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1996 Minnesota

4–⁠7 (1–⁠7 Big Ten), coached by Jim Wacker.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1996, game by game: won at UL Monroe 30–3; won vs. Ball State 26–23; won vs. No. 23 Syracuse 35–33; lost at Purdue 27–30; lost at No. 15 Northwestern 24–26; lost vs. Michigan State 9–27; lost vs. No. 10 Michigan 10–44; lost at No. 2 Ohio State 0–45; lost at Wisconsin 28–45; won vs. Illinois 23–21; lost vs. No. 24 Iowa 24–43+27−45Won 30–3 at UL Monroe+27UL MonroeWon 26–23 vs. Ball State+3Ball StateWon 35–33 vs. No. 23 Syracuse+2No. 23 SyracuseLost 27–30 at Purdue-3PurdueLost 24–26 at No. 15 Northwestern-2No. 15 NorthwesternLost 9–27 vs. Michigan State-18Michigan StateLost 10–44 vs. No. 10 Michigan-34No. 10 MichiganLost 0–45 at No. 2 Ohio State-45No. 2 Ohio StateLost 28–45 at Wisconsin-17WisconsinWon 23–21 vs. Illinois+2IllinoisLost 24–43 vs. No. 24 Iowa-19No. 24 Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7atUL MonroeW 30–⁠353%
Sep 14vsBall StateW 26–⁠2356%
Sep 21vs23SyracuseW 35–⁠3342%
Oct 5atPurdueL 27–⁠3043%
Oct 12at15NorthwesternL 24–⁠2620%
Oct 19vsMichigan StateL 9–⁠2745%
Oct 26vs10MichiganL 10–⁠4424%
Nov 2at2Ohio StateL 0–⁠458%
Nov 9atWisconsinL 28–⁠4525%
Nov 16vsIllinoisW 23–⁠2152%
Nov 23vs24IowaL 24–⁠4331%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Iowa 43–⁠24; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 125th-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 1996.

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
1–⁠7 tied for 9th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
236–⁠340
Coach
Jim Wacker
Elo
1387 −27 this season
SP+ rating
-1.6 No. 65 of 111; offense No. 60, defense No. 64
SRS
−2.0 No. 62 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bob DeBesse
Defensive coordinator
Tim Rose
Captains
Gann Brooks, Jerome Davis, Ben Langford and Cory Sauter

All-Big Ten

2 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1996 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1996 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠111–⁠12
Northwestern7–⁠19–⁠315
Penn State6–⁠211–⁠27
Iowa6–⁠29–⁠318
Michigan5–⁠38–⁠420
Michigan State5–⁠36–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠58–⁠5
Purdue2–⁠63–⁠8
Minnesota1–⁠74–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠73–⁠8
Illinois1–⁠72–⁠9

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