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1980 Michigan State

3–⁠8 (2–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Frank Waters.

Schedule and results

Michigan State in 1980, game by game: lost at Illinois 17–20; lost at Oregon 7–35; won vs. Western Michigan 33–7; lost vs. No. 7 Notre Dame 21–26; lost at Michigan 23–27; lost vs. Wisconsin 7–17; lost at Purdue 25–36; lost vs. No. 9 Ohio State 16–48; won vs. Northwestern 42–10; won at Minnesota 30–12; lost vs. Iowa 0–41+32−41Lost 17–20 at Illinois-3IllinoisLost 7–35 at Oregon-28OregonWon 33–7 vs. Western Michigan+26Western MichiganLost 21–26 vs. No. 7 Notre Dame-5No. 7 Notre DameLost 23–27 at Michigan-4MichiganLost 7–17 vs. Wisconsin-10WisconsinLost 25–36 at Purdue-11PurdueLost 16–48 vs. No. 9 Ohio State-32No. 9 Ohio StateWon 42–10 vs. Northwestern+32NorthwesternWon 30–12 at Minnesota+18MinnesotaLost 0–41 vs. Iowa-41Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13atIllinoisL 17–⁠2056%
Sep 20atOregonL 7–⁠3547%
Sep 27vsWestern MichiganW 33–⁠743%
Oct 4vs7Notre DameL 21–⁠2639%
Oct 11atMichiganL 23–⁠2727%
Oct 18vsWisconsinL 7–⁠1765%
Oct 25atPurdueL 25–⁠3620%
Nov 1vs9Ohio StateL 16–⁠4825%
Nov 8vsNorthwesternW 42–⁠1082%
Nov 15atMinnesotaW 30–⁠1231%
Nov 22vsIowaL 0–⁠4166%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Iowa 41–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 9th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 98th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 122 on file).

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 1980.

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠6 9th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
221–⁠279
Coach
Frank Waters
Elo
1428 −87 this season
SP+ rating
-0.4 No. 71 of 133; offense No. 53, defense No. 90
SRS
1.2 No. 64 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Joe Pendry
Captains
Steve Smith, Rodney Strata, George Cooper and Bernard Hay
Most valuable player
Steve Smith

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 3Ray Stachowicz PGreen Bay Packers

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1980 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1980 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠010–⁠24
Ohio State7–⁠19–⁠315
Purdue7–⁠19–⁠317
Iowa4–⁠44–⁠7
Minnesota4–⁠55–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠56–⁠5
Wisconsin3–⁠54–⁠7
Illinois3–⁠53–⁠7–⁠1
Michigan State2–⁠63–⁠8
Northwestern0–⁠90–⁠11

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