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1961 Iowa

5–⁠4 (2–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Jerry Burns.

Iowa, 1961
Photo: not named, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Iowa in 1961, game by game: won vs. California 28–7; won at USC 35–34; won vs. Indiana 27–8; won vs. Wisconsin 47–15; lost at Purdue 0–9; lost at Ohio State 13–29; lost vs. Minnesota 9–16; lost at Michigan 14–23; won vs. Notre Dame 42–21+32−16Won 28–7 vs. California+21CaliforniaWon 35–34 at USC+1USCWon 27–8 vs. Indiana+19IndianaWon 47–15 vs. Wisconsin+32WisconsinLost 0–9 at Purdue-9PurdueLost 13–29 at Ohio State-16Ohio StateLost 9–16 vs. Minnesota-7MinnesotaLost 14–23 at Michigan-9MichiganWon 42–21 vs. Notre Dame+21Notre Dame
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30vsCaliforniaW 28–⁠785%
Oct 7atUSCW 35–⁠3467%
Oct 14vsIndianaW 27–⁠887%
Oct 21vsWisconsinW 47–⁠1577%
Oct 28atPurdueL 0–⁠956%
Nov 4atOhio StateL 13–⁠2940%
Nov 11vsMinnesotaL 9–⁠1655%
Nov 18atMichiganL 14–⁠2344%
Nov 25vsNotre DameW 42–⁠2164%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Notre Dame 42–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 37th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1961.

Record
5–⁠4
Conference
2–⁠4 tied for 7th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 1
Points
215–⁠162
Coach
Jerry Burns
Elo
1611 −36 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
16.2 No. 14 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Bill Van Buren and Wilburn Hollis
Most valuable player
Al Hinton

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 4Larry Ferguson BDetroit Lions
Rd 7Sherwyn Thorson OGLos Angeles Rams
Rd 3Sherwyn Thorson OGBoston Patriots (AFL)
Rd 6Al Hinton EDallas Texans (AFL)

All-Big Ten

2 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1961 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1961 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State6–⁠08–⁠0–⁠12
Minnesota6–⁠18–⁠26
Michigan State5–⁠27–⁠28
Purdue4–⁠26–⁠312
Wisconsin4–⁠36–⁠3
Michigan3–⁠36–⁠3
Iowa2–⁠45–⁠4
Northwestern2–⁠44–⁠5
Indiana0–⁠62–⁠7
Illinois0–⁠70–⁠9

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