CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1983 Illinois

10–⁠2 (9–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Mike White, finished No. 10 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Illinois in 1983, game by game: lost at Missouri 18–28; won vs. Stanford 17–7; won at Michigan State 20–10; won vs. No. 4 Iowa 33–0; won at Wisconsin 27–15; won vs. No. 6 Ohio State 17–13; won at Purdue 35–21; won vs. No. 8 Michigan 16–6; won at Minnesota 50–23; won vs. Indiana 49–21; won at Northwestern 56–24; lost vs. UCLA 9–45+33−36Lost 18–28 at Missouri-10MissouriWon 17–7 vs. Stanford+10StanfordWon 20–10 at Michigan State+10Michigan StateWon 33–0 vs. No. 4 Iowa+33No. 4 IowaWon 27–15 at Wisconsin+12WisconsinWon 17–13 vs. No. 6 Ohio State+4No. 6 Ohio StateWon 35–21 at Purdue+14PurdueWon 16–6 vs. No. 8 Michigan+10No. 8 MichiganWon 50–23 at Minnesota+27MinnesotaWon 49–21 vs. Indiana+28IndianaWon 56–24 at Northwestern+32NorthwesternLost 9–45 vs. UCLA-36UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10atMissouriL 18–⁠2844%
Sep 17vsStanfordW 17–⁠763%
Sep 24atMichigan StateW 20–⁠1050%
Oct 1vs4IowaW 33–⁠049%
Oct 8atWisconsinW 27–⁠1550%
Oct 15vs6Ohio StateW 17–⁠1352%
Oct 22atPurdueW 35–⁠2173%
Oct 29vs8MichiganW 16–⁠654%
Nov 5atMinnesotaW 50–⁠2387%
Nov 12vsIndianaW 49–⁠2188%
Nov 19atNorthwesternW 56–⁠2488%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvsUCLARose BowlL 9–⁠4555%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to UCLA 45–⁠9 in the Rose Bowl; No. 10 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 6th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 19
  2. Wk 7: 19
  3. Wk 8: 11
  4. Wk 9: 9
  5. Wk 10: 6
  6. Wk 11: 5
  7. Wk 12: 4
  8. Wk 13: 4
  9. Wk 14: 4
  10. Wk 15: 4
  11. Final: 10

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 1983.

Big Ten champions9–⁠0 in the conference

Walter Camp Coach of the YearMike White, coach

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
9–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 10 peak No. 4
Points
347–⁠213
Coach
Mike White
Elo
1663 +115 this season
SP+ rating
14.0 No. 22 of 108; offense No. 16, defense No. 33
SRS
12.6 No. 19 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Tim Brewster, Joe Miles and Don Thorp

Drafted in 1984

The 1984 draft
Rd 4Mitchell Brookins WRBuffalo Bills
Rd 6Dwight Beverly RBIndianapolis Colts
Rd 6Don Thorp DTNew Orleans Saints

All-Big Ten

7 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1983 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1983 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Illinois9–⁠010–⁠210
Michigan8–⁠19–⁠38
Iowa7–⁠29–⁠314
Ohio State6–⁠39–⁠39
Wisconsin5–⁠47–⁠4
Purdue3–⁠5–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Michigan State2–⁠6–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Indiana2–⁠73–⁠8
Northwestern2–⁠72–⁠9
Minnesota0–⁠91–⁠10

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