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1970 Northwestern

6–⁠4 (6–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Alex Agase.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1970, game by game: lost vs. No. 6 Notre Dame 14–35; lost at No. 15 UCLA 7–12; lost vs. SMU 20–21; won vs. Illinois 48–0; won at Wisconsin 24–14; won vs. Purdue 38–14; lost at No. 2 Ohio State 10–24; won vs. Minnesota 28–14; won at Indiana 21–7; won at Michigan State 23–20+48−21Lost 14–35 vs. No. 6 Notre Dame-21No. 6 Notre DameLost 7–12 at No. 15 UCLA-5No. 15 UCLALost 20–21 vs. SMU-1SMUWon 48–0 vs. Illinois+48IllinoisWon 24–14 at Wisconsin+10WisconsinWon 38–14 vs. Purdue+24PurdueLost 10–24 at No. 2 Ohio State-14No. 2 Ohio StateWon 28–14 vs. Minnesota+14MinnesotaWon 21–7 at Indiana+14IndianaWon 23–20 at Michigan State+3Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 19vs6Notre DameL 14–⁠3525%
Sep 26at15UCLAL 7–⁠1214%
Oct 3vsSMUL 20–⁠2145%
Oct 10vsIllinoisW 48–⁠058%
Oct 17atWisconsinW 24–⁠1442%
Oct 24vsPurdueW 38–⁠1432%
Oct 31at2Ohio StateL 10–⁠2416%
Nov 7vsMinnesotaW 28–⁠1453%
Nov 14atIndianaW 21–⁠765%
Nov 21atMichigan StateW 23–⁠2044%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan State 23–⁠20; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 2nd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 39th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 8: 20
  2. Wk 11: 18
  3. Wk 12: 18
  4. Wk 13: 19

Eddie Robinson Coach of the YearAlex Agase, coach

Record
6–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠1 tied for 2nd in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 18
Points
233–⁠161
Coach
Alex Agase
Elo
1525 +133 this season
SP+ rating
11.9 No. 31 of 117; offense No. 44, defense No. 21
SRS
17.7 No. 17 of 123 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Mike Adamle and Joel Hall
Most valuable player
Mike Adamle

Drafted in 1971

The 1971 draft
Rd 5Mike Adamle RBKansas City Chiefs

All-Big Ten

6 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Mike AdamleRBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Barry PearsonFlankersAP-1
  • John RodmanOTAP-1; UPI-2
  • Mike SikichOGAP-1; UPI-1
  • Joe ZigulichC
  • Eric HutchinsonDBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Jim AndersonDTAP-2
  • Rick TelanderDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1970 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1970 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠09–⁠15
Michigan6–⁠19–⁠19
Northwestern6–⁠16–⁠4
Iowa3–⁠3–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
Wisconsin3–⁠44–⁠5–⁠1
Michigan State3–⁠44–⁠6
Minnesota2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠6–⁠1
Purdue2–⁠54–⁠6
Illinois1–⁠63–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠61–⁠9

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