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1998 Purdue

9–⁠4 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Joe Tiller, finished No. 24 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Purdue in 1998, game by game: lost vs. USC 17–27; won vs. Rice 21–19; won vs. UCF 35–7; lost at No. 23 Notre Dame 30–31; won vs. Minnesota 56–21; lost at No. 12 Wisconsin 24–31; lost at No. 12 Penn State 13–31; won vs. Illinois 42–9; won vs. Iowa 36–14; won at Northwestern 56–21; won at Michigan State 25–24; won vs. Indiana 52–7; won vs. No. 4 Kansas State 37–34+45−18Lost 17–27 vs. USC-10USCWon 21–19 vs. Rice+2RiceWon 35–7 vs. UCF+28UCFLost 30–31 at No. 23 Notre Dame-1No. 23 Notre DameWon 56–21 vs. Minnesota+35MinnesotaLost 24–31 at No. 12 Wisconsin-7No. 12 WisconsinLost 13–31 at No. 12 Penn State-18No. 12 Penn StateWon 42–9 vs. Illinois+33IllinoisWon 36–14 vs. Iowa+22IowaWon 56–21 at Northwestern+35NorthwesternWon 25–24 at Michigan State+1Michigan StateWon 52–7 vs. Indiana+45IndianaWon 37–34 vs. No. 4 Kansas State+3No. 4 Kansas State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsUSCL 17–⁠2753%
Sep 12vsRiceW 21–⁠1958%
Sep 19vsUCFW 35–⁠759%
Sep 26at23Notre DameL 30–⁠3144%
Oct 3vsMinnesotaW 56–⁠2171%
Oct 10at12WisconsinL 24–⁠3138%
Oct 17at12Penn StateL 13–⁠3131%
Oct 24vsIllinoisW 42–⁠985%
Oct 31vsIowaW 36–⁠1470%
Nov 7atNorthwesternW 56–⁠2166%
Nov 14atMichigan StateW 25–⁠2443%
Nov 21vsIndianaW 52–⁠782%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvs4Kansas StateAlamo BowlW 37–⁠3429%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Kansas State 37–⁠34 in the Alamo Bowl; No. 24 in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 13th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Final: 24

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 1998.

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠2 4th in Big Ten
AP final
No. 24 peak No. 24
Points
444–⁠276
Coach
Joe Tiller
Elo
1654 +84 this season
SP+ rating
21.7 No. 12 of 112; offense No. 12, defense No. 25
SRS
18.5 No. 10 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Jim Chaney
Defensive coordinator
Brock Spack
Captains
Rosevelt Colvin and Isaac Jones
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1999

The 1999 draft
Rd 3Chike Okeafor DESan Francisco 49ers
Rd 4Rosevelt Colvin DEChicago Bears

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1998 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1998 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Wisconsin7–⁠111–⁠16
Ohio State7–⁠111–⁠12
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠312
Purdue6–⁠29–⁠424
Penn State5–⁠39–⁠317
Michigan State4–⁠46–⁠6
Minnesota2–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana2–⁠64–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠63–⁠8
Iowa2–⁠63–⁠8
Northwestern0–⁠83–⁠9

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