1945 Illinois
2–6–1 (1–4–1 Western Conference), coached by Ray Eliot. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Iowa 48–7Nov 10
By 41 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 22 | vs Pittsburgh | W 23–6 | 67% |
| Sep 29 | at Notre Dame | L 0–7 | 26% |
| Oct 6 | vs Indiana | L 0–6 | 47% |
| Oct 20 | at Wisconsin | T 7–7 | 51% |
| Oct 27 | vs 16Michigan | L 0–19 | 38% |
| Nov 3 | vsGreat Lakes Navy | L 6–12 | 60% |
| Nov 10 | vs Iowa | W 48–7 | 74% |
| Nov 17 | at 9Ohio State | L 2–27 | 19% |
| Nov 24 | at Northwestern | L 7–13 | 38% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Lost to Northwestern 13–7; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Western Conference.
In program history: The 95th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).
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 1945.
- Record
- 2–6–1
- Conference
- 1–4–1 7th in Western Conference
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 93–104
- Coach
- Ray Eliot
- Elo
- 1449 −64 this season
- SP+ rating
- —
- SRS
- 12.9 No. 20 of 101 major-college teams
- Recruiting class
- —
- Captain
- Ralph Serpico
- Most valuable player
- Mac Wenskunas
Drafted in 1946
The 1946 draft| Rd 2 | Mac Wenskunas C | Chicago Cardinals |
| Rd 2 | Jules Rykovich B | Chicago Bears |
All-Big Ten
1 first teamFirst team
From Wikipedia’s 1945 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1945 Western Conference standings
| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indiana | 5–0–1 | 9–0–1 | 4 |
| Michigan | 5–1 | 7–3 | 6 |
| Ohio State | 5–2 | 7–2 | 12 |
 Purdue | 3–3 | 7–3 | |
| Northwestern | 3–3–1 | 4–4–1 | |
| Wisconsin | 2–3–1 | 3–4–2 | |
 Illinois | 1–4–1 | 2–6–1 | |
 Minnesota | 1–5 | 4–5 | |
| Iowa | 1–5 | 2–7 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.