1976 Iowa
5–6 (3–5 Big Ten), coached by Bob Commings. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest upsetBeat No. 11 Penn State 7–6Sep 25
Penn State was ranked No. 11, above it.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 11 | at Illinois | L 6–24 | 31% |
| Sep 18 | vs Syracuse | W 41–3 | 53% |
| Sep 25 | at 11Penn State | W 7–6 | 19% |
| Oct 2 | at 13USC | L 0–55 | 20% |
| Oct 9 | vs 10Ohio State | L 14–34 | 22% |
| Oct 16 | vs Indiana | L 7–14 | 63% |
| Oct 23 | at Minnesota | W 22–12 | 24% |
| Oct 30 | vs Northwestern | W 13–10 | 75% |
| Nov 6 | at Wisconsin | L 21–38 | 43% |
| Nov 13 | vs Purdue | L 0–21 | 51% |
| Nov 20 | at Michigan State | W 30–17 | 27% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Beat Michigan State 30–17; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big Ten.
In program history: The 111th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).
- Record
- 5–6
- Conference
- 3–5 tied for 7th in Big Ten
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 161–234
- Coach
- Bob Commings
- Elo
- 1427 +7 this season
- SP+ rating
- -6.7 No. 94 of 132; offense No. 107, defense No. 79
- SRS
- 1.7 No. 64 of 137 major-college teams
- Recruiting class
- —
- Defensive coordinator
- Larry Coyer
- Captains
- Butch Caldwell and Tom Grine
- Most valuable player
- Butch Caldwell and Tom Grine
All-Big Ten
1 second teamSecond team
Tom RuskLBUPI-2
From Wikipedia’s 1976 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1976 Big Ten standings
Conference page| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
 Michigan | 7–1 | 10–2 | 3 |
| Ohio State | 7–1 | 9–2–1 | 6 |
| Minnesota | 4–4 | 6–5 | |
| Illinois | 4–4 | 5–6 | |
| Purdue | 4–4 | 5–6 | |
| Indiana | 4–4 | 5–6 | |
| Iowa | 3–5 | 5–6 | |
| Wisconsin | 3–5 | 5–6 | |
| Michigan State | 3–5 | 4–6–1 | |
| Northwestern | 1–7 | 1–10 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.