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2000 Northwestern

8–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Randy Walker.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 2000, game by game: won vs. Northern Illinois 35–17; won vs. Duke 38–5; lost at No. 20 TCU 14–41; won at No. 7 Wisconsin 47–44; won at No. 18 Michigan State 37–17; won vs. Indiana 52–33; lost vs. No. 21 Purdue 28–41; won at Minnesota 41–35; won vs. No. 12 Michigan 54–51; lost at Iowa 17–27; won vs. Illinois 61–23; lost vs. No. 9 Nebraska 17–66+38−49Won 35–17 vs. Northern Illinois+18Northern Illino…Won 38–5 vs. Duke+33DukeLost 14–41 at No. 20 TCU-27No. 20 TCUWon 47–44 at No. 7 Wisconsin+3No. 7 WisconsinWon 37–17 at No. 18 Michigan State+20No. 18 Michigan StateWon 52–33 vs. Indiana+19IndianaLost 28–41 vs. No. 21 Purdue-13No. 21 PurdueWon 41–35 at Minnesota+6MinnesotaWon 54–51 vs. No. 12 Michigan+3No. 12 MichiganLost 17–27 at Iowa-10IowaWon 61–23 vs. Illinois+38IllinoisLost 17–66 vs. No. 9 Nebraska-49No. 9 Nebraska
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsNorthern IllinoisW 35–⁠1757%
Sep 9vsDukeW 38–⁠564%
Sep 16at20TCUL 14–⁠4127%
Sep 23at7WisconsinW 47–⁠4414%
Sep 30at18Michigan StateW 37–⁠1718%
Oct 7vsIndianaW 52–⁠3366%
Oct 14vs21PurdueL 28–⁠4147%
Oct 28atMinnesotaW 41–⁠3532%
Nov 4vs12MichiganW 54–⁠5135%
Nov 11atIowaL 17–⁠2771%
Nov 18vsIllinoisW 61–⁠2357%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvs9NebraskaAlamo BowlL 17–⁠6624%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Nebraska 66–⁠17 in the Alamo Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 31st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 7: 22
  2. Wk 8: 17
  3. Wk 9: 25
  4. Wk 10: 23
  5. Wk 11: 21
  6. Wk 12: 12
  7. Wk 13: 23
  8. Wk 14: 20
  9. Wk 15: 19
  10. Wk 16: 18

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 2000.

Big Ten champions6–⁠2 in the conference, shared with Michigan and Purdue

Heisman voteDamien Anderson, fifth

Consensus All-AmericanDamien Anderson, RB

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 12
Points
441–⁠400
Coach
Randy Walker
Elo
1541 +135 this season
SP+ rating
13.7 No. 24 of 116; offense No. 4, defense No. 86
SRS
9.7 No. 28 of 116 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 44
Offensive coordinator
Kevin Wilson
Captains
Harold Blackmon and Conrad Emmerich
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 2001

The 2001 draft
Rd 7Harold Blackmon DBSeattle Seahawks
Rd 7Dwayne Missouri DEBaltimore Ravens

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2000 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2000 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan6–⁠29–⁠311
Purdue6–⁠28–⁠413
Northwestern6–⁠28–⁠4
Ohio State5–⁠38–⁠4
Wisconsin4–⁠49–⁠423
Minnesota4–⁠46–⁠6
Penn State4–⁠45–⁠7
Iowa3–⁠53–⁠9
Illinois2–⁠65–⁠6
Michigan State2–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana2–⁠63–⁠8

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