CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1959 Wisconsin

7–⁠3 (5–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Milt Bruhn, finished No. 6 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 1959, game by game: won vs. Stanford 16–14; won vs. Marquette 44–6; lost at No. 7 Purdue 0–21; won vs. No. 9 Iowa 25–16; won vs. No. 20 Ohio State 12–3; won at Michigan 19–10; won at No. 2 Northwestern 24–19; lost vs. Illinois 6–9; won at Minnesota 11–7; lost vs. No. 8 Washington 8–44+38−36Won 16–14 vs. Stanford+2StanfordWon 44–6 vs. Marquette+38MarquetteLost 0–21 at No. 7 Purdue-21No. 7 PurdueWon 25–16 vs. No. 9 Iowa+9No. 9 IowaWon 12–3 vs. No. 20 Ohio State+9No. 20 Ohio StateWon 19–10 at Michigan+9MichiganWon 24–19 at No. 2 Northwestern+5No. 2 NorthwesternLost 6–9 vs. Illinois-3IllinoisWon 11–7 at Minnesota+4MinnesotaLost 8–44 vs. No. 8 Washington-36No. 8 Washington
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26vsStanfordW 16–⁠1481%
Oct 3vsMarquetteW 44–⁠687%
Oct 10at7PurdueL 0–⁠2141%
Oct 17vs9IowaW 25–⁠1648%
Oct 24vs20Ohio StateW 12–⁠362%
Oct 31atMichiganW 19–⁠1068%
Nov 7at2NorthwesternW 24–⁠1944%
Nov 14vsIllinoisL 6–⁠976%
Nov 21atMinnesotaW 11–⁠774%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs8WashingtonRose BowlL 8–⁠4455%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Washington 44–⁠8 in the Rose Bowl; No. 6 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 36th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

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

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 1959.

Big Ten champions5–⁠2 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanDan Lanphear, OT

Record
7–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠2 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 6 peak No. 5
Points
165–⁠149
Coach
Milt Bruhn
Elo
1614 +6 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
10.0 No. 28 of 112 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Jerry Stalcup and Bob Zeman
Most valuable player
Jerry Stalcup

Drafted in 1960

The 1960 draft
Rd 5Dale Hackbart BGreen Bay Packers
Rd 6Jerry Stalcup OGLos Angeles Rams

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jim HeinekeOTAP-2; UPI-3
  • Ron PerkinsOGAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1959 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1959 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Wisconsin5–⁠27–⁠36
Michigan State4–⁠25–⁠4
Purdue4–⁠2–⁠15–⁠2–⁠2
Illinois4–⁠2–⁠15–⁠3–⁠113
Northwestern4–⁠36–⁠3
Iowa3–⁠35–⁠4
Michigan3–⁠44–⁠5
Indiana2–⁠4–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Ohio State2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠5–⁠1
Minnesota1–⁠62–⁠7

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