🏈 The 1928 college football season
The champion and its path, the poll race week by week, the honours, the best games and every conference table.
Jump to any season1869–2026
1928 national champion
Named by the selectors, with the road it took.
The path, Georgia Tech10-0
- Oct 6vsVMIW13-0
- Oct 13atTulaneW12-0
- Oct 20vsNotre DameW13-0
- Oct 27atNorth CarolinaW20-7
- Nov 3vsOglethorpeW32-7
- Nov 10vsVanderbiltW19-7
- Nov 17vsAlabamaW33-13
- Nov 29vsAuburnW51-0
- Dec 8vsGeorgiaW20-6
- Jan 1vsCaliforniaW8-7Rose Bowl
The 1928 major bowls
No title game this year. The big bowls of the season, by date.
- Rose BowlJan 1
The 1928 Elo race
Elo by week, higher is better. There was no AP poll this year, so the ratings tell the story.
How this is measured
- Regular season ends
- Bowl season
Tap or drag on the chart to read a team's Elo in any week.
1928 Elo at season end
There is no AP poll before 1936, so the ratings stand in: the ten highest-rated major teams when the season ended.
1928 Elo at season endElo
Elo top 20
rating, z
The 1928 honours
The Heisman vote and the major awards side by side, then the All-Americans.
The 1928 honours
Consensus All-Americans
A star marks a unanimous selection.
- Pete PundGeorgia Tech
- Red Cagle★ unanimousArmy
- Howard HarpsterCarnegie Tech
- Ken StrongNYU
- Paul ScullPennsylvania
- Charles CarrollWashington
- Irv PhillipsCalifornia
- Wes FeslerOhio State
Show all 5 positions
- Otto PommereningMichigan
- Mike GettoPittsburgh
- Pete PundGeorgia Tech
- Red Cagle★ unanimousArmy
- Howard HarpsterCarnegie Tech
- Ken StrongNYU
- Paul ScullPennsylvania
- Charles CarrollWashington
- Irv PhillipsCalifornia
- Wes FeslerOhio State
- Otto PommereningMichigan
- Mike GettoPittsburgh
The best games of 1928
The ten best games of the season by Game Score. Switch to the Elo score for a second opinion.
How this is measured
The best games of 192810 games
Upsets of 1928
The results the ratings gave the winner the least chance of, lowest first.
How this is measured
Upsets of 192810 upsets
1928 standings by conference
Every conference at once: conference and overall record, and the final AP rank. A star marks the conference champion.
1928 standings by conference8 groups
Big Six
6 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nebraska★ conference champion | 5-0 | 7-1-1 | |
| 2 | Oklahoma | 3-2 | 5-3 | |
| 3 | Missouri | 3-2 | 4-4 | |
| 4 | Iowa State | 2-2-1 | 2-5-1 | |
| 5 | Kansas | 1-3-1 | 2-4-2 | |
| 6 | Kansas State | 0-5 | 3-5 |
Big Ten
10 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Illinois★ conference champion | 4-1 | 7-1 | |
| 2 | Wisconsin | 3-1-1 | 7-1-1 | |
| 3 | Minnesota | 4-2 | 6-2 | |
| 4 | Iowa | 3-2 | 6-2 | |
| 5 | Ohio State | 3-2 | 5-2-1 | |
| 6 | Purdue | 2-2-1 | 5-2-1 | |
| 7 | Northwestern | 2-3 | 5-3 | |
| 8 | Michigan | 2-3 | 3-4-1 | |
| 9 | Indiana | 2-4 | 4-4 | |
| 10 | Chicago | 0-5 | 2-7 |
Missouri Valley
5 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Drake★ conference champion | 3-0 | 7-1 | |
| 2 | Creighton | 2-1 | 3-5-1 | |
| 3 | Grinnell | 1-2 | 4-3-1 | |
| 4 | Washington University | 0-2 | 2-5-1 | |
| 5 | Oklahoma A&M | 0-1 | 1-7 |
Pacific Coast
10 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USC★ conference champion | 4-0-1 | 9-0-1 | |
| 2 | California | 3-0-2 | 6-2-2 | |
| 3 | Stanford | 4-1-1 | 8-3-1 | |
| 4 | Oregon | 4-2 | 9-2 | |
| 5 | Washington State | 4-3 | 7-3 | |
| 6 | Oregon State | 2-3 | 6-3 | |
| 7 | Idaho | 2-3 | 3-4-1 | |
| 8 | Washington | 2-4 | 7-4 | |
| 9 | UCLA | 0-4 | 4-4-1 | |
| 10 | Montana | 0-5 | 4-5-1 |
Rocky Mountain
12 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah★ conference champion | 4-0-1 | 5-0-2 | |
| 2 | Colorado | 5-1 | 5-1 | |
| 3 | Colorado A&M | 6-2 | 6-2 | |
| 4 | Utah State | 4-2-1 | 5-3-1 | |
| 5 | Colorado College | 5-3 | 5-3 | |
| 6 | Montana State | 3-2 | 4-4-1 | |
| 7 | Denver | 3-4-1 | 4-4-1 | |
| 8 | Colorado State College | 3-4 | 4-4 | |
| 9 | Colorado Mines | 2-4 | 2-5 | |
| 10 | BYU | 1-3-1 | 3-3-1 | |
| 11 | Wyoming | 0-5 | 2-7 | |
| 12 | Western State | 0-6 | 0-7 |
Southern
23 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Georgia Tech★ conference champion | 7-0 | 10-0 | |
| 2 | Tennessee | 6-0-1 | 9-0-1 | |
| 3 | Florida | 6-1 | 8-1 | |
| 4 | Virginia Tech | 4-1 | 7-2 | |
| 5 | Alabama | 6-2 | 6-3 | |
| 6 | LSU | 3-1-1 | 6-2-1 | |
| 7 | Vanderbilt | 4-2 | 8-2 | |
| 8 | Clemson | 4-2 | 8-3 | |
| 9 | North Carolina | 3-2-2 | 5-3-2 | |
| 10 | South Carolina | 2-2-1 | 6-2-2 | |
| 11 | Tulane | 3-3-1 | 6-3-1 | |
| 12 | Kentucky | 2-2-1 | 4-3-1 | |
| 13 | Mississippi | 3-3 | 5-4 | |
| 14 | Duke | 1-1 | 5-5 | |
| 15 | Maryland | 2-3-1 | 6-3-1 | |
| 16 | VMI | 2-3-1 | 5-3-2 | |
| 17 | Georgia | 2-4 | 4-5 | |
| 18 | North Carolina State | 1-4-1 | 4-5-1 | |
| 19 | Mississippi State | 1-4 | 2-4-2 | |
| 20 | Virginia | 1-6 | 2-6-1 | |
| 21 | Washington & Lee | 1-6 | 2-8 | |
| 22 | Sewanee | 0-5 | 2-7 | |
| 23 | Auburn | 0-7 | 1-8 |
Southwest
7 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas★ conference champion | 5-1 | 7-2 | |
| 2 | Arkansas | 2-1 | 7-2 | |
| 3 | Baylor | 3-2 | 8-2 | |
| 4 | TCU | 3-2 | 8-2 | |
| 5 | SMU | 2-2-1 | 6-3-1 | |
| 6 | Texas A&M | 1-3-1 | 5-4-1 | |
| 7 | Rice | 0-5 | 2-7 |
Independent
27 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detroit | - | 9-0 | |
| 2 | Brown | - | 8-1 | |
| 3 | Pennsylvania | - | 8-1 | |
| 4 | Carnegie Tech | - | 7-1 | |
| 5 | Army | - | 8-2 | |
| 6 | Georgetown | - | 8-2 | |
| 7 | NYU | - | 8-2 | |
| 8 | West Virginia | - | 8-2 | |
| 9 | Princeton | - | 5-1-2 | |
| 10 | Pittsburgh | - | 6-2-1 | |
| 11 | Harvard | - | 5-2-1 | |
| 12 | Colgate | - | 6-3 | |
| 13 | Columbia | - | 5-3-1 | |
| 14 | Marquette | - | 5-3-1 | |
| 15 | Navy | - | 5-3-1 | |
| 16 | Dartmouth | - | 5-4 | |
| 17 | Furman | - | 5-4 | |
| 18 | Notre Dame | - | 5-4 | |
| 19 | Cornell | - | 3-3-2 | |
| 20 | Syracuse | - | 4-4-1 | |
| 21 | Yale | - | 4-4 | |
| 22 | Fordham | - | 4-5 | |
| 23 | Michigan State | - | 3-4-1 | |
| 24 | Penn State | - | 3-5-1 | |
| 25 | Washington & Jefferson | - | 2-5-2 | |
| 26 | Wake Forest | - | 2-6-2 | |
| 27 | Davidson | - | 2-8 |
1928 bowls
One line per game, latest first. A tag marks the playoff and the other major bowls.
1928 bowls1 bowls
Where these numbers come from
Enough to disbelieve this page on purpose rather than by accident.
Champions, polls, standings, bowls, honours and games are read from the Citizen of Nowhere college football database, built from its own workbook one season at a time. Team colours and crests are the current programs’, so a school is drawn the way it looks today even where it played under another name.
The AP poll begins in 1936, so earlier seasons have no poll race and no final poll, but they do have an Elo race, and their champions are those the selectors named. Before 1992 there was no title game, so those seasons list the major bowls instead; from 1992 the title game is shown with the other major bowls, and from 2014 the playoff bracket. Where the database has no entry for a section, the section is left out rather than shown empty.
Elo ratings, the upsets and the best games come from the site’s college football Elo, which rates every game since 1869 and counts games against lower-level opponents. Each season’s ratings are shown on a scale where the average major team ends the season at 1500; z is the distance from that average in standard deviations.