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1972 Michigan State

5–⁠5–⁠1 (5–⁠2–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Duffy Daugherty.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 1972, game by game: won at Illinois 24–0; lost vs. Georgia Tech 16–21; lost at No. 1 USC 6–51; lost vs. No. 7 Notre Dame 0–16; lost at No. 5 Michigan 0–10; won vs. Wisconsin 31–0; tied at Iowa 6–6; won vs. Purdue 22–12; won vs. No. 5 Ohio State 19–12; lost at Minnesota 10–14; won vs. Northwestern 24–14+31−45Won 24–0 at Illinois+24IllinoisLost 16–21 vs. Georgia Tech-5Georgia TechLost 6–51 at No. 1 USC-45No. 1 USCLost 0–16 vs. No. 7 Notre Dame-16No. 7 Notre DameLost 0–10 at No. 5 Michigan-10No. 5 MichiganWon 31–0 vs. Wisconsin+31WisconsinTied 6–6 at Iowa0IowaWon 22–12 vs. Purdue+10PurdueWon 19–12 vs. No. 5 Ohio State+7No. 5 Ohio StateLost 10–14 at Minnesota-4MinnesotaWon 24–14 vs. Northwestern+10Northwestern
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16atIllinoisW 24–⁠053%
Sep 23vsGeorgia TechL 16–⁠2162%
Sep 30at1USCL 6–⁠5126%
Oct 7vs7Notre DameL 0–⁠1638%
Oct 14at5MichiganL 0–⁠1018%
Oct 21vsWisconsinW 31–⁠061%
Oct 28atIowaT 6–⁠665%
Nov 4vsPurdueW 22–⁠1258%
Nov 11vs5Ohio StateW 19–⁠1239%
Nov 18atMinnesotaL 10–⁠1466%
Nov 25vsNorthwesternW 24–⁠1478%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Northwestern 24–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 55th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 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 1972.

Maxwell AwardBrad Van Pelt, S

Consensus All-AmericanBrad Van Pelt, S

Record
5–⁠5–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠2–⁠1 4th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
158–⁠156
Coach
Duffy Daugherty
Elo
1551 +16 this season
SP+ rating
10.5 No. 37 of 121; offense No. 88, defense No. 9
SRS
10.3 No. 30 of 127 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Denny Stolz
Captains
Billy Joe DuPree and Brad Van Pelt
Most valuable player
Gail Clark

Drafted in 1973

The 1973 draft
Rd 1Billy Joe DuPree TEDallas Cowboys
Rd 1Joe DeLamielleure OGBuffalo Bills
Rd 2Brad Van Pelt LBNew York Giants
Rd 4Gail Clark LBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 6Marvin Roberts CSan Diego Chargers
Rd 7Brian McConnell LBBuffalo Bills

All-Big Ten

7 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • James NicholsonOTUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1972 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1972 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠16
Ohio State7–⁠19–⁠29
Purdue6–⁠26–⁠5
Michigan State5–⁠2–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Minnesota4–⁠44–⁠7
Indiana3–⁠55–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠53–⁠8
Iowa2–⁠6–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Wisconsin2–⁠64–⁠7
Northwestern1–⁠82–⁠9

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