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1971 Wisconsin

4–⁠6–⁠1 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by John Jardine.

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 1971, game by game: won vs. Northern Illinois 31–0; tied at No. 15 Syracuse 20–20; lost vs. No. 18 LSU 28–38; lost at Northwestern 11–24; won vs. Indiana 35–29; won vs. Michigan State 31–28; lost at No. 12 Ohio State 6–31; lost at Iowa 16–20; won vs. Purdue 14–10; lost vs. Illinois 27–35; lost at Minnesota 21–23+31−25Won 31–0 vs. Northern Illinois+31Northern Illino…Tied 20–20 at No. 15 Syracuse0No. 15 SyracuseLost 28–38 vs. No. 18 LSU-10No. 18 LSULost 11–24 at Northwestern-13NorthwesternWon 35–29 vs. Indiana+6IndianaWon 31–28 vs. Michigan State+3Michigan StateLost 6–31 at No. 12 Ohio State-25No. 12 Ohio StateLost 16–20 at Iowa-4IowaWon 14–10 vs. Purdue+4PurdueLost 27–35 vs. Illinois-8IllinoisLost 21–23 at Minnesota-2Minnesota
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vsNorthern IllinoisW 31–⁠074%
Sep 18at15SyracuseT 20–⁠2037%
Sep 25vs18LSUL 28–⁠3838%
Oct 2atNorthwesternL 11–⁠2438%
Oct 9vsIndianaW 35–⁠2972%
Oct 16vsMichigan StateW 31–⁠2854%
Oct 23at12Ohio StateL 6–⁠3119%
Oct 30atIowaL 16–⁠2061%
Nov 6vsPurdueW 14–⁠1055%
Nov 13vsIllinoisL 27–⁠3567%
Nov 20atMinnesotaL 21–⁠2344%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Minnesota 23–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 118th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
4–⁠6–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
240–⁠258
Coach
John Jardine
Elo
1416 −53 this season
SP+ rating
-2.5 No. 77 of 120; offense No. 52, defense No. 89
SRS
3.2 No. 51 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Paul Roach
Defensive coordinator
Lew Stueck
Captains
Roger Jaeger and Bill Poindexter
Most valuable player
Neil Graff
Offense
Option
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1972

The 1972 draft
Rd 7Lance Moon RBAtlanta Falcons

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Rufus FergusonRBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Dave LokancLBAP-2
  • Neovia GreyerDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1971 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1971 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠011–⁠16
Northwestern6–⁠37–⁠4
Ohio State5–⁠36–⁠4
Michigan State5–⁠36–⁠5
Illinois5–⁠35–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota3–⁠54–⁠7
Purdue3–⁠53–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠63–⁠8
Iowa1–⁠81–⁠10

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