorge OlionPurdueUPIDefensive endGeorge ChatlosMichigan StateAPDefensive tackleMcKinley BostonMinnesotaAP, UPIDefensive tackleLance OlssenPurdueUPIDefensive tackleTom DomresWisconsinAPMiddle guardChuck KylePurdueAP, UPILinebackerKen CriterWisconsinAP, UPILinebackerDick MarvelPurdueUPILinebackerKen KaczmarekIndianaAPLinebackerJim SniadeckiIndianaAPLinebackerTom StincicMichiganUPIDefensive backRon BessIllinoisAP, UPIDefensive backTom GarretsonNorthwesternAP, UPI [safety]Defensive backTom SakalMinnesotaAP, UPI
All-American honors
At the end of the 1967 season, only one Big Ten player secured consensus first-team honors on the 1967 College Football All-America Team. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans was:
PositionNameTeamSelectorsRunning backLeroy KeyesPurdueAFCA, AP, CP, FWAA, NEA, UPI, WC, Time, TSN
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
PositionNameTeamSelectorsOffensive tackleJohn WilliamsMinnesotaTimeOffensive guardGary CassellsIndianaAP, FWAA, WCFFDefensive endBob SteinMinnesotaFWAA, NEA, WC
Other awards The 1967 Heisman Trophy was awarded to Gary Beban of UCLA. Purdue running back Leroy Keyes finished third in the voting.
1968 NFL/AFL Draft The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft:
NamePositionTeamRoundOverall pickJohn WilliamsOffensive tackleMinnesota123Doug CrusanOffensive tackleIndiana127Cyril PinderRunning backIllinois239John WrightWide receiverIllinois253Lance OlssenTacklePurdue365Charlie SandersTight endMinnesota374Dick HimesTackleOhio State381Jess PhillipsDefensive backMichigan State484
References