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1942 Illinois

6–⁠4 (3–⁠2 Western Conference), coached by Ray Eliot.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1942, game by game: won vs. South Dakota 46–0; won vs. Butler 67–0; won vs. Minnesota 20–13; won at No. 19 Iowa 12–7; lost vs. No. 8 Notre Dame 14–21; lost at No. 13 Michigan 14–28; won at Northwestern 14–7; lost vs. No. 10 Ohio State 20–44; lost vs. Great Lakes Navy 0–6; won at Camp Grant 20–0+67−24Won 46–0 vs. South Dakota+46South DakotaWon 67–0 vs. Butler+67ButlerWon 20–13 vs. Minnesota+7MinnesotaWon 12–7 at No. 19 Iowa+5No. 19 IowaLost 14–21 vs. No. 8 Notre Dame-7No. 8 Notre DameLost 14–28 at No. 13 Michigan-14No. 13 MichiganWon 14–7 at Northwestern+7NorthwesternLost 20–44 vs. No. 10 Ohio State-24No. 10 Ohio StateLost 0–6 vs. Great Lakes Navy-6Great Lakes NavyWon 20–0 at Camp Grant+20Camp Grant
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26vsSouth DakotaW 46–⁠090%
Oct 3vsButlerW 67–⁠087%
Oct 10vsMinnesotaW 20–⁠1327%
Oct 17at19IowaW 12–⁠739%
Oct 24vs8Notre DameL 14–⁠2136%
Oct 31at13MichiganL 14–⁠2823%
Nov 7atNorthwesternW 14–⁠737%
Nov 14vs10Ohio StateL 20–⁠4431%
Nov 21vsGreat Lakes NavyL 0–⁠646%
Nov 28atCamp GrantW 20–⁠076%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Camp Grant 20–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 85th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 5
  2. Wk 2: 5
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 20
  5. Wk 5: 13

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1942.

Record
6–⁠4
Conference
3–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Western Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 5
Points
227–⁠126
Coach
Ray Eliot
Elo
1469 +50 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
10.0 No. 26 of 121 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Jimmy Smith
Most valuable player
Elmer Engel

All-Big Ten

1 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1942 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1942 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State5–⁠19–⁠11
Wisconsin4–⁠18–⁠1–⁠13
Michigan3–⁠27–⁠39
Illinois3–⁠26–⁠4
Iowa3–⁠36–⁠4
Minnesota3–⁠35–⁠419
Indiana2–⁠27–⁠3
Purdue1–⁠41–⁠8
Northwestern0–⁠61–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.