🏈 The 1933 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
1933 national champion
Named by the selectors, with the road it took.
The path, Michigan7-0-1
- Oct 7vsMichigan StateW20-6
- Oct 14vsCornellW40-0
- Oct 21vsOhio StateW13-0
- Oct 28atChicagoW28-0
- Nov 4atIllinoisW7-6
- Nov 11vsIowaW10-6
- Nov 18vsMinnesotaT0-0
- Nov 25atNorthwesternW13-0
The 1933 major bowls
No title game this year. The big bowls of the season, by date.
- Festival of Palms BowlJan 1Duquesne33
- Rose BowlJan 1
The 1933 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.
1933 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.
1933 Elo at season endElo
Elo top 25
rating, z
The 1933 honours
The Heisman vote and the major awards side by side, then the All-Americans.
The 1933 honours
Consensus All-Americans
A star marks a unanimous selection.
- Chuck Bernard★ unanimousMichigan
- Paul GeislerCentenary
- Joe SkladanyPittsburgh
The best games of 1933
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 193310 games
Upsets of 1933
The results the ratings gave the winner the least chance of, lowest first.
How this is measured
Upsets of 193310 upsets
1933 standings by conference
Every conference at once: conference and overall record, and the final AP rank. A star marks the conference champion.
1933 standings by conference10 groups
Big Six
6 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nebraska★ conference champion | 5-0 | 8-1 | |
| 2 | Kansas State | 4-1 | 6-2-1 | |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 3-2 | 4-4-1 | |
| 4 | Kansas | 2-3 | 5-4-1 | |
| 5 | Iowa State | 1-4 | 3-5-1 | |
| 6 | Missouri | 0-5 | 1-8 |
Big Ten
10 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan★ conference champion | 5-0-1 | 7-0-1 | |
| 2 | Ohio State | 4-1 | 7-1 | |
| 3 | Purdue | 3-1-1 | 6-1-1 | |
| 4 | Minnesota | 2-0-4 | 4-0-4 | |
| 5 | Illinois | 3-2 | 5-3 | |
| 6 | Iowa | 3-2 | 5-3 | |
| 7 | Northwestern | 1-4-1 | 1-5-2 | |
| 8 | Chicago | 0-3-2 | 3-3-2 | |
| 9 | Indiana | 0-3-2 | 1-5-2 | |
| 10 | Wisconsin | 0-5-1 | 2-5-1 |
Border
6 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas Tech | 1-0 | 8-1 | |
| 2 | Northern Arizona | 4-1 | 5-1 | |
| 3 | Arizona | 3-2 | 5-3 | |
| 4 | New Mexico | 2-2 | 3-4-1 | |
| 5 | Arizona State | 2-3 | 3-5 | |
| 6 | New Mexico State | 0-4 | 2-6 |
Missouri Valley
6 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma A&M★ conference champion | 2-0 | 6-2-1 | |
| 2 | Drake★ conference champion | 5-1 | 6-3-1 | |
| 3 | Creighton | 2-2 | 3-4-1 | |
| 4 | Washington University | 1-2 | 4-5 | |
| 5 | Butler | 0-2 | 2-6 | |
| 6 | Grinnell | 0-3 | 0-8-1 |
Pacific Coast
10 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oregon★ conference champion | 4-1 | 9-1 | |
| 2 | Stanford★ conference champion | 4-1 | 8-2-1 | |
| 3 | USC | 4-1-1 | 10-1-1 | |
| 4 | Oregon State | 2-1-1 | 6-2-2 | |
| 5 | California | 2-2-2 | 6-3-2 | |
| 6 | Washington State | 3-3-1 | 5-3-1 | |
| 7 | Washington | 3-4 | 5-4 | |
| 8 | UCLA | 1-3-1 | 6-4-1 | |
| 9 | Idaho | 1-4 | 4-4 | |
| 10 | Montana | 0-4 | 3-4 |
Rocky Mountain
12 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Utah★ conference champion | 5-1 | 5-3 | |
| 2 | Colorado A&M★ conference champion | 5-1-1 | 5-1-1 | |
| 3 | Denver★ conference champion | 5-1-1 | 5-3-1 | |
| 4 | Colorado | 5-2 | 7-2 | |
| 5 | BYU | 5-3 | 5-4 | |
| 6 | Utah State | 4-3 | 4-4 | |
| 7 | Colorado State College | 3-3 | 4-3 | |
| 8 | Colorado College | 2-4-1 | 2-5-1 | |
| 9 | Montana State | 1-3 | 2-5 | |
| 10 | Wyoming | 1-6-1 | 2-6-1 | |
| 11 | Colorado Mines | 1-5 | 1-5 | |
| 12 | Western State | 0-5 | 0-5 |
Southeastern
13 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama★ conference champion | 5-0-1 | 7-1-1 | |
| 2 | LSU | 3-0-2 | 7-0-3 | |
| 3 | Georgia | 3-1 | 8-2 | |
| 4 | Tennessee | 5-2 | 7-3 | |
| 5 | Tulane | 4-2-1 | 6-3-1 | |
| 6 | Mississippi | 2-2-1 | 6-3-2 | |
| 7 | Vanderbilt | 2-2-2 | 4-3-3 | |
| 8 | Auburn | 2-2 | 5-5 | |
| 9 | Florida | 2-3 | 5-3-1 | |
| 10 | Kentucky | 2-3 | 5-5 | |
| 11 | Georgia Tech | 2-5 | 5-5 | |
| 12 | Mississippi State | 1-5-1 | 3-6-1 | |
| 13 | Sewanee | 0-6 | 3-6 |
Southern
10 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Duke★ conference champion | 4-0 | 9-1 | |
| 2 | South Carolina | 3-0 | 6-3-1 | |
| 3 | North Carolina | 2-1 | 4-5 | |
| 4 | VMI | 2-1-1 | 2-7-1 | |
| 5 | Virginia Tech | 1-1-3 | 4-3-3 | |
| 6 | Washington & Lee | 1-1-1 | 4-4-2 | |
| 7 | Clemson | 1-1 | 3-6-2 | |
| 8 | Virginia | 1-3-1 | 2-6-2 | |
| 9 | Maryland | 1-4 | 3-7 | |
| 10 | North Carolina State | 0-4 | 1-5-3 |
Southwest
7 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arkansas | 4-1 | 7-3-1 | |
| 2 | TCU | 4-2 | 9-2-1 | |
| 3 | Baylor | 4-2 | 6-4 | |
| 4 | Texas A&M | 2-2-1 | 6-3-1 | |
| 5 | Texas | 2-3-1 | 4-5-2 | |
| 6 | SMU | 2-4 | 4-7-1 | |
| 7 | Rice | 1-5 | 3-8 |
Independent
46 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Princeton | - | 9-0 | |
| 2 | Duquesne | - | 10-1 | |
| 3 | Army | - | 9-1 | |
| 4 | Columbia | - | 8-1 | |
| 5 | Pittsburgh | - | 8-1 | |
| 6 | Detroit | - | 7-1 | |
| 7 | Tulsa | - | 6-1 | |
| 8 | Centenary | - | 8-0-4 | |
| 9 | Colgate | - | 6-1-1 | |
| 10 | Bucknell | - | 7-2 | |
| 11 | Furman | - | 6-1-2 | |
| 12 | Fordham | - | 6-2 | |
| 13 | Loyola Marymount | - | 7-2-1 | |
| 14 | Villanova | - | 7-2-1 | |
| 15 | Davidson | - | 6-2-1 | |
| 16 | Santa Clara | - | 6-2-1 | |
| 17 | Harvard | - | 5-2-1 | |
| 18 | Saint Louis | - | 6-3 | |
| 19 | St. Mary's | - | 6-3-1 | |
| 20 | Michigan State | - | 4-2-2 | |
| 21 | Temple | - | 5-3 | |
| 22 | George Washington | - | 5-3-1 | |
| 23 | Cornell | - | 4-3 | |
| 24 | Carnegie Tech | - | 4-3-2 | |
| 25 | Mercer | - | 4-3-2 | |
| 26 | Navy | - | 5-4 | |
| 27 | Richmond | - | 5-4 | |
| 28 | William & Mary | - | 6-5 | |
| 29 | Dartmouth | - | 4-4-1 | |
| 30 | Penn State | - | 3-3-1 | |
| 31 | Syracuse | - | 4-4 | |
| 32 | Yale | - | 4-4 | |
| 33 | Marquette | - | 3-4-1 | |
| 34 | West Virginia | - | 3-5-3 | |
| 35 | Citadel | - | 3-5-1 | |
| 36 | Lafayette | - | 3-5-1 | |
| 37 | Notre Dame | - | 3-5-1 | |
| 38 | Brown | - | 3-5 | |
| 39 | NYU | - | 2-4-1 | |
| 40 | Pennsylvania | - | 2-4-1 | |
| 41 | Wofford | - | 3-6 | |
| 42 | Gonzaga | - | 2-6-1 | |
| 43 | Washington & Jefferson | - | 2-7-1 | |
| 44 | Georgetown | - | 1-6-1 | |
| 45 | San Francisco | - | 1-6-1 | |
| 46 | Wake Forest | - | 0-5-1 |
1933 bowls
One line per game, latest first. A tag marks the playoff and the other major 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.