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1946 Illinois

8–⁠2 (6–⁠1 Western Conference), coached by Ray Eliot, finished No. 5 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1946, game by game: won at Pittsburgh 33–7; lost vs. Notre Dame 6–26; won vs. Purdue 43–7; lost at Indiana 7–14; won vs. No. 20 Wisconsin 27–21; won at No. 8 Michigan 13–9; won at Iowa 7–0; won vs. No. 13 Ohio State 16–7; won at Northwestern 20–0; won vs. No. 4 UCLA 45–14+36−20Won 33–7 at Pittsburgh+26PittsburghLost 6–26 vs. Notre Dame-20Notre DameWon 43–7 vs. Purdue+36PurdueLost 7–14 at Indiana-7IndianaWon 27–21 vs. No. 20 Wisconsin+6No. 20 WisconsinWon 13–9 at No. 8 Michigan+4No. 8 MichiganWon 7–0 at Iowa+7IowaWon 16–7 vs. No. 13 Ohio State+9No. 13 Ohio StateWon 20–0 at Northwestern+20NorthwesternWon 45–14 vs. No. 4 UCLA+31No. 4 UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 21atPittsburghW 33–⁠745%
Sep 28vsNotre DameL 6–⁠2641%
Oct 5vsPurdueW 43–⁠751%
Oct 12atIndianaL 7–⁠1430%
Oct 19vs20WisconsinW 27–⁠2152%
Oct 26at8MichiganW 13–⁠927%
Nov 2atIowaW 7–⁠054%
Nov 16vs13Ohio StateW 16–⁠745%
Nov 23atNorthwesternW 20–⁠051%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs4UCLARose BowlW 45–⁠1444%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat UCLA 45–⁠14 in the Rose Bowl; No. 5 in the final AP poll; Western Conference champions.

In program history: The 8th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 4: 11
  3. Wk 5: 10
  4. Wk 6: 9
  5. Wk 7: 5
  6. Wk 8: 5
  7. Final: 5

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 1946.

Western Conference champions6–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanAlex Agase, OG

Record
8–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠1 first in Western Conference
AP final
No. 5 peak No. 5
Points
217–⁠105
Coach
Ray Eliot
Elo
1660 +194 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
29.3 No. 4 of 120 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Mac Wenskunas
Most valuable player
Alex Agase

All-Big Nine

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Sam ZatkoffEUP-2
  • Julie RykovichRBUP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1946 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1946 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Illinois6–⁠18–⁠25
Michigan5–⁠1–⁠16–⁠2–⁠16
Indiana4–⁠26–⁠320
Iowa3–⁠35–⁠4
Minnesota3–⁠45–⁠4
Ohio State2–⁠3–⁠14–⁠3–⁠2
Northwestern2–⁠3–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Wisconsin2–⁠54–⁠5
Purdue0–⁠5–⁠12–⁠6–⁠1

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