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1943 Michigan

8–⁠1 (6–⁠0 Western Conference), coached by Fritz Crisler, finished No. 3 in the AP poll.

Michigan, 1943
Photo: Photographer not named, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Michigan in 1943, game by game: won at Camp Grant 26–0; won vs. Western Michigan 57–6; won at Northwestern 21–7; lost vs. No. 1 Notre Dame 12–35; won vs. No. 11 Minnesota 49–6; won at Illinois 42–6; won vs. Indiana 23–6; won vs. Wisconsin 27–0; won vs. Ohio State 45–7+51−23Won 26–0 at Camp Grant+26Camp GrantWon 57–6 vs. Western Michigan+51Western MichiganWon 21–7 at Northwestern+14NorthwesternLost 12–35 vs. No. 1 Notre Dame-23No. 1 Notre DameWon 49–6 vs. No. 11 Minnesota+43No. 11 MinnesotaWon 42–6 at Illinois+36IllinoisWon 23–6 vs. Indiana+17IndianaWon 27–0 vs. Wisconsin+27WisconsinWon 45–7 vs. Ohio State+38Ohio State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18atCamp GrantW 26–⁠085%
Sep 25vsWestern MichiganW 57–⁠697%
Oct 2atNorthwesternW 21–⁠763%
Oct 9vs1Notre DameL 12–⁠3554%
Oct 23vs11MinnesotaW 49–⁠657%
Oct 30atIllinoisW 42–⁠670%
Nov 6vsIndianaW 23–⁠668%
Nov 13vsWisconsinW 27–⁠089%
Nov 20vsOhio StateW 45–⁠775%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Ohio State 45–⁠7; No. 3 in the final AP poll; Western Conference champions.

In program history: The 44th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 140 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1943.

Western Conference champions6–⁠0 in the conference, shared with Purdue

Led the nationBill Daley: yards per carry (6.8)

Consensus All-AmericanBill Daley, RB

Record
8–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠0 shared first in Western Conference
AP final
No. 3 peak No. 2
Points
302–⁠73
Coach
Fritz Crisler
Elo
1703 +88 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
28.6 No. 4 of 76 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Paul White
Most valuable player
Bob Wiese
Offense
Single-wing

Drafted in 1944

The 1944 draft
Rd 1Merv Pregulman OGGreen Bay Packers
Rd 3Tom Kuzma BGreen Bay Packers
Rd 3Rudy Smeja EChicago Bears
Rd 5John Greene OTDetroit Lions

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1943 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1943 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Purdue6–⁠09–⁠05
Michigan6–⁠08–⁠13
Northwestern5–⁠16–⁠29
Indiana2–⁠3–⁠14–⁠4–⁠2
Minnesota2–⁠35–⁠4
Illinois2–⁠43–⁠7
Ohio State1–⁠43–⁠6
Wisconsin1–⁠61–⁠9
Iowa0–⁠4–⁠11–⁠6–⁠1

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