Wisconsin defends the belt, 24–3, at home over South Dakota State.
Where this game sits in the lineage
Wisconsin came in 329 days into reign #43, which began with a win over Illinois, with 2 defenses already behind it; this was its third defense. Wisconsin went on to defend it 4 more times before Chicago took it on November 19, 1921, 371 days after the reign began.
For South Dakota State this was its first shot at the belt; it had never held the belt. It still hasn’t: 2 attempts in all, every one of them a loss or a tie.
This is the only time South Dakota State and Wisconsin have met with the belt on the line.
About this game
Wisconsin defeated South Dakota State 24-3 on October 8, 1921, in the fourth week of the regular season. As the defending belt holder, Wisconsin retained the championship with the victory.
Written by Claude, strictly from this site’s own record of the game — the score and what it meant for the belt. CFBD doesn’t have a box score for games this old, so nothing here is invented beyond what’s verifiably on file.
Sources Game record: College Football Data (id 11753) · This game in the downloadable dataset