| 1898 Western Conference football season | |
| Sport: | Football |
| No Of Teams: | 7 |
| Season Champs: | Michigan |
| Season Champ Name: | Champion |
| Seasonslistnames: | Football |
| Prevseason Year: | 1897 |
| Nextseason Year: | 1899 |
The 1898 Western Conference football season was the third season of college football played by the member schools of the Western Conference (later known as the Big Ten Conference) and was a part of the 1898 college football season.
The 1898 Michigan Wolverines football team, under head coach Gustave Ferbert, won the conference championship with a 10–0 record, shut out six opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 205 to 26. The team concluded its season by playing Amos Alonzo Stagg's 1898 Chicago Maroons football team for the conference championship. The Wolverines beat Chicago by a 12–11 score in a game that inspired Louis Elbel to write Michigan's fight song "The Victors."
Wisconsin, under head coach Philip King, compiled a 9–1 record, lost to Chicago, and finished in third place in the conference.
| Conf. Rank | Team | Head coach | Overall record | Conf. record | PPG | PAG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michigan | Gustave Ferbert | 10–0 | 3–0 | 20.5 | 2.6 | |
| 2 | Chicago | Amos A. Stagg | 14–2–1 | 3–1 | 17.0 | 2.8 | |
| 3 | Wisconsin | Philip King | 9–1 | 2–1 | 31.8 | 1.7 | |
| 4 | Illinois | George Huff | 4–5 | 1–1 | 9.2 | 8.7 | |
| 5 | Minnesota | John Minds | 4-5 | 1-2 | 10.2 | 8.1 | |
| 6 | Northwestern | W. H. Bannard | 9–4–1 | 0–4 | 16.4 | 8.8 | |
| 7 | Purdue | Alpha Jamison | 3–3 | 0–1 | 5.7 | 5.5 |
PPG = Average of points scored per game
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[1]
Only 10 conference games were played during the 1898 season as follows:
Notable non-conference games during the 1898 season included the following:
No bowl games were played during the 1898 season.