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1990 Iowa

8–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Hayden Fry, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Iowa in 1990, game by game: won vs. Cincinnati 63–10; won vs. Iowa State 45–35; lost at No. 10 Miami 21–48; won at No. 18 Michigan State 12–7; won vs. Wisconsin 30–10; won at No. 10 Michigan 24–23; won vs. Northwestern 56–14; won at No. 5 Illinois 54–28; lost vs. Ohio State 26–27; won vs. Purdue 38–9; lost at Minnesota 24–31; lost vs. No. 8 Washington 34–46+53−27Won 63–10 vs. Cincinnati+53CincinnatiWon 45–35 vs. Iowa State+10Iowa StateLost 21–48 at No. 10 Miami-27No. 10 MiamiWon 12–7 at No. 18 Michigan State+5No. 18 Michigan StateWon 30–10 vs. Wisconsin+20WisconsinWon 24–23 at No. 10 Michigan+1No. 10 MichiganWon 56–14 vs. Northwestern+42NorthwesternWon 54–28 at No. 5 Illinois+26No. 5 IllinoisLost 26–27 vs. Ohio State-1Ohio StateWon 38–9 vs. Purdue+29PurdueLost 24–31 at Minnesota-7MinnesotaLost 34–46 vs. No. 8 Washington-12No. 8 Washington
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vsCincinnatiW 63–⁠1079%
Sep 22vsIowa StateW 45–⁠3558%
Sep 29at10MiamiL 21–⁠4818%
Oct 6at18Michigan StateW 12–⁠726%
Oct 13vsWisconsinW 30–⁠1079%
Oct 20at10MichiganW 24–⁠2324%
Oct 27vsNorthwesternW 56–⁠1482%
Nov 3at5IllinoisW 54–⁠2831%
Nov 10vsOhio StateL 26–⁠2759%
Nov 17vsPurdueW 38–⁠985%
Nov 24atMinnesotaL 24–⁠3159%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs8WashingtonRose BowlL 34–⁠4630%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Washington 46–⁠34 in the Rose Bowl; No. 18 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 50th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 25
  2. Wk 8: 22
  3. Wk 9: 15
  4. Wk 10: 13
  5. Wk 11: 6
  6. Wk 12: 13
  7. Wk 13: 13
  8. Wk 14: 18
  9. Wk 15: 17
  10. Final: 18

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 1990.

Big Ten champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Illinois, Michigan and Michigan State

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 6
Points
427–⁠288
Coach
Hayden Fry
Elo
1573 +99 this season
SP+ rating
15.7 No. 21 of 104; offense No. 7, defense No. 58
SRS
14.5 No. 17 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Carl Jackson
Defensive coordinator
Bill Brashier
Captains
Greg Aegerter, Merton Hanks, Jim Johnson and Tony Stewart
Most valuable player
Greg Aegerter, [[Nick Bell, Melvin Foster, Merton Hanks, Jim Johnson, Mike Miller, Matt Ruhland, Sean Smith, [[Tony Stewart and Michael Titley

Drafted in 1991

The 1991 draft
Rd 2Nick Bell RBLos Angeles Raiders
Rd 5Merton Hanks DBSan Francisco 49ers

All-Big Ten

7 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Matt RodgersQBAP-1; Coaches-1
  • Nick BellRBAP-2; Coaches-1
  • Mike TitleyTEAP-1; Coaches-2
  • Jim JohnsonDLAP-1; Coaches-1
  • Matt RuhlandDLAP-1; Coaches-2
  • Melvin FosterLBAP-1; Coaches-1
  • Merton HanksDBAP-1; Coaches-1

Second team

  • Mike DevlinCAP-2
  • Rob BaxleyOTAP-2; Coaches-2
  • John DerbyLBCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 1990 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1990 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan6–⁠29–⁠37
Michigan State6–⁠28–⁠3–⁠116
Iowa6–⁠28–⁠418
Illinois6–⁠28–⁠425
Ohio State5–⁠2–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Minnesota5–⁠36–⁠5
Indiana3–⁠4–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Northwestern1–⁠72–⁠9
Purdue1–⁠72–⁠9
Wisconsin0–⁠81–⁠10

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