1897 college football season

The 1897 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Penn and Yale as having been selected national champions.[1]

1897 college football season
1897 North Carolina team
Champion(s)	Penn Yale
football seasons

Conference and program changes

Conference establishments

• One conference played its final season in 1897:
  • Western Interstate University Football Association – active since 1892

Membership changes

School	1896 Conference	1897 Conference
Arizona Normal Football	Program Established	Independent
Central Colonels	Independent	SIAA
Gallaudet Bison	Independent	MIFA

Conference standings

Major conference standings

1897 Colorado Football Association standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Colorado $ 2 – 0 – 0     7 – 1 – 0 Colorado Mines 1 – 1 – 0     2 – 2 – 0 Colorado College 0 – 2 – 0     3 – 5 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1897 Maryland Intercollegiate Football Association standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Gallaudet $ 3 – 0 – 1     4 – 1 – 1 Maryland 0 – 3 – 0     2 – 4 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1897 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Vanderbilt $ 3 – 0 – 0     6 – 0 – 1 Georgia 2 – 0 – 0     2 – 1 – 0 Auburn 2 – 0 – 1     2 – 0 – 1 Tennessee 1 – 0 – 0     4 – 1 – 0 Central (KY) 1 – 1 – 0     1 – 2 – 0 Nashville 1 – 1 – 0     1 – 1 – 0 Alabama 0 – 0 – 0     1 – 0 – 0 Texas 0 – 0 – 0     6 – 2 – 0 LSU 0 – 0 – 0     1 – 1 – 0 Sewanee 1 – 2 – 1     1 – 3 – 1 Clemson 0 – 1 – 0     2 – 2 – 0 Cumberland (TN) 0 – 1 – 0     0 – 1 – 0 Georgia Tech 0 – 1 – 0     0 – 1 – 0 Mercer 0 – 1 – 0     0 – 1 – 1 Kentucky State College 0 – 2 – 0     2 – 4 – 0 SW Presbyterian 0 – 0 – 0     0 – 0 – 0 $ – Conference champion
1897 Triangular Football League standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Dartmouth $ 2 – 0 – 0     4 – 3 – 0 Amherst 0 – 1 – 1     2 – 6 – 2 Williams 0 – 1 – 1     1 – 7 – 1 $ – Conference champion	1897 Western Conference football standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Wisconsin $ 3 – 0 – 0     9 – 1 – 0 Chicago 3 – 1 – 0     11 – 1 – 0 Michigan 2 – 1 – 0     6 – 1 – 1 Illinois 1 – 1 – 0     6 – 2 – 0 Purdue 1 – 2 – 0     5 – 3 – 1 Northwestern 0 – 2 – 0     5 – 3 – 0 Minnesota 0 – 3 – 0     4 – 4 – 0 $ – Conference champion	1897 Western Interstate University Football Association standings Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Nebraska $ 3 – 0 – 0     5 – 1 – 0 Kansas 2 – 1 – 0     8 – 2 – 0 Iowa 0 – 2 – 0     4 – 4 – 0 Missouri 0 – 2 – 0     5 – 6 – 0 $ – Conference champion

Independents

1897 Eastern college football independents records Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Penn   –       15 – 0 – 0 Yale   –       9 – 0 – 2 Buffalo   –       7 – 0 – 0 Princeton   –       10 – 1 – 0 Harvard   –       10 – 1 – 1 Drexel   –       7 – 1 – 1 Army   –       6 – 1 – 1 Lafayette   –       9 – 2 – 1 Colgate   –       5 – 2 – 1 Fordham   –       2 – 1 – 1 Cornell   –       5 – 3 – 1 Syracuse   –       5 – 3 – 1 Brown   –       7 – 4 – 0 Carlisle   –       6 – 4 – 0 Boston College   –       4 – 3 – 0 Bucknell   –       3 – 3 – 1 NYU   –       3 – 3 – 0 Temple   –       3 – 3 – 0 Trinity (CT)   –       4 – 4 – 1 Wesleyan   –       6 – 6 – 0 Tufts   –       6 – 7 – 0 Geneva   –       3 – 4 – 1 Pittsburgh College   –       2 – 3 – 1 Villanova   –       3 – 5 – 1 Penn State   –       3 – 6 – 0 Amherst   –       2 – 6 – 2 Frankin & Marshall   –       2 – 6 – 2 Lehigh   –       3 – 7 – 0 New Hampshire   –       2 – 5 – 0 Western Univ. Penn.   –       1 – 3 – 0 Rutgers   –       2 – 7 – 0	1897 Midwestern college football independents records Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Butler   –       3 – 0 – 0 Fairmount   –       1 – 0 – 0 Washburn   –       7 – 1 – 0 Cincinnati   –       9 – 1 – 1 Iowa State Normal   –       5 – 1 – 0 Ohio Wesleyan   –       7 – 1 – 1 Indiana   –       6 – 1 – 1 Ohio   –       7 – 2 – 0 Carthage   –       3 – 1 – 0 Iowa Agricultural   –       3 – 1 – 0 Notre Dame   –       4 – 1 – 1 Michigan Agricultural   –       4 – 2 – 1 Central Michigan   –       2 – 1 – 0 Baldwin–Wallace   –       2 – 1 – 1 Chicago Dental Infirmary   –       2 – 2 – 1 Missouri   –       5 – 6 – 0 Lake Forest   –       4 – 5 – 1 Drake   –       2 – 3 – 0 Heidelberg   –       2 – 3 – 0 Detroit College   –       1 – 2 – 0 Indiana State   –       1 – 2 – 0 Kansas State   –       1 – 2 – 1 Mount Union   –       2 – 4 – 1 Rush Medical College   –       1 – 4 – 1 DePauw   –       2 – 6 – 0 Wittenberg   –       2 – 6 – 0 Haskell   –       1 – 4 – 0 Ohio State   –       1 – 7 – 1 Washington University   –       0 – 2 – 0 North Dakota Agricultural   –       0 – 3 – 0	1897 Southern college football independents records Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Oklahoma   –       2 – 0 – 0 Arkansas   –       2 – 0 – 1 Navy   –       8 – 1 – 0 Virginia   –       6 – 2 – 1 Add-Ran   –       3 – 1 – 0 VPI   –       5 – 2 – 0 North Carolina   –       7 – 3 – 0 VMI   –       3 – 2 – 0 Guilford   –       2 – 1 – 0 West Virginia   –       5 – 4 – 1 Davidson   –       1 – 1 – 0 Richmond   –       3 – 5 – 0 North Carolina A&M   –       1 – 2 – 0 Texas A&M   –       1 – 2 – 0 Delaware   –       1 – 5 – 1 William & Mary   –       0 – 1 – 0 Marshall   –       0 – 3 – 0 South Carolina   –       0 – 3 – 0
1897 Far West college football independents records Conf     Overall Team W   L   T     W   L   T Oregon Agricultural   –       5 – 0 – 0 Washington Agricultural   –       2 – 0 – 0 Wyoming   –       2 – 0 – 0 USC   –       5 – 1 – 0 Stanford   –       4 – 1 – 0 New Mexico A&M   –       1 – 0 – 1 Oregon   –       1 – 1 – 0 Montana   –       1 – 2 – 3 Washington   –       1 – 2 – 0 California   –       0 – 3 – 2 Utah   –       1 – 5 – 0 Arizona Normal   –       0 – 1 – 0 Nevada State   –       0 – 1 – 0

Minor conferences

Conference	Champion(s)	Record
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Kalamazoo	5–0

See also

• 1897 College Football All-America Team

References

1. Official 2009 NCAA Division I Football Records Book (PDF). Indianapolis, IN: The National Collegiate Athletic Association. August 2009. p. 70. Retrieved 2009-10-16.