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1956 Illinois

2–⁠5–⁠2 (1–⁠4–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Ray Eliot.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1956, game by game: won vs. California 32–20; lost at Washington 13–28; lost vs. No. 5 Ohio State 6–26; lost at Minnesota 13–16; won vs. No. 1 Michigan State 20–13; tied at Purdue 7–7; lost at No. 10 Michigan 7–17; tied vs. Wisconsin 13–13; lost at Northwestern 13–14+12−20Won 32–20 vs. California+12CaliforniaLost 13–28 at Washington-15WashingtonLost 6–26 vs. No. 5 Ohio State-20No. 5 Ohio StateLost 13–16 at Minnesota-3MinnesotaWon 20–13 vs. No. 1 Michigan State+7No. 1 Michigan StateTied 7–7 at Purdue0PurdueLost 7–17 at No. 10 Michigan-10No. 10 MichiganTied 13–13 vs. Wisconsin0WisconsinLost 13–14 at Northwestern-1Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 29vsCaliforniaW 32–⁠2067%
Oct 6atWashingtonL 13–⁠2852%
Oct 13vs5Ohio StateL 6–⁠2635%
Oct 20atMinnesotaL 13–⁠1633%
Oct 27vs1Michigan StateW 20–⁠1324%
Nov 3atPurdueT 7–⁠736%
Nov 10at10MichiganL 7–⁠1730%
Nov 17vsWisconsinT 13–⁠1365%
Nov 24atNorthwesternL 13–⁠1453%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Northwestern 14–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 75th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 3: 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 1956.

Record
2–⁠5–⁠2
Conference
1–⁠4–⁠2 tied for 7th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 13
Points
124–⁠154
Coach
Ray Eliot
Elo
1495 −28 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
10.8 No. 27 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
James Minor
Most valuable player
Dave Walker

Drafted in 1957

The 1957 draft
Rd 2Abe Woodson BSan Francisco 49ers
Rd 5Wayne Bock OTChicago Cardinals

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Percy OliverOGUP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1956 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1956 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Iowa5–⁠19–⁠13
Michigan5–⁠27–⁠27
Minnesota4–⁠1–⁠26–⁠1–⁠212
Michigan State4–⁠27–⁠29
Ohio State4–⁠26–⁠315
Northwestern3–⁠3–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Purdue1–⁠4–⁠23–⁠4–⁠2
Illinois1–⁠4–⁠22–⁠5–⁠2
Wisconsin0–⁠4–⁠31–⁠5–⁠3
Indiana1–⁠53–⁠6

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