🏈 The 1934 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
1934 national champion
Named by the selectors, with the road it took.
The path, Minnesota8-0
- Sep 29vsNorth Dakota StateW56-12
- Oct 3vsNebraskaW20-0
- Oct 20atPittsburghW13-7
- Oct 28atIowaW48-12
- Nov 3vsMichiganW34-0
- Nov 10vsIndianaW30-0
- Nov 17vsChicagoW35-7
- Nov 24atWisconsinW34-0
The 1934 major bowls
No title game this year. The big bowls of the season, by date.
The 1934 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.
1934 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.
1934 Elo at season endElo
Elo top 25
rating, z
The 1934 honours
The Heisman vote and the major awards side by side, then the All-Americans.
The 1934 honours
Consensus All-Americans
A star marks a unanimous selection.
- Jack RobinsonNotre Dame
- George ShotwellPittsburgh
- Darrell LesterTCU
Show all 5 positions
- Bill BevanMinnesota
- Chuck HartwigPittsburgh
- Jack RobinsonNotre Dame
- George ShotwellPittsburgh
- Darrell LesterTCU
- Bill BevanMinnesota
- Chuck HartwigPittsburgh
The best games of 1934
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 193410 games
Upsets of 1934
The results the ratings gave the winner the least chance of, lowest first.
How this is measured
Upsets of 193410 upsets
1934 standings by conference
Every conference at once: conference and overall record, and the final AP rank. A star marks the conference champion.
1934 standings by conference10 groups
Big Six
6 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kansas State★ conference champion | 5-0 | 7-2-1 | |
| 2 | Nebraska | 4-1 | 6-3 | |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 2-2-1 | 3-4-2 | |
| 4 | Kansas | 1-2-2 | 3-4-3 | |
| 5 | Iowa State | 1-3-1 | 5-3-1 | |
| 6 | Missouri | 0-5 | 0-8-1 |
Big Ten
10 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota★ conference champion | 5-0 | 8-0 | |
| 2 | Ohio State | 5-1 | 7-1 | |
| 3 | Illinois | 4-1 | 7-1 | |
| 4 | Purdue | 3-1 | 5-3 | |
| 5 | Wisconsin | 2-3 | 4-4 | |
| 6 | Northwestern | 2-3 | 3-5 | |
| 7 | Chicago | 2-4 | 4-4 | |
| 8 | Indiana | 1-3-1 | 3-3-2 | |
| 9 | Iowa | 1-3-1 | 2-5-1 | |
| 10 | Michigan | 0-6 | 1-7 |
Border
6 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas Tech | 1-0 | 7-2-1 | |
| 2 | New Mexico | 3-1 | 8-1 | |
| 3 | Arizona | 2-1-1 | 7-2-1 | |
| 4 | Arizona State | 2-2-1 | 4-3-1 | |
| 5 | New Mexico State | 0-1-3 | 4-1-3 | |
| 6 | Northern Arizona | 0-3-1 | 1-5-1 |
Missouri Valley
5 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington University★ conference champion | 1-0 | 7-3 | |
| 2 | Creighton | 2-1 | 2-7 | |
| 3 | Oklahoma A&M | 1-1 | 4-5-1 | |
| 4 | Drake | 2-2 | 3-6-1 | |
| 5 | Grinnell | 0-2 | 2-7 |
Pacific Coast
10 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford★ conference champion | 5-0 | 9-1-1 | |
| 2 | Washington State | 4-0-1 | 4-3-1 | |
| 3 | Washington | 5-1-1 | 6-1-1 | |
| 4 | Oregon | 4-2 | 6-4 | |
| 5 | California | 3-2 | 6-6 | |
| 6 | UCLA | 2-3 | 7-3 | |
| 7 | USC | 1-4-1 | 4-6-1 | |
| 8 | Idaho | 1-4 | 3-5 | |
| 9 | Oregon State | 0-5-2 | 3-6-2 | |
| 10 | Montana | 0-4-1 | 2-5-1 |
Rocky Mountain
12 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado State College★ conference champion | 6-1 | 6-1 | |
| 2 | Colorado★ conference champion | 6-1 | 6-1-2 | |
| 3 | Colorado A&M★ conference champion | 6-1-1 | 6-2-1 | |
| 4 | Utah State | 5-1-1 | 5-1-1 | |
| 5 | Utah | 4-2 | 5-3 | |
| 6 | Denver | 4-4 | 5-5-1 | |
| 7 | BYU | 3-5 | 4-5 | |
| 8 | Wyoming | 2-4 | 3-5 | |
| 9 | Colorado Mines | 1-6 | 1-6 | |
| 10 | Colorado College | 1-6 | 1-7 | |
| 11 | Montana State | 0-4 | 2-5 | |
| 12 | Western State | 0-3 | 2-5 |
Southeastern
13 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama★ conference champion | 7-0 | 10-0 | |
| 2 | Tulane★ conference champion | 8-0 | 10-1 | |
| 3 | Tennessee | 5-1 | 8-2 | |
| 4 | LSU | 4-2 | 7-2-2 | |
| 5 | Georgia | 3-2 | 7-3 | |
| 6 | Vanderbilt | 4-3 | 6-3 | |
| 7 | Florida | 2-2-1 | 6-3-1 | |
| 8 | Mississippi | 2-3-1 | 4-5-1 | |
| 9 | Kentucky | 1-3 | 5-5 | |
| 10 | Auburn | 1-6 | 2-8 | |
| 11 | Mississippi State | 0-5 | 4-6 | |
| 12 | Sewanee | 0-4 | 2-7 | |
| 13 | Georgia Tech | 0-6 | 1-9 |
Southern
10 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Washington & Lee★ conference champion | 4-0 | 7-3 | |
| 2 | North Carolina | 2-0-1 | 7-1-1 | |
| 3 | Duke | 3-1 | 7-2 | |
| 4 | Maryland | 3-1 | 7-3 | |
| 5 | Clemson | 2-1 | 5-4 | |
| 6 | Virginia Tech | 3-3 | 5-5 | |
| 7 | South Carolina | 2-3 | 5-4 | |
| 8 | North Carolina State | 1-3-1 | 2-6-1 | |
| 9 | Virginia | 1-4 | 3-6 | |
| 10 | VMI | 0-5 | 1-8 |
Southwest
7 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rice★ conference champion | 5-1 | 9-1-1 | |
| 2 | Texas | 4-1-1 | 7-2-1 | |
| 3 | SMU | 3-2-1 | 8-2-2 | |
| 4 | TCU | 3-3 | 8-4 | |
| 5 | Arkansas | 2-3-1 | 4-4-2 | |
| 6 | Texas A&M | 1-4-1 | 2-7-2 | |
| 7 | Baylor | 1-5 | 3-7 |
Independent
45 teams| # | Team | Conf | All | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan State | - | 8-1 | |
| 2 | Navy | - | 8-1 | |
| 3 | Pittsburgh | - | 8-1 | |
| 4 | Richmond | - | 8-1 | |
| 5 | Colgate | - | 7-1 | |
| 6 | Columbia | - | 7-1 | |
| 7 | Princeton | - | 7-1 | |
| 8 | Centenary | - | 10-2 | |
| 9 | Duquesne | - | 8-2 | |
| 10 | Temple | - | 7-1-2 | |
| 11 | St. Mary's | - | 7-2 | |
| 12 | Gonzaga | - | 8-2-1 | |
| 13 | Loyola Marymount | - | 7-2-1 | |
| 14 | Santa Clara | - | 7-2-1 | |
| 15 | Syracuse | - | 6-2 | |
| 16 | Bucknell | - | 7-2-2 | |
| 17 | Army | - | 7-3 | |
| 18 | Tulsa | - | 5-2-1 | |
| 19 | Dartmouth | - | 6-3 | |
| 20 | Notre Dame | - | 6-3 | |
| 21 | George Washington | - | 6-3-1 | |
| 22 | Fordham | - | 5-3 | |
| 23 | Yale | - | 5-3 | |
| 24 | Detroit | - | 5-3-1 | |
| 25 | West Virginia | - | 6-4 | |
| 26 | Georgetown | - | 4-3-1 | |
| 27 | Furman | - | 5-4 | |
| 28 | Davidson | - | 4-4-1 | |
| 29 | Penn State | - | 4-4 | |
| 30 | Pennsylvania | - | 4-4 | |
| 31 | Saint Louis | - | 3-3-2 | |
| 32 | San Francisco | - | 3-3-1 | |
| 33 | Carnegie Tech | - | 4-5 | |
| 34 | Loyola (LA) | - | 4-5 | |
| 35 | Marquette | - | 4-5 | |
| 36 | Villanova | - | 3-4-2 | |
| 37 | Washington & Jefferson | - | 4-5 | |
| 38 | NYU | - | 3-4-1 | |
| 39 | Citadel | - | 3-5-1 | |
| 40 | Harvard | - | 3-5 | |
| 41 | Mercer | - | 3-6-1 | |
| 42 | Brown | - | 3-6 | |
| 43 | Wake Forest | - | 3-7 | |
| 44 | Cornell | - | 2-5 | |
| 45 | William & Mary | - | 2-6 |
1934 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.