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1980 Michigan

10–⁠2 (8–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Bo Schembechler, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Michigan in 1980, game by game: won vs. Northwestern 17–10; lost at No. 8 Notre Dame 27–29; lost vs. South Carolina 14–17; won vs. California 38–13; won vs. Michigan State 27–23; won at Minnesota 37–14; won vs. Illinois 45–14; won at Indiana 35–0; won at Wisconsin 24–0; won vs. No. 16 Purdue 26–0; won at No. 5 Ohio State 9–3; won vs. No. 16 Washington 23–6+35−3Won 17–10 vs. Northwestern+7NorthwesternLost 27–29 at No. 8 Notre Dame-2No. 8 Notre DameLost 14–17 vs. South Carolina-3South CarolinaWon 38–13 vs. California+25CaliforniaWon 27–23 vs. Michigan State+4Michigan StateWon 37–14 at Minnesota+23MinnesotaWon 45–14 vs. Illinois+31IllinoisWon 35–0 at Indiana+35IndianaWon 24–0 at Wisconsin+24WisconsinWon 26–0 vs. No. 16 Purdue+26No. 16 PurdueWon 9–3 at No. 5 Ohio State+6No. 5 Ohio StateWon 23–6 vs. No. 16 Washington+17No. 16 Washington
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13vsNorthwesternW 17–⁠1091%
Sep 20at8Notre DameL 27–⁠2942%
Sep 27vsSouth CarolinaL 14–⁠1764%
Oct 4vsCaliforniaW 38–⁠1377%
Oct 11vsMichigan StateW 27–⁠2373%
Oct 18atMinnesotaW 37–⁠1463%
Oct 25vsIllinoisW 45–⁠1485%
Nov 1atIndianaW 35–⁠054%
Nov 8atWisconsinW 24–⁠076%
Nov 15vs16PurdueW 26–⁠063%
Nov 22at5Ohio StateW 9–⁠342%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs16WashingtonRose BowlW 23–⁠660%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Washington 23–⁠6 in the Rose Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 11th-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: 11
  3. Wk 3: 14
  4. Wk 4: 17
  5. Wk 9: 18
  6. Wk 10: 12
  7. Wk 11: 11
  8. Wk 12: 10
  9. Wk 13: 7
  10. Wk 14: 6
  11. Wk 15: 5
  12. Final: 4

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.

Big Ten champions8–⁠0 in the conference

Record
10–⁠2
Conference
8–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 4
Points
322–⁠129
Coach
Bo Schembechler
Elo
1768 +145 this season
SP+ rating
22.9 No. 10 of 133; offense No. 21, defense No. 9
SRS
21.4 No. 9 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Bill McCartney
Captains
Andy Cannavino and George Lilja
Most valuable player
Anthony Carter

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 1Mel Owens LBLos Angeles Rams
Rd 4George Lilja CLos Angeles Rams

All-Big Ten

9 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Stan EdwardsRBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Keith BosticDBUPI-2
  • Tony JacksonDBUPI-2

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.