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1971 Minnesota

4–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Murray Warmath.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1971, game by game: won vs. Indiana 28–0; lost at No. 1 Nebraska 7–35; lost vs. Washington State 20–31; won vs. Kansas 38–20; lost at Purdue 13–27; won at Iowa 19–14; lost vs. No. 3 Michigan 7–35; lost vs. No. 10 Ohio State 12–14; lost at Northwestern 20–41; lost at Michigan State 25–40; won vs. Wisconsin 23–21+28−28Won 28–0 vs. Indiana+28IndianaLost 7–35 at No. 1 Nebraska-28No. 1 NebraskaLost 20–31 vs. Washington State-11Washington StateWon 38–20 vs. Kansas+18KansasLost 13–27 at Purdue-14PurdueWon 19–14 at Iowa+5IowaLost 7–35 vs. No. 3 Michigan-28No. 3 MichiganLost 12–14 vs. No. 10 Ohio State-2No. 10 Ohio StateLost 20–41 at Northwestern-21NorthwesternLost 25–40 at Michigan State-15Michigan StateWon 23–21 vs. Wisconsin+2Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vsIndianaW 28–⁠072%
Sep 18at1NebraskaL 7–⁠3517%
Sep 25vsWashington StateL 20–⁠3179%
Oct 2vsKansasW 38–⁠2052%
Oct 9atPurdueL 13–⁠2735%
Oct 16atIowaW 19–⁠1455%
Oct 23vs3MichiganL 7–⁠3525%
Oct 30vs10Ohio StateL 12–⁠1426%
Nov 6atNorthwesternL 20–⁠4134%
Nov 13atMichigan StateL 25–⁠4024%
Nov 20vsWisconsinW 23–⁠2156%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Wisconsin 23–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 119th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
212–⁠278
Coach
Murray Warmath
Elo
1421 −53 this season
SP+ rating
-1.4 No. 72 of 120; offense No. 50, defense No. 86
SRS
3.5 No. 47 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Bill Light
Most valuable player
Tom Chandler

Drafted in 1972

The 1972 draft
Rd 3Bart Buetow OTMinnesota Vikings
Rd 6Mike Perfetti DBAtlanta Falcons
Rd 6Vern Winfield OGPhiladelphia Eagles

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Craig CurryQBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Ernie CookRBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Jack BabcockOTAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1971 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1971 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠011–⁠16
Northwestern6–⁠37–⁠4
Ohio State5–⁠36–⁠4
Michigan State5–⁠36–⁠5
Illinois5–⁠35–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota3–⁠54–⁠7
Purdue3–⁠53–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠63–⁠8
Iowa1–⁠81–⁠10

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