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1950 Michigan

6–⁠3–⁠1 (4–⁠1–⁠1 Western Conference), coached by Bennie Oosterbaan, finished No. 9 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Michigan in 1950, game by game: lost vs. No. 19 Michigan State 7–14; won vs. Dartmouth 27–7; lost at No. 1 Army 6–27; won vs. No. 16 Wisconsin 26–13; tied at Minnesota 7–7; lost vs. No. 10 Illinois 0–7; won vs. Indiana 20–7; won vs. Northwestern 34–23; won at No. 8 Ohio State 9–3; won vs. No. 4 California 14–6+20−21Lost 7–14 vs. No. 19 Michigan State-7No. 19 Michigan StateWon 27–7 vs. Dartmouth+20DartmouthLost 6–27 at No. 1 Army-21No. 1 ArmyWon 26–13 vs. No. 16 Wisconsin+13No. 16 WisconsinTied 7–7 at Minnesota0MinnesotaLost 0–7 vs. No. 10 Illinois-7No. 10 IllinoisWon 20–7 vs. Indiana+13IndianaWon 34–23 vs. Northwestern+11NorthwesternWon 9–3 at No. 8 Ohio State+6No. 8 Ohio StateWon 14–6 vs. No. 4 California+8No. 4 California
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30vs19Michigan StateL 7–⁠1461%
Oct 7vsDartmouthW 27–⁠764%
Oct 14at1ArmyL 6–⁠2733%
Oct 21vs16WisconsinW 26–⁠1365%
Oct 28atMinnesotaT 7–⁠762%
Nov 4vs10IllinoisL 0–⁠766%
Nov 11vsIndianaW 20–⁠778%
Nov 18vsNorthwesternW 34–⁠2366%
Nov 25at8Ohio StateW 9–⁠335%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs4CaliforniaRose BowlW 14–⁠636%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat California 14–⁠6 in the Rose Bowl; No. 9 in the final AP poll; Western Conference champions.

In program history: The 53rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 140 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 3
  2. Wk 2: 19
  3. Wk 3: 18
  4. Wk 5: 14
  5. Final: 9

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 1950.

Western Conference champions4–⁠1–⁠1 in the conference

Record
6–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
4–⁠1–⁠1 first in Western Conference
AP final
No. 9 peak No. 3
Points
150–⁠114
Coach
Bennie Oosterbaan
Elo
1692 +44 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
13.9 No. 18 of 120 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Robert Wahl
Most valuable player
Don Dufek Sr.

Drafted in 1951

The 1951 draft
Rd 2Chuck Ortmann RBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 5Tony Momsen CLos Angeles Rams

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1950 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1950 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠3–⁠19
Wisconsin5–⁠26–⁠3
Ohio State5–⁠26–⁠314
Illinois4–⁠27–⁠213
Northwestern3–⁠36–⁠3
Iowa2–⁠43–⁠5–⁠1
Minnesota1–⁠4–⁠11–⁠7–⁠1
Indiana1–⁠43–⁠5–⁠1
Purdue1–⁠42–⁠7

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