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1975 Illinois

5–⁠6 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Bob Blackman.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1975, game by game: won at Iowa 27–12; lost vs. No. 5 Missouri 20–30; lost at No. 8 Texas A&M 13–43; won vs. Washington State 27–21; won vs. Minnesota 42–23; lost vs. Purdue 24–26; won at No. 16 Michigan State 21–19; lost at Wisconsin 9–18; lost vs. No. 1 Ohio State 3–40; lost vs. No. 4 Michigan 15–21; won at Northwestern 28–7+21−37Won 27–12 at Iowa+15IowaLost 20–30 vs. No. 5 Missouri-10No. 5 MissouriLost 13–43 at No. 8 Texas A&M-30No. 8 Texas A&MWon 27–21 vs. Washington State+6Washington StateWon 42–23 vs. Minnesota+19MinnesotaLost 24–26 vs. Purdue-2PurdueWon 21–19 at No. 16 Michigan State+2No. 16 Michigan StateLost 9–18 at Wisconsin-9WisconsinLost 3–40 vs. No. 1 Ohio State-37No. 1 Ohio StateLost 15–21 vs. No. 4 Michigan-6No. 4 MichiganWon 28–7 at Northwestern+21Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13atIowaW 27–⁠1259%
Sep 20vs5MissouriL 20–⁠3045%
Sep 27at8Texas A&ML 13–⁠4328%
Oct 4vsWashington StateW 27–⁠2165%
Oct 11vsMinnesotaW 42–⁠2361%
Oct 18vsPurdueL 24–⁠2673%
Oct 25at16Michigan StateW 21–⁠1929%
Nov 1atWisconsinL 9–⁠1848%
Nov 8vs1Ohio StateL 3–⁠4022%
Nov 15vs4MichiganL 15–⁠2123%
Nov 22atNorthwesternW 28–⁠759%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Northwestern 28–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 68th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
5–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
229–⁠260
Coach
Bob Blackman
Elo
1506 −3 this season
SP+ rating
1.2 No. 70 of 132; offense No. 47, defense No. 91
SRS
4.8 No. 51 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Dean March and Stu Levenick
Most valuable player
Stu Levenick and Bruce Beaman

Drafted in 1976

The 1976 draft
Rd 5Lonnie Perrin RBDenver Broncos

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

  • Joe SmalzerTEAP-1
  • Dan BeaverKAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Lonnie PerrinRBAP-2
  • Stu LevenickOTAP-2
  • Scott StudwellLBAP-2
  • Bruce BeamanDBAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1975 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1975 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠011–⁠14
Michigan7–⁠18–⁠2–⁠28
Michigan State4–⁠47–⁠4
Illinois4–⁠45–⁠6
Purdue4–⁠44–⁠7
Wisconsin3–⁠4–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota3–⁠56–⁠5
Iowa3–⁠53–⁠8
Northwestern2–⁠63–⁠8
Indiana1–⁠6–⁠12–⁠8–⁠1

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