In their 14th year under head coach Murray Warmath, the Golden Gophers compiled an 8–2 record and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 163 to 106.
The Gophers did not receive the conference's bid to the Rose Bowl despite their 33-7 victory vs. Indiana.
This invoked the next tiebreaker, which favored the team which had gone the longest since its most recent Rose Bowl trip.
Back Tom Sakal received the team's Most Valuable Player award.
Tight end Charles Sanders and offensive guard Ed Duren were named All-Big Ten second team.