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1986 Indiana

6–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Bill Mallory.

Schedule and results

Indiana in 1986, game by game: won vs. Louisville 21–0; won vs. Navy 52–29; won at Missouri 41–24; won at Northwestern 24–7; lost vs. Ohio State 22–24; lost at Minnesota 17–19; lost vs. No. 4 Michigan 14–38; won vs. Wisconsin 21–7; won at Michigan State 17–14; lost vs. Illinois 16–21; lost at Purdue 15–17; lost vs. Florida State 13–27+23−24Won 21–0 vs. Louisville+21LouisvilleWon 52–29 vs. Navy+23NavyWon 41–24 at Missouri+17MissouriWon 24–7 at Northwestern+17NorthwesternLost 22–24 vs. Ohio State-2Ohio StateLost 17–19 at Minnesota-2MinnesotaLost 14–38 vs. No. 4 Michigan-24No. 4 MichiganWon 21–7 vs. Wisconsin+14WisconsinWon 17–14 at Michigan State+3Michigan StateLost 16–21 vs. Illinois-5IllinoisLost 15–17 at Purdue-2PurdueLost 13–27 vs. Florida State-14Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13vsLouisvilleW 21–⁠069%
Sep 20vsNavyW 52–⁠2943%
Sep 27atMissouriW 41–⁠2450%
Oct 4atNorthwesternW 24–⁠750%
Oct 11vsOhio StateL 22–⁠2442%
Oct 18atMinnesotaL 17–⁠1935%
Oct 25vs4MichiganL 14–⁠3826%
Nov 1vsWisconsinW 21–⁠758%
Nov 8atMichigan StateW 17–⁠1428%
Nov 15vsIllinoisL 16–⁠2164%
Nov 22atPurdueL 15–⁠1760%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsFlorida StateAll-American BowlL 13–⁠2729%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida State 27–⁠13 in the All-American Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 53rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

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 1986.

Record
6–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
273–⁠227
Coach
Bill Mallory
Elo
1463 +73 this season
SP+ rating
2.8 No. 49 of 101; offense No. 56, defense No. 38
SRS
3.0 No. 43 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Joe Novak
Captains
Leonard Bell, Vince Fisher, Dave Lilja and Bob Riley
Most valuable player
Van Waiters

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 3Leonard Bell DBCincinnati Bengals

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Bob RileyOTAP-2; UPI-2
  • Leonard BellDBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Alex GreenDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠111–⁠28
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠37
Iowa5–⁠39–⁠316
Minnesota5–⁠36–⁠6
Michigan State4–⁠46–⁠5
Indiana3–⁠56–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠54–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠64–⁠7
Purdue2–⁠63–⁠8
Wisconsin2–⁠63–⁠9

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