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1951 Illinois

9–⁠0–⁠1 (5–⁠0–⁠1 Western Conference), coached by Ray Eliot, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1951, game by game: won vs. UCLA 27–13; won vs. Wisconsin 14–10; won at Syracuse 41–20; won at No. 20 Washington 27–20; won at Indiana 21–0; won vs. No. 15 Michigan 7–0; won vs. Iowa 40–13; tied at Ohio State 0–0; won at Northwestern 3–0; won vs. No. 8 Stanford 40–7+33Won 27–13 vs. UCLA+14UCLAWon 14–10 vs. Wisconsin+4WisconsinWon 41–20 at Syracuse+21SyracuseWon 27–20 at No. 20 Washington+7No. 20 WashingtonWon 21–0 at Indiana+21IndianaWon 7–0 vs. No. 15 Michigan+7No. 15 MichiganWon 40–13 vs. Iowa+27IowaTied 0–0 at Ohio State0Ohio StateWon 3–0 at Northwestern+3NorthwesternWon 40–7 vs. No. 8 Stanford+33No. 8 Stanford
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 29vsUCLAW 27–⁠1364%
Oct 6vsWisconsinW 14–⁠1063%
Oct 13atSyracuseW 41–⁠2058%
Oct 20at20WashingtonW 27–⁠2048%
Oct 27atIndianaW 21–⁠066%
Nov 3vs15MichiganW 7–⁠066%
Nov 10vsIowaW 40–⁠1385%
Nov 17atOhio StateT 0–⁠059%
Nov 24atNorthwesternW 3–⁠065%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs8StanfordRose BowlW 40–⁠757%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Stanford 40–⁠7 in the Rose Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Western Conference champions.

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

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1951.

National championsa title the school claims

Western Conference champions5–⁠0–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanJohnny Karras, RB

Record
9–⁠0–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠0–⁠1 first in Western Conference
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 2
Points
220–⁠83
Coach
Ray Eliot
Elo
1740 +157 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
21.8 No. 4 of 116 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Chuck Studley
Most valuable player
Chuck Boerio

Drafted in 1952

The 1952 draft
Rd 2Johnny Karras BChicago Cardinals
Rd 4Chuck Ulrich OTPhiladelphia Eagles

All-Big Ten

6 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1951 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1951 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Illinois5–⁠0–⁠19–⁠0–⁠14
Purdue4–⁠15–⁠4
Wisconsin5–⁠1–⁠17–⁠1–⁠18
Michigan4–⁠24–⁠5
Ohio State2–⁠2–⁠24–⁠3–⁠2
Northwestern2–⁠45–⁠4
Minnesota1–⁠4–⁠12–⁠6–⁠1
Indiana1–⁠52–⁠7
Iowa0–⁠5–⁠12–⁠5–⁠2

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