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1988 Indiana

8–⁠3–⁠1 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Bill Mallory, finished No. 20 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Indiana in 1988, game by game: won at Rice 41–14; won vs. Kentucky 36–15; tied at Missouri 28–28; won at Northwestern 48–17; won vs. Ohio State 41–7; won vs. Minnesota 33–13; lost at No. 20 Michigan 6–31; won vs. Iowa 45–34; lost at Illinois 20–21; lost vs. Michigan State 12–38; won at Purdue 52–7; won vs. South Carolina 34–10+45−26Won 41–14 at Rice+27RiceWon 36–15 vs. Kentucky+21KentuckyTied 28–28 at Missouri0MissouriWon 48–17 at Northwestern+31NorthwesternWon 41–7 vs. Ohio State+34Ohio StateWon 33–13 vs. Minnesota+20MinnesotaLost 6–31 at No. 20 Michigan-25No. 20 MichiganWon 45–34 vs. Iowa+11IowaLost 20–21 at Illinois-1IllinoisLost 12–38 vs. Michigan State-26Michigan StateWon 52–7 at Purdue+45PurdueWon 34–10 vs. South Carolina+24South Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10atRiceW 41–⁠1468%
Sep 17vsKentuckyW 36–⁠1565%
Sep 24atMissouriT 28–⁠2861%
Oct 1atNorthwesternW 48–⁠1773%
Oct 8vsOhio StateW 41–⁠765%
Oct 15vsMinnesotaW 33–⁠1375%
Oct 22at20MichiganL 6–⁠3140%
Oct 29vsIowaW 45–⁠3455%
Nov 5atIllinoisL 20–⁠2162%
Nov 12vsMichigan StateL 12–⁠3860%
Nov 19atPurdueW 52–⁠771%
Dec 28Bowls & playoffvsSouth CarolinaLiberty BowlW 34–⁠1053%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat South Carolina 34–⁠10 in the Liberty Bowl; No. 20 in the final AP poll; 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 132 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 8: 18
  2. Wk 9: 14
  3. Wk 11: 20
  4. Final: 20

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 1988.

Consensus All-AmericanAnthony Thompson, RB

Record
8–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠3 5th in Big Ten
AP final
No. 20 peak No. 14
Points
396–⁠235
Coach
Bill Mallory
Elo
1631 +92 this season
SP+ rating
13.7 No. 23 of 102; offense No. 15, defense No. 42
SRS
12.6 No. 21 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Joe Novak
Captains
Joe Huff and Don Shrader
Most valuable player
Anthony Thompson

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 4 second team

First team

  • Anthony ThompsonRBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Don ShraderOGAP-1; UPI-1
  • Joe HuffDLAP-1; UPI-2
  • Willie BatesLBAP-2; UPI-1
  • Pete StoyanovichKAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Dave SchnellQBUPI-2
  • Tim RadtkeOGAP-2; UPI-2
  • Tim JordenTEAP-2
  • Marc FerryDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1988 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠0–⁠19–⁠2–⁠14
Michigan State6–⁠1–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Illinois5–⁠2–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Iowa4–⁠1–⁠36–⁠4–⁠3
Indiana5–⁠38–⁠3–⁠120
Purdue3–⁠54–⁠7
Ohio State2–⁠5–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Northwestern2–⁠5–⁠12–⁠8–⁠1
Wisconsin1–⁠71–⁠10
Minnesota0–⁠6–⁠22–⁠7–⁠2

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