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1952 Minnesota

4–⁠3–⁠2 (3–⁠1–⁠2 Western Conference), coached by Wesley Fesler.

Minnesota, 1952
Photo: Unknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1952, game by game: lost at Washington 13–19; lost vs. No. 4 California 13–49; won vs. Northwestern 27–26; won vs. No. 17 Illinois 13–7; lost at No. 19 Michigan 0–21; won vs. Iowa 17–7; tied vs. No. 9 Purdue 14–14; won at Nebraska 13–7; tied at No. 13 Wisconsin 21–21+10−36Lost 13–19 at Washington-6WashingtonLost 13–49 vs. No. 4 California-36No. 4 CaliforniaWon 27–26 vs. Northwestern+1NorthwesternWon 13–7 vs. No. 17 Illinois+6No. 17 IllinoisLost 0–21 at No. 19 Michigan-21No. 19 MichiganWon 17–7 vs. Iowa+10IowaTied 14–14 vs. No. 9 Purdue0No. 9 PurdueWon 13–7 at Nebraska+6NebraskaTied 21–21 at No. 13 Wisconsin0No. 13 Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 27atWashingtonL 13–⁠1933%
Oct 4vs4CaliforniaL 13–⁠4928%
Oct 11vsNorthwesternW 27–⁠2647%
Oct 18vs17IllinoisW 13–⁠726%
Oct 25at19MichiganL 0–⁠2127%
Nov 1vsIowaW 17–⁠761%
Nov 8vs9PurdueT 14–⁠1441%
Nov 15atNebraskaW 13–⁠741%
Nov 22at13WisconsinT 21–⁠2121%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Tied Wisconsin 21–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Western Conference.

In program history: The 95th-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 1952.

Heisman votePaul Giel, third

Record
4–⁠3–⁠2
Conference
3–⁠1–⁠2 tied for 4th in Western Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
131–⁠171
Coach
Wesley Fesler
Elo
1490 +42 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
6.9 No. 40 of 113 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Richard Anderson
Most valuable player
Paul Giel

All-Big Ten

3 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1952 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1952 Western Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Wisconsin4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠3–⁠111
Purdue4–⁠1–⁠14–⁠3–⁠218
Ohio State5–⁠26–⁠317
Michigan4–⁠25–⁠4
Minnesota3–⁠1–⁠24–⁠3–⁠2
Illinois2–⁠54–⁠5
Northwestern2–⁠52–⁠6–⁠1
Iowa2–⁠52–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠52–⁠7

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