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1997 Minnesota

3–⁠9 (1–⁠7 Big Ten), coached by Glen Mason.

Schedule and results

Minnesota in 1997, game by game: lost at Hawai’i 3–17; won vs. Iowa State 53–29; won at Memphis 20–17; lost vs. Houston 43–45; lost at No. 12 Michigan State 10–31; lost vs. Purdue 43–59; lost at No. 1 Penn State 15–16; lost vs. Wisconsin 21–22; lost at No. 4 Michigan 3–24; lost vs. No. 7 Ohio State 3–31; won vs. Indiana 24–12; lost at Iowa 0–31+24−31Lost 3–17 at Hawai’i-14Hawai’iWon 53–29 vs. Iowa State+24Iowa StateWon 20–17 at Memphis+3MemphisLost 43–45 vs. Houston-2HoustonLost 10–31 at No. 12 Michigan State-21No. 12 Michigan StateLost 43–59 vs. Purdue-16PurdueLost 15–16 at No. 1 Penn State-1No. 1 Penn StateLost 21–22 vs. Wisconsin-1WisconsinLost 3–24 at No. 4 Michigan-21No. 4 MichiganLost 3–31 vs. No. 7 Ohio State-28No. 7 Ohio StateWon 24–12 vs. Indiana+12IndianaLost 0–31 at Iowa-31Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30atHawai’iL 3–⁠1755%
Sep 13vsIowa StateW 53–⁠2961%
Sep 20atMemphisW 20–⁠1742%
Sep 27vsHoustonL 43–⁠4563%
Oct 4at12Michigan StateL 10–⁠3121%
Oct 11vsPurdueL 43–⁠5942%
Oct 18at1Penn StateL 15–⁠168%
Oct 25vsWisconsinL 21–⁠2231%
Nov 1at4MichiganL 3–⁠249%
Nov 8vs7Ohio StateL 3–⁠3112%
Nov 15vsIndianaW 24–⁠1254%
Nov 22atIowaL 0–⁠3116%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Iowa 31–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 9th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 127th-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 1997.

Record
3–⁠9
Conference
1–⁠7 tied for 9th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
238–⁠334
Coach
Glen Mason
Elo
1383 −42 this season
SP+ rating
-7.6 No. 82 of 112; offense No. 87, defense No. 69
SRS
−5.5 No. 75 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Elliot Uzelac
Defensive coordinator
David Gibbs
Captains
Tutu Atwell, Crawford Jordan, Cory Sauter and Parc Williams

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 6Lamanzer Williams DEJacksonville Jaguars
Rd 7Ryan Thelwell WRSan Francisco 49ers

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1997 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1997 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠012–⁠01
Ohio State6–⁠210–⁠312
Penn State6–⁠29–⁠316
Purdue6–⁠29–⁠315
Wisconsin5–⁠38–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠47–⁠5
Iowa4–⁠47–⁠5
Northwestern3–⁠55–⁠7
Minnesota1–⁠73–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠72–⁠9
Illinois0–⁠80–⁠11

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