View source for 1932 college football season

{{Short description|American college football season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox college football season
| year = 1932
| image = 1932 Michigan Wolverines football team (large).jpg
| image_size    = 250
| image_caption = Michigan, champions
| number_of_teams = 
| preseason_ap = <!-- Not done prior to 1936 -->
| regular_season = <!-- Please list date of first regular season game to date of last regular season game -->
| number_of_bowls = 1
| bowl_start = January 2, 1933
| bowl_end = <!-- No end date, only one date of bowl -->
| champion = {{ubl|[[1932 Michigan Wolverines football team|Michigan]] ([[Dickinson System|Dickinson]])|[[1932 USC Trojans football team|USC]] ([[Rissman Trophy|Rissman]])}}
| heisman = Not awarded until [[1935 college football season|1935]]
}}
The '''1932 college football season''' saw the [[1932 Michigan Wolverines football team|Michigan Wolverines]] win the Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy as national champion under the math-based [[Dickinson System]].  Because the "Big Nine" conference didn't permit its teams to play in the postseason, however, the Wolverines were not able to accept a bid to the Rose Bowl.<ref>"Los Angeles Sees Maroon Due for Bid To Meet U.S.C.," ''Syracuse Herald'', Nov. 27, 1932, p9</ref> As such, the Pasadena game matched the No. 2 and No. 3 teams, [[USC Trojans football|USC]] and [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]], with the USC Trojans winning the east–west matchup 35–0. The other four contemporary math system selectors (the [[Boand System|Boand]], [[Dunkel System|Dunkel]], [[Houlgate System|Houlgate]], and Williamson Systems) all selected USC as national champion.<ref name=ncaabook>{{cite book | url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2020/FBS.pdf | title=2020 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision Records | publisher=The National Collegiate Athletic Association | date=July 2020 | location=Indianapolis | access-date=January 12, 2021 | archive-date=November 1, 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101032438/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2020/FBS.pdf | url-status=live }}</ref> This was also the last season [[NFL]] would use college football rules. 

==Conference and program changes==
===Conference changes===
*Two new conferences began play in 1932:
**''[[Badger-Illini Conference|Tri-State Conference]]'' – conference active through the 1961 season; later known as the [[Badger State Intercollegiate Conference]], [[Badger-Illini Conference]], and [[Badger-Gopher Conference]]
**'''[[Northern Teachers Athletic Conference]]''' – an active NCAA Division II conference, later known as the [[Northern Intercollegiate Conference]] and now the '''[[Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference]]'''
*One conference played its final season in 1932:
**''[[Big Four Conference (Oklahoma)|Big Four Conference]]'' – conference active since 1929; members from [[Oklahoma]]

===Membership changes===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! School !! 1931 Conference !! 1932 Conference
|- style="text-align:center;"
| [[Butler University|Butler]] [[Butler Bulldogs football|Bulldogs]] || Independent || [[Missouri Valley Conference|Missouri Valley]]
|- style="text-align:center;"
| [[Texas Tech University|Texas Tech]] [[Texas Tech Red Raiders football|Red Raiders]] || Independent || [[Border Conference|Border]] 
|}

==September==
On '''September 17''', [[TCU Horned Frogs football|Texas Christian University]] (TCU) opened its season with a 14–2 win over visiting North Texas.

'''September 24''' [[USC Trojans football|USC]] beat Utah 35–0, [[Tennessee Volunteers football|Tennessee]] won 13–0 at UT-Chattanooga, and [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] beat visiting Ohio Northern College 47–0.  [[TCU Horned Frogs football|TCU]] and LSU played to a 3–3 tie in Baton Rouge.

==October==

'''October 1'''  [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan]] beat Michigan State 26–0, [[Purdue Boilermakers football|Purdue]] beat Kansas State 29–13, [[Ohio State football|Ohio State]] beat Ohio Wesleyan 34–7, [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin]] beat Marquette 7–2.   [[USC Trojans football|USC]] beat Washington State 20–0.  [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] won at West Virginia, 40–0.  [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] beat Furman 13–0.  [[Tennessee Volunteers football|Tennessee]] beat Ole Miss 33–0 and [[TCU Horned Frogs football|TCU]] defeated Daniel Baker College 55–0.

'''October 8'''  [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan]] beat Northwestern 15–6, [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin]] beat Iowa 34–0, [[Purdue Boilermakers football|Purdue]] won at Minnesota 7–0, and [[Ohio State football|Ohio State]] and Indiana played to a 7–7 tie.  [[USC Trojans football|USC]] beat Oregon State 10–0.  [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] beat Duquesne 33–0.  [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] beat [[Carleton Knights football|Carleton College]] 57–0. [[Notre dame football|Notre Dame]] opened with a 73–0 win over Haskell College.  [[Tennessee Volunteers football|Tennessee]] beat North Carolina 20–7 and [[TCU Horned Frogs football|TCU]] beat Arkansas 34–12.

'''October 15'''  In Birmingham, [[Tennessee Volunteers football|Tennessee]] and Alabama, both 3–0–0, met, with the visitors winning 7–3.  [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan]] won at [[Ohio State football|Ohio State]] 14–0, while [[Purdue Boilermakers football|Purdue]] beat visiting [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin]] 7–6, and [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] won at [[Army Black Knights football|Army]]  18–13.  [[TCU Horned Frogs football|TCU]] won at Texas A&M 17–0, [[USC Trojans football|USC]] defeated [[Loyola Marymount]] 6–0 and [[Notre dame football|Notre Dame]] beat Drake 62–0.

'''October 22''' [[USC Trojans football|USC]] (4–0–0) and Stanford (5–0–0) met at Palo Alto, with USC winning 13–0.  At Pittsburgh, [[Ohio State football|Ohio State]] and [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pitt]] played to a 0–0 tie.  [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan]] beat Illinois 32–0, [[Purdue Boilermakers football|Purdue]] tied at Northwestern 7–7, and [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin]] shut out Iowa's Coe College 39–0.  [[Notre dame football|Notre Dame]] beat Carnegie Tech 42–0.  [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] won at Yale 20–0.  [[Tennessee Volunteers football|Tennessee]] beat Maryville College 60–0 and [[TCU Horned Frogs football|TCU]] beat Austin College 68–0

'''October 29'''  [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] (4–0–1) hosted [[Notre dame football|Notre Dame]] (3–0–0) and won 12–0.  [[Ohio State football|Ohio State]] and [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin]] played to a 7–7 tie giving OSU a record of 1–1–3.  [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan]] defeated Princeton 14–7 and [[Purdue Boilermakers football|Purdue]] beat NYU 34–9 at Yankee Stadium.  [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] beat William & Mary 33–0.  [[Tennessee Volunteers football|Tennessee]] beat visiting Duke, 16–13, and [[TCU Horned Frogs football|TCU]] defeated Baylor 27–0.

==November==
'''November 5''' [[Notre dame football|Notre Dame]] won at Kansas University, 24–6.  [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan]] won at Indiana 7–0, [[Ohio State football|Ohio State]] won at Northwestern 20–6, [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin]] beat Illinois 20–12 and [[Purdue Boilermakers football|Purdue]] won at Chicago 37–0.    [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] won at Penn, 19–12.  [[USC Trojans football|USC]] beat California 27–7.  [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] won at Harvard 46–0
[[Tennessee Volunteers football|Tennessee]] beat Mississippi State 31–0 and [[TCU Horned Frogs football|TCU]] won at Hardin-Simmonds 27–0.

'''November 11'''  On Armistice Day, [[TCU Horned Frogs football|TCU]] (8–0–1) hosted Texas (6–1–0) and won 14–0.

'''November 12'''  In Nashville, [[Tennessee Volunteers football|Tennessee]] (7–0–0) and Vanderbilt (6–0–1), played to a scoreless tie.   [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan]] beat Chicago 12–0, [[Purdue Boilermakers football|Purdue]] won at Iowa 18–0, and [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin]] beat Minnesota 20–13.  [[Ohio State football|Ohio State]] beat Penn 19–0.  [[USC Trojans football|USC]] beat Oregon 33–0.   [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] beat North Dakota State 52–0.   At Lincoln, Neb., [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] and Nebraska played to a 0–0 tie.  At Chicago, [[Notre dame football|Notre Dame]] beat Northwestern 21–0
 
'''November 19'''  [[Michigan Wolverines football|Michigan]] closed its season with a 3–0 win at Minnesota, [[Ohio State football|Ohio State]] closed at Illinois with the same 3–0 score.  [[Wisconsin Badgers football|Wisconsin]] won at Chicago 18–7, and [[Purdue Boilermakers football|Purdue]] beat Indiana 25–7.   [[Notre dame football|Notre Dame]] defeated Navy in a game at Cleveland, 12–0.  [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] beat Carnegie Tech, 6–0.  In Houston, [[TCU Horned Frogs football|TCU]] beat Rice 16–6.  [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] narrowly beat visiting West Virginia Wesleyan 7–0.   At Providence, [[1932 Colgate football team|Colgate]] (8–0–0) and Brown University (7–0–0) faced each other for the season-ender for both teams.  Colgate had held its first 8 opponents scoreless, and the nation waited to see if that streak would be ended by Colgate's toughest opponent of the year.  Colgate's Red Raiders won 21–0 to close the season with a 264–0 edge on its opposition.

'''November 24'''  On Thanksgiving Day, [[USC Trojans football|USC]] won at Washington 9–6; that win, along with California's 3–0 loss to Washington State, gave USC the Pacific Coast crown and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

'''November 26''' At Yankee Stadium, [[Notre dame football|Notre Dame]] beat [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] 21–0.  [[Pittsburgh Panthers football|Pittsburgh]] beat visiting Stanford 7–0 to close its season unbeaten (8–0–2).  [[Tennessee Volunteers football|Tennessee]] beat Kentucky 26–0.  [[TCU Horned Frogs football|TCU]] closed its season at Dallas, with an 8–0 win over SMU.  In eleven games, TCU had registered seven shutouts, and finished unbeaten (10–0–1).

==December==
'''December 3''' In the [[Army–Navy Game]] at Philadelphia, [[Army Black Knights football|Army]] won 20–0.  In Jacksonville, [[Tennessee Volunteers football|Tennessee]] beat Florida to close its season unbeaten (9–0–1).

'''December 6''' Jack F. Rissman, sponsor of the original [[Dickinson System]] trophy, announced that the Dickinson title and [[Dickinson System#Rockne_Trophy|Knute Rockne Memorial Trophy]] would go to USC with a season-ending win over [[1932 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|Notre Dame]].<ref name="LATimes1932Rissman">{{cite news |agency=[[International News Service]] |date=December 6, 2024 |title=Gridiron Trophy Donor Here To See Big Game |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-jack-rissman-gridi/150549248/ |work=[[The Los Angeles Times]] |access-date=July 3, 2024 |quote=Jack Rissman, a Chicago merchant, said that thus far the Trojans are slightly in the lead in the race for the trophy, which is now known as the Knute Rockne Cup, and can clinch the honor only by defeating the Irish Saturday.}}</ref> Rissman would be attending the game in Los Angeles.<ref name="LATimes1932Rissman"/>

'''December 10''' In Los Angeles, [[USC Trojans football|USC]] (9–0–0) hosted [[Notre dame football|Notre Dame]] (7–1–0) and won 13–0. That night, going against Rissman's proclamation, Professor Dickinson named 8–0 [[1932 Michigan Wolverines football team|Michigan]] as national champions with 9–0 USC No. 2 and 8–0–2 Pittsburgh No. 3.<ref name="AP1932Dickinson">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Michigan Gets Rockne Trophy as U.S. Champ — USC Rated Second, Pittsburgh Third |newspaper=The Daily Argus-Leader |place=[[Champaign, Illinois]] |publication-place=[[Sioux Falls, South Dakota]] |date=December 11, 1932 |page=9 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/98586842/dickinson-ratings/ |quote=Although Southern California's Trojans defeated Notre Dame today to finish their regular season undefeated and untied, the University of Michigan tonight was declared winner of the Knute. K. Rockne memorial trophy, symbolic of the national football championship, under the Dickinson rating system.}}</ref>

'''December 15''' Rissman, displeased by Dickinson's choice of Michigan, announced a ''new'' Rissman national championship trophy.<ref name="UP1932RissmanTrophy">{{cite news |agency=[[United Press]] |date=December 15, 1932 |title=Troy, Pitt Play for Cup — Winner Will Get National Title Trophy — Donor of Cup Awarded Michigan 'Peeved,' Offers New One |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-long-beach-sun-rissman-trophy-1933-r/150548946/ |work=[[The Long Beach Sun]] |place=Los Angeles |publication-place=Long Beach |access-date=July 3, 2024 |quote=A trophy symbolic of the mythical national football championship will be awarded to the winner of the Southern California–Pittsburgh game at Pasadena by Jack Rissman, wealthy Chicago sportsman who donated the Dickinson rating cup.}}</ref> For 1932, the trophy would go to the winner of the [[1933 Rose Bowl|Rose Bowl]] on January 2.<ref name="UP1932RissmanTrophy"/>

==1933 Rose Bowl==
{{main|1933 Rose Bowl}}
USC had beaten Pitt in the 1933 Rose Bowl, 47–14, and the rematch three years later resulted in a larger defeat.  Before a crowd of 84,000 the previously unbeaten Pitt Panthers reached the "red zone" only twice.  In the second quarter, a long run gave the Panthers first down on the USC 24 yard line, but Warren Heller's pass fell in the end zone, and under the rules of the day, the result was a turnover (and a touchback, with USC given first down on the 20).  Pitt got another chance soon after on a blocked punt, but was stopped on downs.  With the help of holes opened up by Trojan halfback, USC scored five touchdowns (including three in the final quarter) and won 35–0.  With New Year's Day falling on a Sunday, the Rose Bowl took place on Monday, January 2, 1933 <ref>"Pitt is Swamped in 35–0 Landslide," ''Charleston Daily Mail'', Jan. 3, 1933, p9</ref>

==Conference standings==
For this article, major conferences defined as those including multiple state [[Flagship#Colleges and universities in the United States|flagship]] public universities.

===Major conference standings===
{| cellpadding="5"
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Big Six Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Big Ten Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Border Conference football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 New England Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 North Central Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Pacific Coast Conference football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Rocky Mountain Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Southern Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Southwest Conference football standings}}
|}

===Independents===
{| cellpadding="5"
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Eastern college football independents records}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Midwestern college football independents records}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Southern college football independents records}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Western college football independents records}}
|}

===Minor conferences===
{| class="wikitable" width="60%"
!style="background:#0054B3; color:#FFFFFF;" |Conference
!style="background:#0054B3; color:#FFFFFF;" |Champion(s)
!style="background:#0054B3; color:#FFFFFF;" |Record
|- align="left"
| ''[[Big Four Conference (Oklahoma)|Big Four Conference]]''
| [[Tulsa Golden Hurricane football|Tulsa]]
| 3–0
|- align="left"
| [[Central Intercollegiate Athletics Association]]
| [[Morgan State Bears football|Morgan College]]
| 3–0–2
|- align="left"
| [[Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]]
| [[Wichita State Shockers football|Wichita]]
| 5–1
|- align="left"
| [[Far Western Conference]]
| [[Nevada Wolf Pack football|Nevada]]<br>[[San Jose State Spartans football|San Jose State Teachers]]
| 2–0–1<br>3–0–2
|- align="left"
| [[Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]]
| [[Luther Norse|Luther]]
| 4–1
|- align="left"
| [[Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference]]
| [[Ottawa Braves|Ottawa]]
| 4–0
|- align="left"
| [[Lone Star Conference]]
| [[North Texas Mean Green football|North Texas State Teachers]]
| 5–0
|- align="left"
| [[Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association]]
| [[Hillsdale Chargers|Hillsdale]]
| 4–0
|- align="left"
| [[Michigan-Ontario Collegiate Conference]]
| [[Adrian Bulldogs|Adrian]]<br>[[Saint Mary's College (Michigan)|St. Mary's]]
| 2-0-1<br>2-0-1
|- align="left"
| [[Midwest Collegiate Athletic Conference]]
| [[Carleton Knights football|Carleton]]<br>[[Monmouth Fighting Scots|Monmouth (IL)]]<br>[[Ripon Red Hawks|Ripon]]
| 2–0–1<br>2–0–1<br>1–0–1
|- align="left"
| [[Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]]
| [[Saint John's Johnnies|Saint John's (MN)]]
| 4–0–1
|- align="left"
| [[Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association]]
| [[Truman Bulldogs football|Northeast Missouri State Teachers]]
| 4–0–0
|- align="lt"
| [[Nebraska College Athletic Conference]]
| [[Hastings Broncos|Hastings]]<br>[[Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves|Nebraska Wesleyan]]
| 4–0–1
|- align="left"
| [[Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Association]]
| ''Unknown''
| —
|- align="left"
| [[North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]]
| [[North Dakota State Bison football|North Dakota Agricultural]]
| 4–0–0
|- align="left"
| [[North Dakota College Athletic Conference]]
| [[North Dakota State Normal and Industrial School|State Normal and Industrial (ND)]]
| 4–0–1<br>4–0
|- align="left"
| [[Northern Teachers Athletic Conference]]
| [[Minnesota–Duluth Bulldogs football|Duluth State Teachers]]<br>[[Minnesota State Mavericks football|Mankato State Teachers]]<br>[[Minnesota State–Moorhead Dragons football|Moorhead State Teachers]]<br>[[St. Cloud State Huskies football|St. Cloud State Teachers]]
| 2–1
|- align="left"
| [[Ohio Athletic Conference]]
| [[1932 Case Scientists football team|Case Tech]]
| 6–0–0
|- align="left"
| [[Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference]]
| [[Central Oklahoma Bronchos football|Central State Teachers]]<br>[[Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs football|Southwestern State Teachers (OK)]]
| 4–1–0<br>4–1
|- align="left"
| [[Pacific Northwest Conference]]
| [[Puget Sound Loggers|College of Puget Sound]]
| 5–0
|- align="left"
| [[South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference]]
| [[Augustana (South Dakota) Vikings|Augustana (SD)]]<br>[[Black Hills State Yellow Jackets football|Black Hills Teachers]]
| 5–0<br>3–0–1
|- align="left"
| [[Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]]
| [[Whittier Poets|Whittier]]
| 5–1
|- align="left"
| [[Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference]]
| [[Tuskegee Golden Tigers|Tuskegee]]
| 4–0
|- align="left"
| [[Southwestern Athletic Conference]]
| [[Wiley Wildcats|Wiley (TX)]]
| 5–0
|- align="left"
| [[Texas Collegiate Athletic Conference]]
| [[Howard Payne Yellow Jackets|Howard Payne]]
| 5–0
|- align="left"
| [[Tri-Normal League]]
| ''Unknown''
| —
|- align="left"
| [[Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference]]
| [[Wisconsin–Whitewater Warhawks football|Whitewater State Teachers]]
| 4–0
|}

===Minor conference standings===
{| cellpadding="5"
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Big Four Conference (Oklahoma) football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Big Four Conference (Wisconsin) football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Buckeye Athletic Association football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Central Intercollegiate Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Dixie Conference football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Far Western Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Indiana Intercollegiate Conference football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Iowa Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Lone Star Conference football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Middle Three Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Midwest Conference football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Missouri Valley Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Mississippi Valley Conference football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Missouri College Athletic Union football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Missouri Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Nebraska College Athletic Conference football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Nebraska Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 North Dakota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 North State Conference football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Northern Teachers College Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Northwest Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Northwest Ohio League football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Ohio Athletic Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Oklahoma Collegiate Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Smoky Mountain Conference football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Southern California Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Southwestern Athletic Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Texas Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Tri-State Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Virginia Conference football standings}}
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 West Virginia Athletic Conference football standings}}
|-
|valign="top" width=25em|{{1932 Wisconsin State Teachers College Conference football standings}}
|}

==National championship==

{{see also|1932 college football rankings}}

===Dickinson System===

{{main|Dickinson System}}

For 1932, Professor Dickinson announced that "differential points" would be factored in for an "intersectional game", with ratings of 0.00 for East schools, higher points for "Middlewest" (+4.77) and Southwest (+1.36), negatives for the South (-2.59), the Big Six (-2.60) and the Pacific Coast (-2.71).<ref name="AP1932Dickinson"/>

[[1932 Michigan Wolverines football team|Michigan]] and [[1932 USC Trojans football team|USC]] were both unbeaten and untied, but as a "Middlewest" team, Michigan had a higher average rating.  The higher weight put four [[Big Ten Conference]] teams in Dickinson's top 11: Michigan, [[1932 Ohio State Buckeyes football team|Ohio State]], [[1932 Purdue Boilermakers football team|Purdue]], and [[1932 Wisconsin Badgers football team|Wisconsin]].

In 1932, the national championship trophy was presented to the winning school by the [[Four Horsemen (American football)|Four Horsemen]] of the [[1924 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team]]: [[Harry Stuhldreher]], [[Jim Crowley]], [[Don Miller (American football, born 1902)|Don Miller]], and [[Elmer Layden]].<ref name="AP1932Dickinson"/>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Rank
! Team
! Record
! Rating
|-
| 1
| [[1932 Michigan Wolverines football team|Michigan]]
| 8–0
| 28.47
|-
| 2
| [[1932 USC Trojans football team|USC]]
| 9–0
| 26.81
|-
| 3
| [[1932 Pittsburgh Panthers football team|Pittsburgh]]
| 8–0–2
| 26.49
|-
| 4
| [[1932 Purdue Boilermakers football team|Purdue]]
| 7–0–1
| 26.33
|-
| 5
| [[1932 Colgate Red Raiders football team|Colgate]]
| 9–0
| 25.00
|-
| 6
| [[1932 Ohio State Buckeyes football team|Ohio State]]
| 4–1–3
| 23.60
|-
| 7
| [[1932 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team|Notre Dame]]
| 7–2
| 20.44
|-
| 8
| [[1932 Army Cadets football team|Army]]
| 8–2
| 20.00
|-
| 9
| [[1932 Tennessee Volunteers football team|Tennessee]]
| 9–0–1
| 19.16
|-
| 10
| [[1932 TCU Horned Frogs football team|TCU]]
| 9–0–1
| 19.12
|-
| 11
| [[1932 Wisconsin Badgers football team|Wisconsin]]
| 6–1–1
| 18.80
|}

==See also==
* [[1932 College Football All-America Team]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{commons cat}}
{{NCAA football season navbox}}

[[Category:1932 college football season| ]]