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1971 Michigan State

6–⁠5 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Duffy Daugherty.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 1971, game by game: won vs. Illinois 10–0; lost at Georgia Tech 0–10; won vs. Oregon State 31–14; lost at No. 4 Notre Dame 2–14; lost vs. No. 2 Michigan 13–24; lost at Wisconsin 28–31; won vs. Iowa 34–3; won at Purdue 43–10; won at No. 9 Ohio State 17–10; won vs. Minnesota 40–25; lost at Northwestern 7–28+33−21Won 10–0 vs. Illinois+10IllinoisLost 0–10 at Georgia Tech-10Georgia TechWon 31–14 vs. Oregon State+17Oregon StateLost 2–14 at No. 4 Notre Dame-12No. 4 Notre DameLost 13–24 vs. No. 2 Michigan-11No. 2 MichiganLost 28–31 at Wisconsin-3WisconsinWon 34–3 vs. Iowa+31IowaWon 43–10 at Purdue+33PurdueWon 17–10 at No. 9 Ohio State+7No. 9 Ohio StateWon 40–25 vs. Minnesota+15MinnesotaLost 7–28 at Northwestern-21Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vsIllinoisW 10–⁠074%
Sep 18atGeorgia TechL 0–⁠1036%
Sep 25vsOregon StateW 31–⁠1450%
Oct 2at4Notre DameL 2–⁠1420%
Oct 9vs2MichiganL 13–⁠2431%
Oct 16atWisconsinL 28–⁠3146%
Oct 23vsIowaW 34–⁠374%
Oct 30atPurdueW 43–⁠1040%
Nov 6at9Ohio StateW 17–⁠1023%
Nov 13vsMinnesotaW 40–⁠2576%
Nov 20atNorthwesternL 7–⁠2846%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Northwestern 28–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 54th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 18
  2. Wk 11: 19

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 1971.

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
225–⁠169
Coach
Duffy Daugherty
Elo
1553 +67 this season
SP+ rating
11.4 No. 28 of 120; offense No. 50, defense No. 23
SRS
13.6 No. 24 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Denny Stolz
Captains
Eric Allen and Ron Curl
Most valuable player
Eric Allen

Drafted in 1972

The 1972 draft
Rd 4Eric Allen WRBaltimore Colts

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1971 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1971 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠011–⁠16
Northwestern6–⁠37–⁠4
Ohio State5–⁠36–⁠4
Michigan State5–⁠36–⁠5
Illinois5–⁠35–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota3–⁠54–⁠7
Purdue3–⁠53–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠63–⁠8
Iowa1–⁠81–⁠10

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