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1954 Minnesota

7–⁠2 (4–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Murray Warmath.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1954, game by game: won vs. Nebraska 19–7; won at Pittsburgh 46–7; won vs. Northwestern 26–7; won vs. Illinois 19–6; lost at Michigan 0–34; won vs. Michigan State 19–13; won vs. Oregon State 44–6; won vs. No. 9 Iowa 22–20; lost at No. 17 Wisconsin 0–27+39−34Won 19–7 vs. Nebraska+12NebraskaWon 46–7 at Pittsburgh+39PittsburghWon 26–7 vs. Northwestern+19NorthwesternWon 19–6 vs. Illinois+13IllinoisLost 0–34 at Michigan-34MichiganWon 19–13 vs. Michigan State+6Michigan StateWon 44–6 vs. Oregon State+38Oregon StateWon 22–20 vs. No. 9 Iowa+2No. 9 IowaLost 0–27 at No. 17 Wisconsin-27No. 17 Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 25vsNebraskaW 19–⁠768%
Oct 2atPittsburghW 46–⁠751%
Oct 9vsNorthwesternW 26–⁠774%
Oct 16vsIllinoisW 19–⁠666%
Oct 23atMichiganL 0–⁠3447%
Oct 30vsMichigan StateW 19–⁠1353%
Nov 6vsOregon StateW 44–⁠683%
Nov 13vs9IowaW 22–⁠2054%
Nov 20at17WisconsinL 0–⁠2734%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Wisconsin 27–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 48th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 18
  2. Wk 5: 11
  3. Wk 6: 8
  4. Wk 8: 14
  5. Wk 9: 13
  6. Wk 10: 10
  7. Wk 11: 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 1954.

Record
7–⁠2
Conference
4–⁠2 4th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 8
Points
195–⁠127
Coach
Murray Warmath
Elo
1588 +67 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
11.7 No. 23 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Bob McNamara
Most valuable player
Bob McNamara

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Mike FallsOGINS-2
  • Chuck StamschrorCAP-2; INS-2; Ed-2

From Wikipedia’s 1954 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1954 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠010–⁠01
Wisconsin5–⁠27–⁠29
Michigan5–⁠26–⁠315
Minnesota4–⁠27–⁠2
Iowa4–⁠35–⁠4
Purdue3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠1
Indiana2–⁠43–⁠6
Michigan State1–⁠53–⁠6
Northwestern1–⁠52–⁠7
Illinois0–⁠61–⁠8

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