| 1900 Western Conference football season | |
| Sport: | Football |
| No Of Teams: | 9 |
| Season Champs: | Minnesota, Iowa |
| Season Champ Name: | Co-champions |
| Seasonslistnames: | Football |
| Prevseason Year: | 1899 |
| Nextseason Year: | 1901 |
The 1900 Western Conference football season was the fifth 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 1900 college football season. This was the first season the league expanded, as Indiana and Iowa began competing for the conference title.
The 1900 Minnesota Golden Gophers and Iowa Hawkeyes football teams tied for the conference championship. Minnesota, under head coach Henry L. Williams, compiled a 10–0–2 record, shut out nine opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of 299 to 23. Iowa, under head coach Alden Knipe, compiled a 7–0–1 record and led the conference in scoring offense with an average of 38.9 points per game. The 1900 Wisconsin Badgers, under head coach Philip King, placed third in the conference, compiled an 8–1 record (its only loss being to Minnesota by a 7–6 score), shut out seven of nine opponents, and led the conference in scoring defense with an average of 1.2 points allowed per game.
| Conf. Rank | Team | Head coach | Overall record | Conf. record | PPG | PAG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (tie) | Minnesota | Henry L. Williams | 10-0-2 | 3-0-1 | 24.9 | 1.9 | |
| 1 (tie) | Iowa | Alden Knipe | 7–0–1 | 2–0–1 | 38.9 | 1.5 | |
| 3 | Wisconsin | Philip King | 8–1 | 2–1 | 33.3 | 1.2 | |
| 4 | Michigan | Langdon Lea | 7–2–1 | 3–2 | 11.7 | 5.5 | |
| 5 | Northwestern | Charles Hollister | 7–2–3 | 2–1–2 | 9.3 | 4.1 | |
| 6 | Chicago | Amos A. Stagg | 9–5–1 | 2–3–1 | 13.6 | 9.0 | |
| 7 | Indiana | James H. Horne | 4–2–2 | 1–2–1 | 13.8 | 3.6 | |
| 8 | Illinois | Fred Smith | 7–3–2 | 1–3–2 | 15.3 | 5.6 | |
| 9 | Purdue | Alpha Jamison | 4–4 | 0–4 | 21.5 | 9.9 |
PPG = Average of points scored per game
PAG = Average of points allowed per game[1]
The following conference games were played during the 1900 Western Conference season:
Notable non-conference games during the 1900 season included the following:
No bowl games were played during the 1900 season.
In 1900, an All-Western football team was selected by Caspar Whitney (CW) in Outing magazine as follows:[7]
| Position | Name | Team | Selectors | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| End | Beyer Aune | Minnesota | CW | |
| End | Neil Snow | Michigan | CW | |
| Tackle | Arthur Hale Curtis | Wisconsin | CW | |
| Tackle | Joe Warner | Iowa | CW | |
| Guard | Jerry Riordan | Wisconsin | CW | |
| Guard | Cyrus E. Dietz | Northwestern | CW | |
| Center | Leroy Albert Page, Jr. | Minnesota | CW | |
| Quarterback | Gil Dobie | Minnesota | CW | |
| Halfback | Henry | Chicago | CW | |
| Halfback | Al Larson | Wisconsin | CW | |
| Fullback | Warren Cummings Knowlton | Minnesota | CW |
No Western Conference players received first-team All-America honors in 1900. However, two players received third-team honors on Walter Camp's All-America team for 1900. They were center Page of Minnesota and quarterback Clyde Williams of Iowa.