1927 college football season
Rose Bowl souvenir program
Number of bowls	1
Bowl games	January 1, 1928
Champion(s)	Illinois[a] Georgia[b] (not claimed) Notre Dame[c] (not claimed) Texas A&M[d] Yale[e]
← 1926 · football seasons · 1928 →

The1927 college football season ended with the Illini of theUniversity of Illinois (7–0–1) being recognized as champion under theDickinson System. At season's end, the Rissler Cup was awarded to the team that finished first in the "Dickinson ratings", which considered strength of schedule. In the final week,Georgia's "Dream and Wonder team" was upset byGeorgia Tech. Georgia had upset Eastern powerYale14–10. Though most selectors retrospectively named either Illinois or Georgia as their 1927 national champions, over a half-century laterJeff Sagarin, a computer-based selector, named theTexas Aggies as the No. 1 team.^[1]

In theRose Bowl, thePittsburgh Panthers (8–0–1) were invited to play against thePacific Coast Conference champion. ThoughUSC andStanford had identical records in conference play, Stanford was given a chance to "avenge" its 7–7 tie against Alabama in the previous year's Rose Bowl. Stanford won 7–6.

The major rules change in 1927 was the moving of the goal posts from the goal line to the end of the end zone, where they have been ever since. The move was for both safety reasons and to de-emphasize the kicking game^[2]

• Three conferences began play in 1927:
  • Arkansas Association – active through the 1929 season
  • Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference – an NAIA conference active through the 1994 season
  • Smoky Mountain Conference – active through the 1957 season
• One conference played its final season in 1927:
  • Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference – active since the 1890 season; previously known as theKansas Collegiate Athletic Association andKansas College Athletic Conference; replaced by a conference with thesame name that is an active NAIA conference
• Two conferences changed in their name in 1927:
  • TheInter-Normal Athletic Conference of Wisconsin changed its name to theWisconsin State Teachers College Conference, the name it would retain through the 1951 season
  • TheNebraska Intercollegiate Conference changed its name to theNebraska College Athletic Conference, the name it would retain until its dissolution after the 1976 season.

• Bowling Green Normal College officially changed their nickname from theNormals, adopting their present moniker, theFalcons.
• AfterOregon Agricultural College changed its name toOregon State Agricultural College, theOregon Agricultural Aggies became theOregon State Aggies.

September 17 Washington defeated Willamette 32–6.September 24USC beat Occidental 33–0;Army beat Boston University, 13–0;Pittsburgh beat Thiel College 42–0.Texas A&M shut out Trinity 45–0.

October 1USC beat Santa Clara 52–12.Notre Dame beat Iowa's Coe College 28–7;Army beat Detroit Mercy 6–0.Yale beat Bowdoin 41–0;

The Western Conference (later the Big Ten) teams opened their seasons.Minnesota beat North Dakota, 57–10,Michigan beat Ohio Wesleyan, 33–0, andIllinois beat Bradley, 19–0.Pittsburgh beat Grove City College, 33–0;Nebraska beat Iowa State, 6–0;Georgia beat Virginia, 32–0; andTexas A&M beat Southwest Texas 31–0.

October 8USC edged Oregon State 13–12; Detroit Mercy, fresh from its 6–0 loss at West Point, played atNotre Dame and lost 20–0;Army beat Marquette 21–12; In a battle of Bulldogs,Georgia beatYale14–10 in New Haven.Pittsburgh won another shutout, over West Virginia, 49–0;

Minnesota beat Oklahoma State, 40–0,Michigan beat Michigan State, 21–0, andIllinois beat Butler 58–0. At Columbia, Missouri, Missouri beatNebraska, 7–6, andTexas A&M recorded its third shutout, an 18–0 win over Sewanee.

October 15USC played at Stanford University in Palo Alto, to a 13–13 tie.Notre Dame and Navy played at Baltimore, with the Irish winning 19–6.Army beat Davis & Elkins College, 27–6Yale beat Brown 19–0; In Western Conference play,Minnesota and Indiana played to a 14–14 tieMichigan won at Wisconsin, 14–0,Illinois and Iowa State played to a 12–12 tie,Pittsburgh beat Drake 32–0;Nebraska beat Grinnell College 58–0Furman v. Georgia took place in Athens, Ga., as theUniversity of Georgia hosted the Paladins of Furman University and won, 32–0.Texas A&M surrendered its first points in a 40–6 win over Arkansas.

October 22USC beatCaltech 51–0 ;Notre Dame beat Indiana 19–6(4–0)Army and (2–1)Yale met at New Haven, with Yale winning 10–6Minnesota beat Iowa, 38–0Michigan beat Ohio State, 21–0,Brown was upset byLebanon Valley, 13–12Illinois edged Northwestern, 7–6Pittsburgh beat crosstown team Carnegie Tech, but not in a shutout (23–7).Nebraska was idle;Georgia beat Auburn, 33–3Texas A&M played at Texas Christian, and was tied, 0–0.

October 29Michigan (4–0–0) andIllinois (3–0–1) faced off at Champaign, Ill. The Illini won 14–0.

USC beat California, 13–0Notre Dame beat Georgia Tech, 26–7Army beat Bucknell 34–0;Yale beat Dartmouth, 19–0;Minnesota beat Wisconsin, 13–7;Pittsburgh beat Allegheny 62–0;Nebraska beat visiting Syracuse, 21–0;Georgia beat Tulane, 31–0Texas A&M had beaten Texas Tech, 47–6, in a Friday game.

November 5USC was idle, while (5–1–1) Stanford and (7–0–0) Washington met in Seattle for a conference game, with Stanford winning 13–7.

In a meeting of unbeatens, (5–0–0)Notre Dame hosted (4–0–1)Minnesota. The teams played to a 7–7 tie.

Army beat Franklin & Marshall, 45–0;Yale beat Maryland 30–6Michigan won at Chicago, 14–0 andIllinois beat Iowa 14–0Pittsburgh and Washington & Jefferson, both (6–0–0), played to a 0–0 tieNebraska beat Kansas, 47–13;Georgia defeated Florida at Jacksonville, 28–0;Texas A&M beat SMU, 39–13

On Armistice Day, November 11,Texas A&M defeated Rice University in Houston, 14–0.

November 12USC beat Colorado 46–7; (6–1–0)Army faced off against (5–0–1)Notre Dame at Yankee Stadium. The Cadets handed Rockne's team its first defeat, 18–0

Yale beat Princeton 14–6;Minnesota beat Drake 27–6;Michigan beat Navy 27–12;Illinois beat Chicago 15–6;Georgia beat Clemson, 32–0(6–0–1)Pittsburgh and (4–1–0)Nebraska faced off in Pittsburgh, with the Panthers winning 21–13

November 19USC defeated Washington State, 27–0, while Stanford beat visiting California, 13–6 to close their season at 8–2–1. Though USC, at 8–1–1, had the better overall record, Stanford's two losses at been outside the conference, to St. Mary's and to Santa Clara, and they had tied USC. In PCC play, Stanford and USC both finished 4–0–1, and either could have been invited to play in the 1928 Rose Bowl. The Rose Bowl committee went with Stanford, which had been tied by Alabama in the 1927 New Year's Day game.

Notre Dame beat Drake University in Des Moines, 32–0. Drake, which played against Navy, Pitt, Minnesota, Notre Dame and UCLA, would finish at 3–6–0Army beat Ursinus College 13–0;Yale closed its season hosting Harvard, and won 14–0;Illinois defeated Ohio State, 13–0At Ann Arbor, (5–0–2)Minnesota visited (6–1–0)Michigan. The Gophers beat the Wolverines 13–7 to close their seasons.Nebraska won at Kansas State, 33–0Georgia beat Mercer, 26–7

November 24 On Thanksgiving Day,Pittsburgh beat Penn State, 30–0. Pitt, with a record of 8–0–1, had outscored its opponents 283 to 20, with seven shutouts, and was selected to meet Stanford in theRose Bowl.

Nebraska beat visiting New York University, 27–18;Texas A&M closed its season with a 28–7 win over Texas.

November 26Notre Dame (6–1–1) andUSC (7–0–1) played before an estimated record crowd of 123,000^[3] (Reported as 117,000 in the Chicago Tribune)^[4] at Soldier Field in Chicago, with Notre Dame winning 7–6 (on the strength of a blocked extra point attempt) to hand the Trojans their first loss.^[5]

In theArmy–Navy Game, played before a crowd of 70,000 at the Polo Grounds in New York,Army came back from 9–0 at halftime to win 14–9.^[6] In Birmingham,Georgia beat Alabama, 20–6.

In theArmy–Navy Game, played before a crowd of 70,000 at the Polo Grounds in New York,Army came back from 9–0 at halftime to win 14–9.^[6] In Birmingham,Georgia beat Alabama, 20–6.

(9–0–0)Georgia faced off against (7–1–1) Georgia Tech in Atlanta to close the season. The Yellow Jackets undid the Bulldogs' hopes for a perfect season, winning 12–0

As the only post-season college football game, the Rose Bowl sought an East-West matchup between the best available eastern team and the PCC champion. In 1927, the Pitt Panthers had finished the season at 8–0–1, with seven shutouts against various levels of opposition, while Stanford had won the Pacific Coast Conference going 8–2–1. Since January 1, 1928, fell on a Sunday, the game was played on Monday, January 2. Stanford PunterFrankie Wilton had been the "goat" of the 1927 Rose Bowl, after an Alabama defender broke through the line, blocked his kick, and set up the Tide's tying touchdown. Wilton lost the ball after being hit on his own 20 yard line, and Pitt's Jimmy Hagan ran the fumble in for a touchdown. Walter Heinecke of Stanford blocked the point attempt, holding Pitt's lead to 6–0. Wilton's chance at redemption came later, when his teammate Spud Lewis fumbled a yard from goal. Wilton scooped up the ball and crashed through for the tying touchdown. The Stanford kick was good, and the Indians held on for a 7–6 win.^[7]

TheUniversity of Illinois (7–0–1) was recognized as champion under theDickinson System. At season's end, the Rissler Cup was awarded to the team that finished first in the "Dickinson ratings", which considered strength of schedule, in that a win, loss or tie against a "strong" opponent was worth more than one against a lesser team, and the results were averaged. In the final week,Georgia's "Dream and Wonder team" was upset byGeorgia Tech. Georgia had upset Eastern powerYale14–10. Though most selectors retrospectively named either Illinois or Georgia as their 1927 national champions, over a half-century laterJeff Sagarin, a computer-based selector, namedDana X. Bible'sTexas Aggies as the No. 1 team.^[1][8]