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1951 Minnesota

2–⁠6–⁠1 (1–⁠4–⁠1 Western Conference), coached by Wesley Fesler.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1951, game by game: lost vs. No. 8 Washington 20–25; lost at No. 2 California 14–55; lost vs. Northwestern 7–21; won vs. Nebraska 39–20; lost at Michigan 27–54; tied at Iowa 20–20; won vs. Indiana 16–14; lost at Purdue 13–19; lost vs. No. 8 Wisconsin 6–30+19−41Lost 20–25 vs. No. 8 Washington-5No. 8 WashingtonLost 14–55 at No. 2 California-41No. 2 CaliforniaLost 7–21 vs. Northwestern-14NorthwesternWon 39–20 vs. Nebraska+19NebraskaLost 27–54 at Michigan-27MichiganTied 20–20 at Iowa0IowaWon 16–14 vs. Indiana+2IndianaLost 13–19 at Purdue-6PurdueLost 6–30 vs. No. 8 Wisconsin-24No. 8 Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 29vs8WashingtonL 20–⁠2541%
Oct 6at2CaliforniaL 14–⁠5515%
Oct 13vsNorthwesternL 7–⁠2138%
Oct 20vsNebraskaW 39–⁠2053%
Oct 27atMichiganL 27–⁠5424%
Nov 3atIowaT 20–⁠2041%
Nov 10vsIndianaW 16–⁠1455%
Nov 17atPurdueL 13–⁠1936%
Nov 24vs8WisconsinL 6–⁠3028%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Wisconsin 30–⁠6; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 118th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

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 1951.

Record
2–⁠6–⁠1
Conference
1–⁠4–⁠1 7th in Western Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
162–⁠258
Coach
Wesley Fesler
Elo
1423 −49 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
−3.3 No. 73 of 116 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Wayne Robinson
Most valuable player
Ron Engel

All-Big Ten

2 first team

First team

  • Paul GielRBAP-1; UP-2
  • Wayne RobinsonCAP-1; UP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1951 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1951 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Illinois5–⁠0–⁠19–⁠0–⁠14
Purdue4–⁠15–⁠4
Wisconsin5–⁠1–⁠17–⁠1–⁠18
Michigan4–⁠24–⁠5
Ohio State2–⁠2–⁠24–⁠3–⁠2
Northwestern2–⁠45–⁠4
Minnesota1–⁠4–⁠12–⁠6–⁠1
Indiana1–⁠52–⁠7
Iowa0–⁠5–⁠12–⁠5–⁠2

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