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1972 Illinois

3–⁠8 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Bob Blackman.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1972, game by game: lost vs. Michigan State 0–24; lost vs. No. 1 USC 20–55; lost at No. 14 Washington 11–31; lost vs. No. 16 Penn State 17–35; lost at No. 4 Ohio State 7–26; lost vs. No. 6 Michigan 7–31; lost at Purdue 14–20; won at Northwestern 43–13; won vs. Indiana 37–20; won vs. Wisconsin 27–7; lost at Iowa 14–15+30−35Lost 0–24 vs. Michigan State-24Michigan StateLost 20–55 vs. No. 1 USC-35No. 1 USCLost 11–31 at No. 14 Washington-20No. 14 WashingtonLost 17–35 vs. No. 16 Penn State-18No. 16 Penn StateLost 7–26 at No. 4 Ohio State-19No. 4 Ohio StateLost 7–31 vs. No. 6 Michigan-24No. 6 MichiganLost 14–20 at Purdue-6PurdueWon 43–13 at Northwestern+30NorthwesternWon 37–20 vs. Indiana+17IndianaWon 27–7 vs. Wisconsin+20WisconsinLost 14–15 at Iowa-1Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16vsMichigan StateL 0–⁠2447%
Sep 23vs1USCL 20–⁠5528%
Sep 30at14WashingtonL 11–⁠3119%
Oct 7vs16Penn StateL 17–⁠3523%
Oct 14at4Ohio StateL 7–⁠2615%
Oct 21vs6MichiganL 7–⁠3116%
Oct 28atPurdueL 14–⁠2025%
Nov 4atNorthwesternW 43–⁠1330%
Nov 11vsIndianaW 37–⁠2055%
Nov 18vsWisconsinW 27–⁠761%
Nov 25atIowaL 14–⁠1561%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Iowa 15–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 93rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
197–⁠277
Coach
Bob Blackman
Elo
1454 −6 this season
SP+ rating
1.9 No. 62 of 121; offense No. 48, defense No. 73
SRS
3.1 No. 55 of 127 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Larry McCarren and John Wiza
Most valuable player
Larry McCarren and Larry Allen

Drafted in 1973

The 1973 draft
Rd 4Mike Wells QBMinnesota Vikings

All-Big Ten

5 first team

First team

  • Mike WellsQBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Garvin RobersonSplit ends
  • Larry McCarrenCAP-1; UPI-1
  • Larry AllenDL
  • Tab BennettDL

From Wikipedia’s 1972 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1972 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠16
Ohio State7–⁠19–⁠29
Purdue6–⁠26–⁠5
Michigan State5–⁠2–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Minnesota4–⁠44–⁠7
Indiana3–⁠55–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠53–⁠8
Iowa2–⁠6–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Wisconsin2–⁠64–⁠7
Northwestern1–⁠82–⁠9

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