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1972 Minnesota

4–⁠7 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Cal Stoll.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1972, game by game: lost at Indiana 23–27; lost vs. No. 3 Colorado 6–38; lost at No. 7 Nebraska 0–49; lost vs. Kansas 28–34; lost vs. Purdue 3–28; won vs. Iowa 43–14; lost at No. 5 Michigan 0–42; lost at No. 5 Ohio State 19–27; won vs. Northwestern 35–29; won vs. Michigan State 14–10; won at Wisconsin 14–6+29−49Lost 23–27 at Indiana-4IndianaLost 6–38 vs. No. 3 Colorado-32No. 3 ColoradoLost 0–49 at No. 7 Nebraska-49No. 7 NebraskaLost 28–34 vs. Kansas-6KansasLost 3–28 vs. Purdue-25PurdueWon 43–14 vs. Iowa+29IowaLost 0–42 at No. 5 Michigan-42No. 5 MichiganLost 19–27 at No. 5 Ohio State-8No. 5 Ohio StateWon 35–29 vs. Northwestern+6NorthwesternWon 14–10 vs. Michigan State+4Michigan StateWon 14–6 at Wisconsin+8Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 16atIndianaL 23–⁠2749%
Sep 23vs3ColoradoL 6–⁠3825%
Sep 30at7NebraskaL 0–⁠4910%
Oct 7vsKansasL 28–⁠3452%
Oct 14vsPurdueL 3–⁠2849%
Oct 21vsIowaW 43–⁠1454%
Oct 28at5MichiganL 0–⁠429%
Nov 4at5Ohio StateL 19–⁠2712%
Nov 11vsNorthwesternW 35–⁠2954%
Nov 18vsMichigan StateW 14–⁠1034%
Nov 25atWisconsinW 14–⁠645%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Wisconsin 14–⁠6; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 109th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
4–⁠4 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
185–⁠304
Coach
Cal Stoll
Elo
1442 −5 this season
SP+ rating
-3.2 No. 76 of 121; offense No. 60, defense No. 89
SRS
0.0 No. 60 of 127 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Bob Morgan
Most valuable player
John King

Drafted in 1973

The 1973 draft
Rd 3Tom MacLeod LBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 6Doug Kingsriter TEMinnesota Vikings

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • John KingBAP-1; UPI-2

Second team

  • Tim AldersonDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1972 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1972 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠16
Ohio State7–⁠19–⁠29
Purdue6–⁠26–⁠5
Michigan State5–⁠2–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Minnesota4–⁠44–⁠7
Indiana3–⁠55–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠53–⁠8
Iowa2–⁠6–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Wisconsin2–⁠64–⁠7
Northwestern1–⁠82–⁠9

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