1909 Western Conference football season

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The 1909 Western Conference football season was the 14th season of the Western Conference (the program that would become the Big Ten). Minnesota won the conference title with an undefeated in-conference record of 3–0, finishing 6–1 overall. Their only loss came in a non-conference game against Michigan, the first Little Brown Jug game.

Season highlights and standings
- Minnesota topped the standings with 3 wins, 0 losses, and 0 ties in the conference (6–1 overall). Their notable wins included victories over Iowa, Nebraska, and Chicago, with their only defeat coming to Michigan in a non-conference game.
- Chicago finished second, going 4–1–1 in the conference (4–1–2 overall).
- Illinois followed at 3–1 in the conference (5–2 overall).
- Wisconsin was 2–1–1 in the conference (3–1–1 overall).
- Indiana went 1–3 in the conference (4–3 overall).
- Northwestern also went 1–3–1 in the conference (1–3–1 overall).
- Iowa and Purdue were at the bottom of the conference, with Iowa 0–1 in the conference (2–4 overall) and Purdue 0–4 in the conference (2–5 overall).

Bowl games
- No Western Conference schools played in any bowl games in 1909.

All-American honors
- The season produced several All-American selections from Western Conference schools, with players from Minnesota, Chicago, Illinois, and Wisconsin honored by various selectors.

All-Western selections
- The era’s All-Western team included players from Minnesota, Chicago, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and other schools. Notable names include John McGovern (Minnesota, quarterback) and Harlan Page (Chicago, end), among others.

Overall, 1909 was a landmark year in which Minnesota claimed the conference title, the season featured the early Little Brown Jug rivalry game (Minnesota vs. Michigan, a non-conference matchup), and several Western players earned national all-American recognition.