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1997 Northwestern

5–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Gary Barnett.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1997, game by game: won vs. Oklahoma 24–0; lost at Wake Forest 20–27; won vs. Duke 24–20; lost vs. Rice 34–40; lost at Purdue 9–21; lost vs. Wisconsin 25–26; lost at No. 6 Michigan 6–23; won vs. No. 12 Michigan State 19–17; lost at No. 9 Ohio State 6–49; lost vs. No. 2 Penn State 27–30; won at Illinois 34–21; won vs. No. 22 Iowa 15–14+24−43Won 24–0 vs. Oklahoma+24OklahomaLost 20–27 at Wake Forest-7Wake ForestWon 24–20 vs. Duke+4DukeLost 34–40 vs. Rice-6RiceLost 9–21 at Purdue-12PurdueLost 25–26 vs. Wisconsin-1WisconsinLost 6–23 at No. 6 Michigan-17No. 6 MichiganWon 19–17 vs. No. 12 Michigan State+2No. 12 Michigan StateLost 6–49 at No. 9 Ohio State-43No. 9 Ohio StateLost 27–30 vs. No. 2 Penn State-3No. 2 Penn StateWon 34–21 at Illinois+13IllinoisWon 15–14 vs. No. 22 Iowa+1No. 22 Iowa
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 23vsOklahomaW 24–⁠071%
Sep 6atWake ForestL 20–⁠2778%
Sep 13vsDukeW 24–⁠2086%
Sep 20vsRiceL 34–⁠4068%
Sep 27atPurdueL 9–⁠2152%
Oct 4vsWisconsinL 25–⁠2649%
Oct 11at6MichiganL 6–⁠2323%
Oct 18vs12Michigan StateW 19–⁠1742%
Oct 25at9Ohio StateL 6–⁠4918%
Nov 1vs2Penn StateL 27–⁠3027%
Nov 8atIllinoisW 34–⁠2170%
Nov 15vs22IowaW 15–⁠1442%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Iowa 15–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 33rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 2: 24
  2. Wk 3: 21
Record
5–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 21
Points
243–⁠288
Coach
Gary Barnett
Elo
1535 −71 this season
SP+ rating
3.1 No. 54 of 112; offense No. 74, defense No. 34
SRS
1.5 No. 55 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Greg Meyer
Defensive coordinators
Jerry Brown and Vince Okruch
Captains
Eric Collier, Barry Gardner and Nate Strikwerda

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 5Casey Dailey DENew York Jets
Rd 6Nathan Strikwerda CMiami Dolphins

All-Big Ten

4 first team

First team

  • Casey DaileyDLCoaches-1; Media-1
  • Barry GardnerLBCoaches-1; Media-1
  • Eric CollierDBCoaches-2; Media
  • Brian GowinsKCoaches-2; Media-1

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.