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1944 Michigan

8–⁠2 (5–⁠2 Western Conference), coached by Fritz Crisler, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Michigan in 1944, game by game: won vs. Iowa Pre-Flight 12–7; won at Marquette 14–0; lost vs. Indiana 0–20; won at Minnesota 28–13; won vs. Northwestern 27–0; won vs. No. 10 Purdue 40–14; won at Pennsylvania 41–19; won vs. No. 10 Illinois 14–0; won vs. Wisconsin 14–0; lost at No. 3 Ohio State 14–18+27−20Won 12–7 vs. Iowa Pre-Flight+5Iowa Pre-FlightWon 14–0 at Marquette+14MarquetteLost 0–20 vs. Indiana-20IndianaWon 28–13 at Minnesota+15MinnesotaWon 27–0 vs. Northwestern+27NorthwesternWon 40–14 vs. No. 10 Purdue+26No. 10 PurdueWon 41–19 at Pennsylvania+22PennsylvaniaWon 14–0 vs. No. 10 Illinois+14No. 10 IllinoisWon 14–0 vs. Wisconsin+14WisconsinLost 14–18 at No. 3 Ohio State-4No. 3 Ohio State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16vsIowa Pre-FlightW 12–⁠756%
Sep 23atMarquetteW 14–⁠064%
Sep 30vsIndianaL 0–⁠2079%
Oct 7atMinnesotaW 28–⁠1356%
Oct 14vsNorthwesternW 27–⁠073%
Oct 28vs10PurdueW 40–⁠1464%
Nov 4atPennsylvaniaW 41–⁠1955%
Nov 11vs10IllinoisW 14–⁠081%
Nov 18vsWisconsinW 14–⁠089%
Nov 25at3Ohio StateL 14–⁠1848%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Ohio State 18–⁠14; No. 8 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 40th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 140 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 15
  3. Wk 4: 10
  4. Wk 5: 8
  5. Wk 6: 5
  6. Wk 7: 6
  7. Wk 8: 8
  8. Final: 8

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 1944.

Record
8–⁠2
Conference
5–⁠2 2nd in Western Conference
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 5
Points
204–⁠91
Coach
Fritz Crisler
Elo
1706 +71 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
25.3 No. 8 of 95 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Bob Wiese, Don Lund and Joseph Ponsetto
Most valuable player
Don Lund
Offense
Single-wing

Drafted in 1945

The 1945 draft
Rd 1Elroy Hirsch WRCleveland Rams
Rd 1Don Lund BChicago Bears
Rd 2Milan Lazetich OTCleveland Rams
Rd 5Bob Wiese BDetroit Lions

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1944 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1944 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State6–⁠09–⁠02
Michigan5–⁠28–⁠28
Purdue4–⁠25–⁠5
Minnesota3–⁠2–⁠15–⁠3–⁠1
Indiana4–⁠37–⁠3
Illinois3–⁠35–⁠4–⁠115
Wisconsin2–⁠43–⁠6
Northwestern0–⁠5–⁠11–⁠7–⁠1
Iowa0–⁠61–⁠7

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