The 1940 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team under head coach Bernie Bierman compiled a perfect 8–0 record, outscored opponents by a combined total of 154 to 71, won the Big Ten championship, and was ranked No.
Tackle Urban Odson and halfback George Franck were consensus first-team picks for the 1940 College Football All-America Team.
Michigan, under head coach Fritz Crisler, compiled a 7–1 record, led the conference in both scoring offense (24.5 points per game) and scoring defense (4.3 points per game), and finished the season ranked No.
Halfback Tom Harmon was a unanimous first-team All-American and the winner of the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, and the AP's male athlete of the year award.
Northwestern, under head coach Pappy Waldorf, finished in third place in the Big Ten with a 6–2 record and was ranked No.
Key PPG = Average of points scored per game[1] PAG = Average of points allowed per game[1] MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy[2] On September 28, 1940, four Big Ten football teams opened their seasons with non-conference games.
On October 19, 1940, the Big Ten football teams played four conference games.
[4][5] At the end of the 1940 season, Big Ten players secured five of the 12 consensus first-team picks for the 1940 College Football All-America Team.