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1945 Indiana

9–⁠0–⁠1 (5–⁠0–⁠1 Western Conference), coached by Bo McMillin, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Indiana in 1945, game by game: won at Michigan 13–7; tied at Northwestern 7–7; won at Illinois 6–0; won vs. Nebraska 54–14; won at Iowa 52–20; won vs. No. 14 Tulsa 7–2; won vs. Cornell (IA) 46–6; won at No. 20 Minnesota 49–0; won at Pittsburgh 19–0; won vs. No. 18 Purdue 26–0+49Won 13–7 at Michigan+6MichiganTied 7–7 at Northwestern0NorthwesternWon 6–0 at Illinois+6IllinoisWon 54–14 vs. Nebraska+40NebraskaWon 52–20 at Iowa+32IowaWon 7–2 vs. No. 14 Tulsa+5No. 14 TulsaWon 46–6 vs. Cornell (IA)+40Cornell (IA)Won 49–0 at No. 20 Minnesota+49No. 20 MinnesotaWon 19–0 at Pittsburgh+19PittsburghWon 26–0 vs. No. 18 Purdue+26No. 18 Purdue
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22atMichiganW 13–⁠731%
Sep 29atNorthwesternT 7–⁠760%
Oct 6atIllinoisW 6–⁠053%
Oct 13vsNebraskaW 54–⁠1487%
Oct 20atIowaW 52–⁠2075%
Oct 27vs14TulsaW 7–⁠255%
Nov 3vsCornell (IA)W 46–⁠695%
Nov 10at20MinnesotaW 49–⁠056%
Nov 17atPittsburghW 19–⁠079%
Nov 24vs18PurdueW 26–⁠070%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Purdue 26–⁠0; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Western Conference champions.

In program history: The 3rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 8
  2. Wk 2: 8
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 6
  6. Wk 6: 4
  7. Wk 7: 4
  8. Wk 8: 4
  9. Final: 4

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 1945.

Western Conference champions5–⁠0–⁠1 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanBob Ravensberg, E

Record
9–⁠0–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠0–⁠1 first in Western Conference
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 4
Points
279–⁠56
Coach
Bo McMillin
Elo
1721 +152 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
25.9 No. 5 of 101 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Russ Deal
Most valuable player
Howie Brown

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1945 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1945 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Indiana5–⁠0–⁠19–⁠0–⁠14
Michigan5–⁠17–⁠36
Ohio State5–⁠27–⁠212
Purdue3–⁠37–⁠3
Northwestern3–⁠3–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Wisconsin2–⁠3–⁠13–⁠4–⁠2
Illinois1–⁠4–⁠12–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota1–⁠54–⁠5
Iowa1–⁠52–⁠7

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