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1972 Michigan

10–⁠1 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Bo Schembechler, finished No. 6 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Michigan in 1972, game by game: won vs. Northwestern 7–0; won at No. 6 UCLA 26–9; won vs. No. 18 Tulane 41–7; won vs. Navy 35–7; won vs. Michigan State 10–0; won at Illinois 31–7; won vs. Minnesota 42–0; won at Indiana 21–7; won at Iowa 31–0; won vs. Purdue 9–6; lost at No. 9 Ohio State 11–14+42−3Won 7–0 vs. Northwestern+7NorthwesternWon 26–9 at No. 6 UCLA+17No. 6 UCLAWon 41–7 vs. No. 18 Tulane+34No. 18 TulaneWon 35–7 vs. Navy+28NavyWon 10–0 vs. Michigan State+10Michigan StateWon 31–7 at Illinois+24IllinoisWon 42–0 vs. Minnesota+42MinnesotaWon 21–7 at Indiana+14IndianaWon 31–0 at Iowa+31IowaWon 9–6 vs. Purdue+3PurdueLost 11–14 at No. 9 Ohio State-3No. 9 Ohio State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16vsNorthwesternW 7–⁠072%
Sep 23at6UCLAW 26–⁠962%
Sep 30vs18TulaneW 41–⁠778%
Oct 7vsNavyW 35–⁠786%
Oct 14vsMichigan StateW 10–⁠082%
Oct 21atIllinoisW 31–⁠784%
Oct 28vsMinnesotaW 42–⁠091%
Nov 4atIndianaW 21–⁠780%
Nov 11atIowaW 31–⁠088%
Nov 18vsPurdueW 9–⁠684%
Nov 25at9Ohio StateL 11–⁠1456%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Ohio State 14–⁠11; No. 6 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 21st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 140 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 10
  2. Wk 2: 11
  3. Wk 3: 12
  4. Wk 4: 8
  5. Wk 5: 5
  6. Wk 6: 5
  7. Wk 7: 6
  8. Wk 8: 5
  9. Wk 9: 4
  10. Wk 10: 4
  11. Wk 11: 3
  12. Wk 12: 3
  13. Wk 13: 7
  14. Wk 14: 8
  15. Final: 6

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.

Big Ten champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Ohio State

2 consensus All-AmericansPaul Seymour, OT; Randy Logan, DB

Record
10–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 6 peak No. 3
Points
264–⁠57
Coach
Bo Schembechler
Elo
1741 +82 this season
SP+ rating
21.9 No. 8 of 121; offense No. 45, defense No. 2
SRS
23.9 No. 7 of 127 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Jim Young
Captains
Tom Coyle and Randy Logan
Most valuable player
Randy Logan

Drafted in 1973

The 1973 draft
Rd 1Paul Seymour TEBuffalo Bills
Rd 3Randy Logan DBPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 4Bo Rather WRMiami Dolphins
Rd 5Fred Grambau DEKansas City Chiefs

All-Big Ten

7 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

  • Dennis FranklinQBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Jim CoodeOTUPI-2
  • Bill HartCAP-2
  • Tom KeeLBAP-2; UPI-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.