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1945 Minnesota

4–⁠5 (1–⁠5 Western Conference), coached by Bernie Bierman.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1945, game by game: won vs. Missouri 34–0; won at Nebraska 61–7; won vs. Fort Warren 14–0; won vs. Northwestern 30–7; lost vs. No. 12 Ohio State 7–20; lost at No. 10 Michigan 0–26; lost vs. No. 6 Indiana 0–49; lost at Iowa 19–20; lost vs. Wisconsin 12–26+54−49Won 34–0 vs. Missouri+34MissouriWon 61–7 at Nebraska+54NebraskaWon 14–0 vs. Fort Warren+14Fort WarrenWon 30–7 vs. Northwestern+23NorthwesternLost 7–20 vs. No. 12 Ohio State-13No. 12 Ohio StateLost 0–26 at No. 10 Michigan-26No. 10 MichiganLost 0–49 vs. No. 6 Indiana-49No. 6 IndianaLost 19–20 at Iowa-1IowaLost 12–26 vs. Wisconsin-14Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 22vsMissouriW 34–⁠064%
Oct 6atNebraskaW 61–⁠769%
Oct 13vsFort WarrenW 14–⁠076%
Oct 20vsNorthwesternW 30–⁠775%
Oct 27vs12Ohio StateL 7–⁠2055%
Nov 3at10MichiganL 0–⁠2631%
Nov 10vs6IndianaL 0–⁠4944%
Nov 17atIowaL 19–⁠2072%
Nov 24vsWisconsinL 12–⁠2669%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Wisconsin 26–⁠12; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 100th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 5
  2. Wk 2: 5
  3. Wk 3: 5
  4. Wk 4: 16
  5. Wk 5: 20

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 1945.

Record
4–⁠5
Conference
1–⁠5 tied for 8th in Western Conference
AP final
Unranked peak No. 5
Points
177–⁠155
Coach
Bernie Bierman
Elo
1477 −60 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
10.8 No. 22 of 101 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Most valuable player
Bob Fitch

Drafted in 1946

The 1946 draft
Rd 7Tom Reinhardt OTPittsburgh Steelers

All-Big Ten

2 first team

First team

  • Bob CarleyE
  • Dick Van DusenC

From Wikipedia’s 1945 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1945 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Indiana5–⁠0–⁠19–⁠0–⁠14
Michigan5–⁠17–⁠36
Ohio State5–⁠27–⁠212
Purdue3–⁠37–⁠3
Northwestern3–⁠3–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Wisconsin2–⁠3–⁠13–⁠4–⁠2
Illinois1–⁠4–⁠12–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota1–⁠54–⁠5
Iowa1–⁠52–⁠7

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