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1977 Iowa

4–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Bob Commings. The season’s Wikipedia article records 5–⁠6, over the same number of games, so a result differs.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 1977, game by game: won vs. Northwestern 24–0; won vs. Iowa State 12–10; lost vs. Arizona 7–41; lost at UCLA 16–34; won vs. Minnesota 18–6; lost vs. No. 5 Ohio State 6–27; lost at Purdue 21–34; lost at No. 6 Michigan 6–23; lost vs. Indiana 21–24; won at Wisconsin 24–8; lost vs. Michigan State 16–22+24−34Won 24–0 vs. Northwestern+24NorthwesternWon 12–10 vs. Iowa State+2Iowa StateLost 7–41 vs. Arizona-34ArizonaLost 16–34 at UCLA-18UCLAWon 18–6 vs. Minnesota+12MinnesotaLost 6–27 vs. No. 5 Ohio State-21No. 5 Ohio StateLost 21–34 at Purdue-13PurdueLost 6–23 at No. 6 Michigan-17No. 6 MichiganLost 21–24 vs. Indiana-3IndianaWon 24–8 at Wisconsin+16WisconsinLost 16–22 vs. Michigan State-6Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10vsNorthwesternW 24–⁠068%
Sep 17vsIowa StateW 12–⁠1043%
Sep 24vsArizonaL 7–⁠4160%
Oct 1atUCLAL 16–⁠3423%
Oct 8vsMinnesotaW 18–⁠643%
Oct 15vs5Ohio StateL 6–⁠2725%
Oct 22atPurdueL 21–⁠3440%
Oct 29at6MichiganL 6–⁠2312%
Nov 5vsIndianaL 21–⁠2453%
Nov 12atWisconsinW 24–⁠832%
Nov 19vsMichigan StateL 16–⁠2241%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan State 22–⁠16; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 110th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
171–⁠229
Coach
Bob Commings
Elo
1428 −24 this season
SP+ rating
-0.4 No. 79 of 140; offense No. 96, defense No. 56
SRS
2.5 No. 64 of 145 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Larry Coyer
Captains
Jim Hilgenberg and Dean Moore
Most valuable player
Dean Moore and Rod Sears

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Tom RuskLBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1977 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1977 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠29
Ohio State7–⁠19–⁠311
Michigan State6–⁠1–⁠17–⁠3–⁠1
Indiana4–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Minnesota4–⁠47–⁠5
Purdue3–⁠55–⁠6
Iowa3–⁠54–⁠7
Wisconsin3–⁠65–⁠6
Illinois2–⁠63–⁠8
Northwestern1–⁠81–⁠10

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