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1965 Michigan State

10–⁠1 (7–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Duffy Daugherty, finished No. 2 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 1965, game by game: won vs. UCLA 13–3; won at Penn State 23–0; won vs. Illinois 22–12; won at Michigan 24–7; won vs. Ohio State 32–7; won at No. 6 Purdue 14–10; won vs. Northwestern 49–7; won at Iowa 35–0; won vs. Indiana 27–13; won at No. 4 Notre Dame 12–3; lost vs. No. 5 UCLA 12–14+42−2Won 13–3 vs. UCLA+10UCLAWon 23–0 at Penn State+23Penn StateWon 22–12 vs. Illinois+10IllinoisWon 24–7 at Michigan+17MichiganWon 32–7 vs. Ohio State+25Ohio StateWon 14–10 at No. 6 Purdue+4No. 6 PurdueWon 49–7 vs. Northwestern+42NorthwesternWon 35–0 at Iowa+35IowaWon 27–13 vs. Indiana+14IndianaWon 12–3 at No. 4 Notre Dame+9No. 4 Notre DameLost 12–14 vs. No. 5 UCLA-2No. 5 UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18vsUCLAW 13–⁠371%
Sep 25atPenn StateW 23–⁠035%
Oct 2vsIllinoisW 22–⁠1262%
Oct 9atMichiganW 24–⁠741%
Oct 16vsOhio StateW 32–⁠768%
Oct 23at6PurdueW 14–⁠1051%
Oct 30vsNorthwesternW 49–⁠782%
Nov 6atIowaW 35–⁠079%
Nov 13vsIndianaW 27–⁠1390%
Nov 20at4Notre DameW 12–⁠341%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs5UCLARose BowlL 12–⁠1470%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to UCLA 14–⁠12 in the Rose Bowl; No. 2 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 8th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 9
  2. Wk 4: 5
  3. Wk 5: 4
  4. Wk 6: 2
  5. Wk 7: 1
  6. Wk 8: 1
  7. Wk 9: 1
  8. Wk 10: 1
  9. Wk 11: 1
  10. Wk 12: 1
  11. Final: 2

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 1965.

National championsa title the school claims

Big Ten champions7–⁠0 in the conference

2 consensus All-AmericansBubba Smith, DE; George Webster, LB

Eddie Robinson Coach of the YearDuffy Daugherty, coach

Record
10–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 2 peak No. 1
Points
263–⁠76
Coach
Duffy Daugherty
Elo
1736 +186 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
30.7 No. 1 of 120 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Donald Japinga and Steve Juday
Most valuable player
Steve Juday

Drafted in 1966

The 1966 draft
Rd 2Harold Lucas OTSt. Louis Cardinals

All-Big Ten

9 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jerry WestOTUPI-2
  • John KarpinskiOGAP-2; UPI-2
  • Boris DmitroffCAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1965 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1965 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State7–⁠010–⁠12
Ohio State6–⁠17–⁠2
Purdue5–⁠27–⁠2–⁠1
Minnesota5–⁠25–⁠4–⁠1
Illinois4–⁠36–⁠4
Northwestern3–⁠44–⁠6
Michigan2–⁠54–⁠6
Wisconsin2–⁠52–⁠7–⁠1
Indiana1–⁠62–⁠8
Iowa0–⁠71–⁠9

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