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1944 Illinois

5–⁠4–⁠1 (3–⁠3 Western Conference), coached by Ray Eliot, finished No. 15 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1944, game by game: won vs. Illinois State 79–0; won vs. Indiana 26–18; tied at Great Lakes Navy 26–26; lost vs. Purdue 19–35; won vs. Iowa 40–6; won at Pittsburgh 39–5; lost vs. No. 1 Notre Dame 7–13; lost at No. 8 Michigan 0–14; lost vs. No. 4 Ohio State 12–26; won at Northwestern 25–6+79−16Won 79–0 vs. Illinois State+79Illinois StateWon 26–18 vs. Indiana+8IndianaTied 26–26 at Great Lakes Navy0Great Lakes NavyLost 19–35 vs. Purdue-16PurdueWon 40–6 vs. Iowa+34IowaWon 39–5 at Pittsburgh+34PittsburghLost 7–13 vs. No. 1 Notre Dame-6No. 1 Notre DameLost 0–14 at No. 8 Michigan-14No. 8 MichiganLost 12–26 vs. No. 4 Ohio State-14No. 4 Ohio StateWon 25–6 at Northwestern+19Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16vsIllinois StateW 79–⁠091%
Sep 23vsIndianaW 26–⁠1848%
Sep 30atGreat Lakes NavyT 26–⁠2622%
Oct 7vsPurdueL 19–⁠3542%
Oct 14vsIowaW 40–⁠662%
Oct 21atPittsburghW 39–⁠550%
Oct 28vs1Notre DameL 7–⁠1328%
Nov 11at8MichiganL 0–⁠1419%
Nov 18vs4Ohio StateL 12–⁠2628%
Nov 25atNorthwesternW 25–⁠647%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Northwestern 25–⁠6; No. 15 in the final AP poll; 6th in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 59th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 14
  2. Wk 3: 14
  3. Wk 4: 9
  4. Wk 5: 10
  5. Final: 15

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 1944.

Heisman voteBuddy Young, fifth

Record
5–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠3 6th in Western Conference
AP final
No. 15 peak No. 9
Points
273–⁠149
Coach
Ray Eliot
Elo
1519 +72 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
19.1 No. 13 of 95 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Most valuable player
Buddy Young

All-Big Ten

2 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1944 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1944 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State6–⁠09–⁠02
Michigan5–⁠28–⁠28
Purdue4–⁠25–⁠5
Minnesota3–⁠2–⁠15–⁠3–⁠1
Indiana4–⁠37–⁠3
Illinois3–⁠35–⁠4–⁠115
Wisconsin2–⁠43–⁠6
Northwestern0–⁠5–⁠11–⁠7–⁠1
Iowa0–⁠61–⁠7

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