CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1988 Michigan

9–⁠2–⁠1 (7–⁠0–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Bo Schembechler, finished No. 4 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Michigan in 1988, game by game: lost at No. 13 Notre Dame 17–19; lost vs. No. 1 Miami 30–31; won vs. Wake Forest 19–9; won at Wisconsin 62–14; won vs. Michigan State 17–3; tied at Iowa 17–17; won vs. No. 14 Indiana 31–6; won at Northwestern 52–7; won vs. Minnesota 22–7; won vs. Illinois 38–9; won at Ohio State 34–31; won vs. No. 5 USC 22–14+48−2Lost 17–19 at No. 13 Notre Dame-2No. 13 Notre DameLost 30–31 vs. No. 1 Miami-1No. 1 MiamiWon 19–9 vs. Wake Forest+10Wake ForestWon 62–14 at Wisconsin+48WisconsinWon 17–3 vs. Michigan State+14Michigan StateTied 17–17 at Iowa0IowaWon 31–6 vs. No. 14 Indiana+25No. 14 IndianaWon 52–7 at Northwestern+45NorthwesternWon 22–7 vs. Minnesota+15MinnesotaWon 38–9 vs. Illinois+29IllinoisWon 34–31 at Ohio State+3Ohio StateWon 22–14 vs. No. 5 USC+8No. 5 USC
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10at13Notre DameL 17–⁠1943%
Sep 17vs1MiamiL 30–⁠3137%
Sep 24vsWake ForestW 19–⁠969%
Oct 1atWisconsinW 62–⁠1474%
Oct 8vsMichigan StateW 17–⁠370%
Oct 15atIowaT 17–⁠1748%
Oct 22vs14IndianaW 31–⁠660%
Oct 29atNorthwesternW 52–⁠782%
Nov 5vsMinnesotaW 22–⁠785%
Nov 12vsIllinoisW 38–⁠981%
Nov 19atOhio StateW 34–⁠3169%
Jan 2Bowls & playoffvs5USCRose BowlW 22–⁠1444%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat USC 22–⁠14 in the Rose Bowl; No. 4 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The tied 25th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 140 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 11
  2. Wk 2: 10
  3. Wk 3: 9
  4. Wk 4: 15
  5. Wk 5: 19
  6. Wk 6: 19
  7. Wk 7: 17
  8. Wk 8: 15
  9. Wk 9: 20
  10. Wk 10: 14
  11. Wk 11: 14
  12. Wk 12: 13
  13. Wk 13: 12
  14. Wk 14: 11
  15. Wk 15: 11
  16. Wk 16: 11
  17. 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 1988.

Big Ten champions7–⁠0–⁠1 in the conference

2 consensus All-AmericansJohn Vitale, C; Mark Messner, DT

Record
9–⁠2–⁠1
Conference
7–⁠0–⁠1 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 4 peak No. 4
Points
361–⁠167
Coach
Bo Schembechler
Elo
1739 +124 this season
SP+ rating
27.0 No. 6 of 102; offense No. 14, defense No. 5
SRS
20.2 No. 7 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Gary Moeller
Defensive coordinator
Lloyd Carr
Captains
Mark Messner and John Vitale
Most valuable player
Mark Messner

Drafted in 1989

The 1989 draft
Rd 4John Kolesar WRBuffalo Bills
Rd 5David Arnold DBPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 6Mark Messner LBLos Angeles Rams

All-Big Ten

7 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jeffrey BrownTEUPI-2
  • Greg McMurtryWRAP-2; UPI-2
  • J.J. GrantLBAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1988 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠0–⁠19–⁠2–⁠14
Michigan State6–⁠1–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Illinois5–⁠2–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Iowa4–⁠1–⁠36–⁠4–⁠3
Indiana5–⁠38–⁠3–⁠120
Purdue3–⁠54–⁠7
Ohio State2–⁠5–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Northwestern2–⁠5–⁠12–⁠8–⁠1
Wisconsin1–⁠71–⁠10
Minnesota0–⁠6–⁠22–⁠7–⁠2

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