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1959 Michigan State

5–⁠4 (4–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Duffy Daugherty.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 1959, game by game: lost vs. Texas A&M 7–9; won at Michigan 34–8; lost at No. 10 Iowa 8–37; won vs. Notre Dame 19–0; won vs. Indiana 14–6; lost at Ohio State 24–30; won vs. No. 14 Purdue 15–0; won vs. No. 6 Northwestern 15–10; lost at No. 18 Miami 13–18+26−29Lost 7–9 vs. Texas A&M-2Texas A&MWon 34–8 at Michigan+26MichiganLost 8–37 at No. 10 Iowa-29No. 10 IowaWon 19–0 vs. Notre Dame+19Notre DameWon 14–6 vs. Indiana+8IndianaLost 24–30 at Ohio State-6Ohio StateWon 15–0 vs. No. 14 Purdue+15No. 14 PurdueWon 15–10 vs. No. 6 Northwestern+5No. 6 NorthwesternLost 13–18 at No. 18 Miami-5No. 18 Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26vsTexas A&ML 7–⁠962%
Oct 3atMichiganW 34–⁠851%
Oct 10at10IowaL 8–⁠3729%
Oct 17vsNotre DameW 19–⁠047%
Oct 24vsIndianaW 14–⁠664%
Oct 31atOhio StateL 24–⁠3042%
Nov 7vs14PurdueW 15–⁠046%
Nov 14vs6NorthwesternW 15–⁠1054%
Nov 20at18MiamiL 13–⁠1858%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Miami 18–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 42nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 19
  2. Wk 9: 19
  3. Wk 10: 11

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 1959.

Record
5–⁠4
Conference
4–⁠2 2nd in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 11
Points
149–⁠118
Coach
Duffy Daugherty
Elo
1583 +57 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
13.5 No. 17 of 112 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Donald Wright
Most valuable player
Dean Look

All-Big Ten

1 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1959 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1959 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Wisconsin5–⁠27–⁠36
Michigan State4–⁠25–⁠4
Purdue4–⁠2–⁠15–⁠2–⁠2
Illinois4–⁠2–⁠15–⁠3–⁠113
Northwestern4–⁠36–⁠3
Iowa3–⁠35–⁠4
Michigan3–⁠44–⁠5
Indiana2–⁠4–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Ohio State2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠5–⁠1
Minnesota1–⁠62–⁠7

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