1896 college football season

1896 college football season
Lafayette on defense in its 6–4 upset victory over Pennsylvania
Total No. of teams	30
Number of bowls	0
Champion(s)	Lafayette Maroon Princeton Tigers
football seasons

The 1896 college football season had no clear-cut champion, with the Official NCAA Division I Football Records Book listing Lafayette and Princeton as having been selected national champions. Lafayette finished with an 11-0-1 record while Princeton had a 10-0-1 record. In the second game of the season for both teams, Lafayette and Princeton played to a scoreless tie. Both teams had signature wins: Lafayette defeated Penn 6-4, giving the Quakers their only loss of the season, while Princeton defeated previously unbeaten Yale, 24-6, on Thanksgiving Day in the last game of the season. Princeton was retroactively named the 1896 national champions by the Billingsley Report, the Helms Athletic Foundation, the Houlgate System, and Lafayette and Princeton were named national co-champions by the National Championship Foundation and Parke Davis.

Conference and program changes

• The Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, commonly known as the Western Conference and the precursor to the modern Big Ten Conference, began its first season of play in 1896 with seven founding members from across the Midwest.

School	1895 Conference	1896 Conference
Chicago Maroons	Independent	Western Conference
Clemson Tigers	Independent	SIAA
Cumberland Bulldogs	Independent	SIAA
Illinois Illini	Independent	Western Conference
Kentucky State Wildcats	Independent	SIAA
Louisiana State Tigers	Independent	SIAA
Mercer Baptists	Independent	SIAA
Michigan Wolverines	Independent	Western Conference
Minnesota Golden Gophers	Independent	Western Conference
Mississippi Rebels	Independent	SIAA
Mississippi A&M Aggies	Independent	SIAA
Nashville ?	Independent	SIAA
Northwestern Wildcats	Independent	Western Conference
Purdue Boilermakers	Independent	Western Conference
Southwestern Presbyterian Lynx	Independent	SIAA
Texas Longhorns	Independent	SIAA
Texas Christian Horned Frogs	Program established	Independent
Tennessee Volunteers	Independent	SIAA
Wisconsin Badgers	Independent	Western Conference

Conference standings

The following is a potentially incomplete list of conference standings:

1896 Colorado Football Association standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Colorado $ 2 – 0 – 0 5 – 0 – 0 Colorado Mines 1 – 1 – 0 1 – 2 – 0 Colorado College 0 – 2 – 0 3 – 4 – 0 $ – Conference champion	Template:1896 college football independents records	1896 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T LSU + 3 – 0 – 0 6 – 0 – 0 Georgia + 2 – 0 – 0 4 – 0 – 0 Vanderbilt 2 – 0 – 2 3 – 2 – 2 Auburn 3 – 1 – 0 3 – 1 – 0 Texas 1 – 1 – 0 4 – 2 – 1 Alabama 1 – 1 – 0 2 – 1 – 0 Kentucky State College 1 – 1 – 0 3 – 6 – 0 Sewanee 3 – 3 – 0 3 – 3 – 0 Tennessee 0 – 0 – 0 4 – 0 – 0 Tulane 1 – 2 – 0 3 – 2 – 0 Nashville 0 – 1 – 1 0 – 1 – 1 Mercer 0 – 2 – 1 0 – 2 – 1 Central (KY) 0 – 2 – 1 0 – 3 – 1 Mississippi A&M 0 – 2 – 0 0 – 4 – 0 SW Presbyterian 0 – 2 – 0 0 – 3 – 0 Cumberland (TN)   –     –   + – Conference co-champions
1896 Triangular Football League standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Dartmouth $ 2 – 0 – 0 5 – 2 – 1 Amherst 1 – 1 – 0 3 – 6 – 1 Williams 0 – 2 – 0 6 – 4 – 1 $ – Conference champion	1896 Western Conference football standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Wisconsin $ 2 – 0 – 1 7 – 1 – 1 Michigan 2 – 1 – 0 9 – 1 – 0 Northwestern 2 – 1 – 1 6 – 1 – 2 Chicago 3 – 2 – 0 15 – 2 – 1 Minnesota 1 – 2 – 0 8 – 2 – 0 Illinois 0 – 2 – 1 4 – 2 – 1 Purdue 0 – 2 – 1 4 – 2 – 1 $ – Conference champion	1896 Western Interstate University Football Association standings Conf Overall Team W   L   T W   L   T Iowa $ 2 – 0 – 1 7 – 1 – 1 Kansas 2 – 1 – 0 7 – 3 – 0 Nebraska 1 – 1 – 1 6 – 3 – 1 Missouri 0 – 3 – 0 7 – 5 – 0 $ – Conference champion

Minor conferences

Conference	Champion(s)	Record
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association	Michigan State Normal Schoo	3–0–0

See also

• 1896 College Football All-America Team