Factoid 249 - College Football in 1935

In 1935 there were 128 teams playing college football, four bowl games were played (Rose, Sugar, Orange, and Sun), and five teams were selected national champions: LSU; Minnesota; Princeton; SMU; and TCU. The following year the AP poll would begin and become the more (somewhat) definitive poll choosing a more definitive National Champion, or so some people wanted to believe. (Faniacs supports deciding the National Championship on the field, for which a field of 16 playoff teams is a large enough sample size to determine the best team.)

1935 was also the first year the Heisman was awarded, won by Jay Berwanger, a halfback for the University of Chicago. Other than the Heisman, it is really hard to say anything definitive about this season, as many teams were awarded the National Championship due to some of these being selected before the Bowl Games were played, and the better teams never being able to play each other.

I guess some folks loved the idea of many National Champions for one season.

National Champions

• LSU 9–2 Bernie Moore (WS) *
• Minnesota 8–0 Bernie Bierman (BR, BS, CFRA, HAF, L, NCF, PS) *
• Princeton 9–0 Fritz Crisler (DuS) *
• SMU 12–1 Matty Bell (DiS, HS, SR) *
• TCU 12–1 Dutch Meyer (WS) *

• The Italian colonies of Tripoli and Cyrenaica were joined together as Libya.
• The classic Mickey Mouse cartoon The Band Concert was Released by United Artists.
• Howard Hughes, flying the Hughes H-1 Racer, set an airspeed record of 352 mph (566 km/h).