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1961 Northwestern

4–⁠5 (2–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Ara Parseghian.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1961, game by game: won vs. Boston College 45–0; won at Illinois 28–7; lost vs. Minnesota 3–10; lost vs. Ohio State 0–10; won at Notre Dame 12–10; won vs. Indiana 14–8; lost vs. Wisconsin 10–29; lost at Michigan State 13–21; lost at Miami 6–10+45−19Won 45–0 vs. Boston College+45Boston CollegeWon 28–7 at Illinois+21IllinoisLost 3–10 vs. Minnesota-7MinnesotaLost 0–10 vs. Ohio State-10Ohio StateWon 12–10 at Notre Dame+2Notre DameWon 14–8 vs. Indiana+6IndianaLost 10–29 vs. Wisconsin-19WisconsinLost 13–21 at Michigan State-8Michigan StateLost 6–10 at Miami-4Miami
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30vsBoston CollegeW 45–⁠063%
Oct 7atIllinoisW 28–⁠753%
Oct 14vsMinnesotaL 3–⁠1064%
Oct 21vsOhio StateL 0–⁠1051%
Oct 28atNotre DameW 12–⁠1047%
Nov 4vsIndianaW 14–⁠878%
Nov 11vsWisconsinL 10–⁠2971%
Nov 18atMichigan StateL 13–⁠2127%
Nov 24atMiamiL 6–⁠1034%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Miami 10–⁠6; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 47th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 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 1961.

Record
4–⁠5
Conference
2–⁠4 tied for 7th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
131–⁠105
Coach
Ara Parseghian
Elo
1512 −43 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
11.1 No. 25 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captain
Larry Onesti
Most valuable player
Boyd “Bud” Melvin

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 1Fate Echols OTSt. Louis Cardinals
Rd 3Fate Echols OTNew York Titans (AFL)

All-Big Ten

2 first team

First 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.