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1956 Iowa

9–⁠1 (5–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Forest Evashevski, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 1956, game by game: won at Indiana 27–0; won vs. Oregon State 14–13; won vs. Wisconsin 13–7; won vs. Hawai’i 34–0; won at Purdue 21–20; lost vs. No. 17 Michigan 14–17; won at No. 6 Minnesota 7–0; won vs. No. 6 Ohio State 6–0; won vs. Notre Dame 48–8; won vs. No. 11 Oregon State 35–19+40−3Won 27–0 at Indiana+27IndianaWon 14–13 vs. Oregon State+1Oregon StateWon 13–7 vs. Wisconsin+6WisconsinWon 34–0 vs. Hawai’i+34Hawai’iWon 21–20 at Purdue+1PurdueLost 14–17 vs. No. 17 Michigan-3No. 17 MichiganWon 7–0 at No. 6 Minnesota+7No. 6 MinnesotaWon 6–0 vs. No. 6 Ohio State+6No. 6 Ohio StateWon 48–8 vs. Notre Dame+40Notre DameWon 35–19 vs. No. 11 Oregon State+16No. 11 Oregon State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 29atIndianaW 27–⁠054%
Oct 6vsOregon StateW 14–⁠1368%
Oct 13vsWisconsinW 13–⁠763%
Oct 20vsHawai’iW 34–⁠095%
Oct 27atPurdueW 21–⁠2044%
Nov 3vs17MichiganL 14–⁠1758%
Nov 10at6MinnesotaW 7–⁠037%
Nov 17vs6Ohio StateW 6–⁠043%
Nov 24vsNotre DameW 48–⁠872%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs11Oregon StateRose BowlW 35–⁠1957%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Oregon State 35–⁠19 in the Rose Bowl; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 20th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 20
  2. Wk 5: 12
  3. Wk 6: 12
  4. Wk 7: 7
  5. Wk 8: 15
  6. Wk 9: 7
  7. Wk 10: 3
  8. Wk 11: 3
  9. Final: 3

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 1956.

National championsa title the school claims

Big Ten champions5–⁠1 in the conference

Record
9–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠1 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 3
Points
219–⁠84
Coach
Forest Evashevski
Elo
1668 +136 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
21.5 No. 6 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Richard Deasy and Donald Suchy
Most valuable player
Ken Ploen

Drafted in 1957

The 1957 draft
Rd 7Frank Gilliam EGreen Bay Packers

All-Big Ten

4 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1956 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1956 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Iowa5–⁠19–⁠13
Michigan5–⁠27–⁠27
Minnesota4–⁠1–⁠26–⁠1–⁠212
Michigan State4–⁠27–⁠29
Ohio State4–⁠26–⁠315
Northwestern3–⁠3–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Purdue1–⁠4–⁠23–⁠4–⁠2
Illinois1–⁠4–⁠22–⁠5–⁠2
Wisconsin0–⁠4–⁠31–⁠5–⁠3
Indiana1–⁠53–⁠6

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