1948 Northwestern Wildcats football team  The 1948 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the 1948 Big Nine Conference football season. The Wildcats won their first Rose Bowl in school history. Northwestern finished the season with an 8-2 record, losing only to perennial powerhouses Michigan, 28-0, and Notre Dame, 17-12. Northwestern blanked UCLA, 19–0, Purdue, 21–0, and Syracuse, 48–0. NU rallied from three turnovers and a 16-point deficit to defeat Minnesota, 19–16, and beat Ohio State, 21–7, Wisconsin, 16–7, and Illinois, 20–7. Big Nine Conference rules prevented conference champion Michigan from making a successive trip to the Rose Bowl, so second-place Northwestern won the bid instead.