CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1986 Ohio State

10–⁠3 (7–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Earle Bruce, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1986, game by game: lost vs. Alabama 10–16; lost at No. 17 Washington 7–40; won vs. Colorado 13–10; won vs. Utah 64–6; won vs. Illinois 14–0; won at Indiana 24–22; won at Purdue 39–11; won vs. Minnesota 33–0; won at No. 11 Iowa 31–10; won vs. Northwestern 30–9; won at Wisconsin 30–17; lost vs. No. 6 Michigan 24–26; won vs. No. 8 Texas A&M 28–12+58−33Lost 10–16 vs. Alabama-6AlabamaLost 7–40 at No. 17 Washington-33No. 17 WashingtonWon 13–10 vs. Colorado+3ColoradoWon 64–6 vs. Utah+58UtahWon 14–0 vs. Illinois+14IllinoisWon 24–22 at Indiana+2IndianaWon 39–11 at Purdue+28PurdueWon 33–0 vs. Minnesota+33MinnesotaWon 31–10 at No. 11 Iowa+21No. 11 IowaWon 30–9 vs. Northwestern+21NorthwesternWon 30–17 at Wisconsin+13WisconsinLost 24–26 vs. No. 6 Michigan-2No. 6 MichiganWon 28–12 vs. No. 8 Texas A&M+16No. 8 Texas A&M
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 27vsAlabamaL 10–⁠1649%
Sep 13at17WashingtonL 7–⁠4043%
Sep 20vsColoradoW 13–⁠1073%
Sep 27vsUtahW 64–⁠667%
Oct 4vsIllinoisW 14–⁠071%
Oct 11atIndianaW 24–⁠2258%
Oct 18atPurdueW 39–⁠1172%
Oct 25vsMinnesotaW 33–⁠069%
Nov 1at11IowaW 31–⁠1041%
Nov 8vsNorthwesternW 30–⁠992%
Nov 15atWisconsinW 30–⁠1778%
Nov 22vs6MichiganL 24–⁠2656%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs8Texas A&MCotton BowlW 28–⁠1252%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Texas A&M 28–⁠12 in the Cotton Bowl; No. 7 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 34th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 9
  2. Wk 2: 10
  3. Wk 9: 17
  4. Wk 10: 11
  5. Wk 11: 9
  6. Wk 12: 7
  7. Wk 13: 11
  8. Wk 14: 11
  9. Final: 7

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 1986.

Big Ten champions7–⁠1 in the conference, shared with Michigan

2 consensus All-AmericansCris Carter, WR; Chris Spielman, LB

Record
10–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 7
Points
347–⁠179
Coach
Earle Bruce
Elo
1730 +112 this season
SP+ rating
19.9 No. 12 of 101; offense No. 23, defense No. 8
SRS
15.4 No. 13 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Gary Blackney
Captains
Sonny Gordon and Jim Karsatos
Most valuable player
Cris Carter

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 6Sonny Gordon DBCincinnati Bengals
Rd 7Jamie Holland WRSan Diego Chargers

All-Big Ten

7 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jim KarsatosQBAP-2
  • Darryl LeeLinemen-outside linebackersAP-2
  • Michael KeeLBUPI-2
  • Greg RoganDBUPI-2
  • Tom TupaPAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠111–⁠28
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠37
Iowa5–⁠39–⁠316
Minnesota5–⁠36–⁠6
Michigan State4–⁠46–⁠5
Indiana3–⁠56–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠54–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠64–⁠7
Purdue2–⁠63–⁠8
Wisconsin2–⁠63–⁠9

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