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1976 Illinois

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

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1976, game by game: won vs. Iowa 24–6; won at No. 6 Missouri 31–6; lost vs. Baylor 19–34; lost vs. Texas A&M 7–14; lost at Minnesota 14–29; won at Purdue 21–17; lost vs. Michigan State 23–31; won vs. Wisconsin 31–25; lost at No. 8 Ohio State 10–42; lost at No. 4 Michigan 7–38; won vs. Northwestern 48–6+42−32Won 24–6 vs. Iowa+18IowaWon 31–6 at No. 6 Missouri+25No. 6 MissouriLost 19–34 vs. Baylor-15BaylorLost 7–14 vs. Texas A&M-7Texas A&MLost 14–29 at Minnesota-15MinnesotaWon 21–17 at Purdue+4PurdueLost 23–31 vs. Michigan State-8Michigan StateWon 31–25 vs. Wisconsin+6WisconsinLost 10–42 at No. 8 Ohio State-32No. 8 Ohio StateLost 7–38 at No. 4 Michigan-31No. 4 MichiganWon 48–6 vs. Northwestern+42Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vsIowaW 24–⁠669%
Sep 18at6MissouriW 31–⁠630%
Sep 25vsBaylorL 19–⁠3472%
Oct 2vsTexas A&ML 7–⁠1446%
Oct 9atMinnesotaL 14–⁠2944%
Oct 16atPurdueW 21–⁠1741%
Oct 23vsMichigan StateL 23–⁠3159%
Oct 30vsWisconsinW 31–⁠2562%
Nov 6at8Ohio StateL 10–⁠4214%
Nov 13at4MichiganL 7–⁠3815%
Nov 20vsNorthwesternW 48–⁠676%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Northwestern 48–⁠6; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 76th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 14
Record
5–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 14
Points
235–⁠248
Coach
Bob Blackman
Elo
1490 −14 this season
SP+ rating
6.8 No. 50 of 132; offense No. 31, defense No. 73
SRS
8.4 No. 32 of 137 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Marty Friel, Dean March and Scott Studwell
Most valuable player
Jerry Finis and Scott Studwell

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 4 second team

First team

  • Scott StudwellLBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Dan BeaverKAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Kevin PancratzOGUPI-2
  • Jerry FinisOTAP-2; UPI-2
  • John DiFeliciantonioFront fiveAP-2
  • Jim StaunerDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1976 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1976 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠23
Ohio State7–⁠19–⁠2–⁠16
Minnesota4–⁠46–⁠5
Illinois4–⁠45–⁠6
Purdue4–⁠45–⁠6
Indiana4–⁠45–⁠6
Iowa3–⁠55–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠55–⁠6
Michigan State3–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Northwestern1–⁠71–⁠10

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