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1971 Illinois

5–⁠6 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Bob Blackman.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1971, game by game: lost at Michigan State 0–10; lost vs. North Carolina 0–27; lost at No. 16 USC 0–28; lost vs. No. 15 Washington 14–52; lost vs. No. 15 Ohio State 10–24; lost at No. 3 Michigan 6–35; won vs. No. 17 Purdue 21–7; won vs. Northwestern 24–7; won at Indiana 22–21; won at Wisconsin 35–27; won vs. Iowa 31–0+31−38Lost 0–10 at Michigan State-10Michigan StateLost 0–27 vs. North Carolina-27North CarolinaLost 0–28 at No. 16 USC-28No. 16 USCLost 14–52 vs. No. 15 Washington-38No. 15 WashingtonLost 10–24 vs. No. 15 Ohio State-14No. 15 Ohio StateLost 6–35 at No. 3 Michigan-29No. 3 MichiganWon 21–7 vs. No. 17 Purdue+14No. 17 PurdueWon 24–7 vs. Northwestern+17NorthwesternWon 22–21 at Indiana+1IndianaWon 35–27 at Wisconsin+8WisconsinWon 31–0 vs. Iowa+31Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11atMichigan StateL 0–⁠1026%
Sep 18vsNorth CarolinaL 0–⁠2728%
Sep 25at16USCL 0–⁠2813%
Oct 2vs15WashingtonL 14–⁠5225%
Oct 9vs15Ohio StateL 10–⁠2416%
Oct 16at3MichiganL 6–⁠357%
Oct 23vs17PurdueW 21–⁠724%
Oct 30vsNorthwesternW 24–⁠729%
Nov 6atIndianaW 22–⁠2154%
Nov 13atWisconsinW 35–⁠2733%
Nov 20vsIowaW 31–⁠072%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Iowa 31–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 101st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
163–⁠238
Coach
Bob Blackman
Elo
1440 +80 this season
SP+ rating
2.4 No. 57 of 120; offense No. 76, defense No. 46
SRS
3.5 No. 49 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Glenn Collier and Larry McCarren
Most valuable player
Terry Masar

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Tab BennettDEAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • John GrahamDBAP-2
  • Willie OsleyDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1971 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1971 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠011–⁠16
Northwestern6–⁠37–⁠4
Ohio State5–⁠36–⁠4
Michigan State5–⁠36–⁠5
Illinois5–⁠35–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota3–⁠54–⁠7
Purdue3–⁠53–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠63–⁠8
Iowa1–⁠81–⁠10

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