CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1996 Northwestern

9–⁠3 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Gary Barnett, finished No. 15 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1996, game by game: lost at Wake Forest 27–28; won at Duke 38–13; won vs. Ohio 28–7; won at Indiana 35–17; won vs. No. 6 Michigan 17–16; won vs. Minnesota 26–24; won at Wisconsin 34–30; won vs. Illinois 27–24; lost at No. 15 Penn State 9–34; won at No. 23 Iowa 40–13; won vs. Purdue 27–24; lost vs. No. 9 Tennessee 28–48+27−25Lost 27–28 at Wake Forest-1Wake ForestWon 38–13 at Duke+25DukeWon 28–7 vs. Ohio+21OhioWon 35–17 at Indiana+18IndianaWon 17–16 vs. No. 6 Michigan+1No. 6 MichiganWon 26–24 vs. Minnesota+2MinnesotaWon 34–30 at Wisconsin+4WisconsinWon 27–24 vs. Illinois+3IllinoisLost 9–34 at No. 15 Penn State-25No. 15 Penn StateWon 40–13 at No. 23 Iowa+27No. 23 IowaWon 27–24 vs. Purdue+3PurdueLost 28–48 vs. No. 9 Tennessee-20No. 9 Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7atWake ForestL 27–⁠2872%
Sep 14atDukeW 38–⁠1364%
Sep 21vsOhioW 28–⁠784%
Sep 28atIndianaW 35–⁠1761%
Oct 5vs6MichiganW 17–⁠1651%
Oct 12vsMinnesotaW 26–⁠2480%
Oct 19atWisconsinW 34–⁠3054%
Oct 26vsIllinoisW 27–⁠2481%
Nov 2at15Penn StateL 9–⁠3437%
Nov 9at23IowaW 40–⁠1348%
Nov 16vsPurdueW 27–⁠2482%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs9TennesseeCitrus BowlL 28–⁠4842%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 48–⁠28 in the Citrus Bowl; No. 15 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 3rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 18
  2. Wk 2: 15
  3. Wk 3: 13
  4. Wk 6: 25
  5. Wk 7: 22
  6. Wk 8: 15
  7. Wk 9: 14
  8. Wk 10: 11
  9. Wk 11: 11
  10. Wk 12: 18
  11. Wk 13: 13
  12. Wk 14: 11
  13. Wk 15: 11
  14. Wk 16: 10
  15. Wk 17: 11
  16. Final: 15

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.

Big Ten champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Ohio State

Bronko Nagurski TrophyPat Fitzgerald, LB; also the Bednarik

Consensus All-AmericanPat Fitzgerald, LB

Record
9–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 15 peak No. 10
Points
336–⁠278
Coach
Gary Barnett
Elo
1658 +65 this season
SP+ rating
8.2 No. 40 of 111; offense No. 47, defense No. 47
SRS
7.9 No. 33 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Greg Meyer
Defensive coordinator
Ron Vanderlinden
Captains
Justin Chabot, Pat Fitzgerald, Mike McGrew and Steve Schnur

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 4Darnell Autry RBChicago Bears
Rd 6Tim Scharf LBNew York Jets
Rd 7Hudhaifa Ismaeli DBMiami Dolphins

All-Big Ten

5 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Matt RiceDLCoaches-2
  • Eric CollierDBCoaches-2; Media-2
  • Paul BurtonPCoaches-2

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.