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1986 Michigan

11–⁠2 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Bo Schembechler, finished No. 8 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Michigan in 1986, game by game: won at Notre Dame 24–23; won vs. Oregon State 31–12; won vs. No. 20 Florida State 20–18; won at Wisconsin 34–17; won vs. Michigan State 27–6; won vs. No. 8 Iowa 20–17; won at Indiana 38–14; won vs. Illinois 69–13; won at Purdue 31–7; lost vs. Minnesota 17–20; won at No. 7 Ohio State 26–24; won at Hawai’i 27–10; lost vs. No. 7 Arizona State 15–22+56−7Won 24–23 at Notre Dame+1Notre DameWon 31–12 vs. Oregon State+19Oregon StateWon 20–18 vs. No. 20 Florida State+2No. 20 Florida StateWon 34–17 at Wisconsin+17WisconsinWon 27–6 vs. Michigan State+21Michigan StateWon 20–17 vs. No. 8 Iowa+3No. 8 IowaWon 38–14 at Indiana+24IndianaWon 69–13 vs. Illinois+56IllinoisWon 31–7 at Purdue+24PurdueLost 17–20 vs. Minnesota-3MinnesotaWon 26–24 at No. 7 Ohio State+2No. 7 Ohio StateWon 27–10 at Hawai’i+17Hawai’iLost 15–22 vs. No. 7 Arizona State-7No. 7 Arizona State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13atNotre DameW 24–⁠2359%
Sep 20vsOregon StateW 31–⁠1290%
Sep 27vs20Florida StateW 20–⁠1867%
Oct 4atWisconsinW 34–⁠1774%
Oct 11vsMichigan StateW 27–⁠677%
Oct 18vs8IowaW 20–⁠1763%
Oct 25atIndianaW 38–⁠1474%
Nov 1vsIllinoisW 69–⁠1387%
Nov 8atPurdueW 31–⁠786%
Nov 15vsMinnesotaL 17–⁠2084%
Nov 22at7Ohio StateW 26–⁠2444%
Dec 6atHawai’iW 27–⁠1071%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs7Arizona StateRose BowlL 15–⁠2259%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Arizona State 22–⁠15 in the Rose Bowl; No. 8 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 32nd-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: 3
  3. Wk 3: 3
  4. Wk 4: 5
  5. Wk 5: 4
  6. Wk 6: 4
  7. Wk 7: 4
  8. Wk 8: 4
  9. Wk 9: 3
  10. Wk 10: 3
  11. Wk 11: 2
  12. Wk 12: 6
  13. Wk 13: 4
  14. Wk 14: 4
  15. 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 1986.

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

Heisman voteJim Harbaugh, third

Consensus All-AmericanGarland Rivers, DB

Record
11–⁠2
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 8 peak No. 2
Points
379–⁠203
Coach
Bo Schembechler
Elo
1731 +63 this season
SP+ rating
22.2 No. 11 of 101; offense No. 8, defense No. 10
SRS
17.0 No. 11 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Gary Moeller
Captains
Jim Harbaugh and Andy Moeller
Most valuable player
Jim Harbaugh

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 1Jim Harbaugh QBChicago Bears
Rd 3Bob Perryman RBNew England Patriots
Rd 4Garland Rivers DBDetroit Lions
Rd 5Paul Jokisch WRSan Francisco 49ers

All-Big Ten

7 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠111–⁠28
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠37
Iowa5–⁠39–⁠316
Minnesota5–⁠36–⁠6
Michigan State4–⁠46–⁠5
Indiana3–⁠56–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠54–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠64–⁠7
Purdue2–⁠63–⁠8
Wisconsin2–⁠63–⁠9

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