| Year: | 1938 |
| Team: | Carnegie Tech Tartans |
| Sport: | football |
| Conference: | Independent |
| Aprank: | 6 |
| Record: | 7–2 |
| Head Coach: | Bill Kern |
| Hc Year: | 2nd |
| Stadium: | Pitt Stadium |
| Champion: | Eastern champion |
| Bowl Result: | L 7–15 vs. TCU |
The 1938 Carnegie Tech Tartans football team represented the Carnegie Institute of Technology during the 1938 college football season. The Tartans were led by second-year head coach Bill Kern and played their home games at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The team first came to national attention after winning a close game against Northeastern power Holy Cross, who were on a 13-game unbeaten streak.[1] Another big win came when the Tartans upset cross-town rival and defending national champion Pittsburgh, snapping their 22-game winning streak.[2]
They finished the regular season at and were ranked sixth in the final AP Poll,[3] the only Carnegie Tech team to ever finish ranked.[4] The Tartans were awarded the third ever Lambert Trophy, distinguishing them as the best college football team in the East.[5] They were invited to their first and only bowl game in school history, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans,[6] where they led at halftime but lost to national champion TCU,