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1961 Minnesota

8–⁠2 (6–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Murray Warmath, finished No. 6 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1961, game by game: lost vs. Missouri 0–6; won vs. Oregon 14–7; won at Northwestern 10–3; won at Illinois 33–0; won vs. Michigan 23–20; won vs. Michigan State 13–0; won at Iowa 16–9; won vs. Purdue 10–7; lost vs. Wisconsin 21–23; won vs. UCLA 21–3+33−6Lost 0–6 vs. Missouri-6MissouriWon 14–7 vs. Oregon+7OregonWon 10–3 at Northwestern+7NorthwesternWon 33–0 at Illinois+33IllinoisWon 23–20 vs. Michigan+3MichiganWon 13–0 vs. Michigan State+13Michigan StateWon 16–9 at Iowa+7IowaWon 10–7 vs. Purdue+3PurdueLost 21–23 vs. Wisconsin-2WisconsinWon 21–3 vs. UCLA+18UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30vsMissouriL 0–⁠646%
Oct 7vsOregonW 14–⁠758%
Oct 14atNorthwesternW 10–⁠336%
Oct 21atIllinoisW 33–⁠061%
Oct 28vsMichiganW 23–⁠2066%
Nov 4vsMichigan StateW 13–⁠050%
Nov 11atIowaW 16–⁠945%
Nov 18vsPurdueW 10–⁠764%
Nov 25vsWisconsinL 21–⁠2376%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsUCLARose BowlW 21–⁠358%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat UCLA 21–⁠3 in the Rose Bowl; No. 6 in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 9th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 8: 5
  2. Wk 9: 5
  3. Wk 10: 3
  4. Wk 11: 7
  5. Final: 6

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 1961.

Heisman voteSandy Stephens, fourth

Consensus All-AmericanSandy Stephens, QB/DB

Record
8–⁠2
Conference
6–⁠1 2nd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 6 peak No. 3
Points
161–⁠78
Coach
Murray Warmath
Elo
1693 +129 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
18.4 No. 9 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
John Mulvena
Most valuable player
Sandy Stephens

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 2Sandy Stephens BCleveland Browns
Rd 7Tom Hall EDetroit Lions
Rd 1Sandy Stephens QBNew York Titans (AFL)

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1961 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1961 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State6–⁠08–⁠0–⁠12
Minnesota6–⁠18–⁠26
Michigan State5–⁠27–⁠28
Purdue4–⁠26–⁠312
Wisconsin4–⁠36–⁠3
Michigan3–⁠36–⁠3
Iowa2–⁠45–⁠4
Northwestern2–⁠44–⁠5
Indiana0–⁠62–⁠7
Illinois0–⁠70–⁠9

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