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1973 Wisconsin

4–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by John Jardine.

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 1973, game by game: lost vs. Purdue 13–14; lost vs. No. 19 Colorado 25–28; lost at No. 2 Nebraska 16–20; won vs. Wyoming 37–28; lost vs. No. 1 Ohio State 0–24; lost at No. 4 Michigan 6–35; won vs. Indiana 31–7; lost at Michigan State 0–21; won vs. Iowa 35–7; won vs. Northwestern 36–34; lost at Minnesota 17–19+28−29Lost 13–14 vs. Purdue-1PurdueLost 25–28 vs. No. 19 Colorado-3No. 19 ColoradoLost 16–20 at No. 2 Nebraska-4No. 2 NebraskaWon 37–28 vs. Wyoming+9WyomingLost 0–24 vs. No. 1 Ohio State-24No. 1 Ohio StateLost 6–35 at No. 4 Michigan-29No. 4 MichiganWon 31–7 vs. Indiana+24IndianaLost 0–21 at Michigan State-21Michigan StateWon 35–7 vs. Iowa+28IowaWon 36–34 vs. Northwestern+2NorthwesternLost 17–19 at Minnesota-2Minnesota
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 15vsPurdueL 13–⁠1442%
Sep 22vs19ColoradoL 25–⁠2832%
Sep 29at2NebraskaL 16–⁠209%
Oct 6vsWyomingW 37–⁠2851%
Oct 13vs1Ohio StateL 0–⁠2427%
Oct 20at4MichiganL 6–⁠3510%
Oct 27vsIndianaW 31–⁠755%
Nov 3atMichigan StateL 0–⁠2135%
Nov 10vsIowaW 35–⁠774%
Nov 17vsNorthwesternW 36–⁠3466%
Nov 24atMinnesotaL 17–⁠1930%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Minnesota 19–⁠17; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 116th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
216–⁠237
Coach
John Jardine
Elo
1424 +9 this season
SP+ rating
4.6 No. 62 of 123; offense No. 59, defense No. 55
SRS
9.9 No. 32 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Ellis Rainsberger
Defensive coordinator
Lew Stueck
Captains
Chris Davis, Jim Schymanski and Mike Webster
Most valuable player
Mike Webster
Offense
I formation
Defense
5–⁠2

Drafted in 1974

The 1974 draft
Rd 5Mike Webster CPittsburgh Steelers

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Billy MarekRBAP-1; UPI-2
  • Jeff MackEnds/receivers
  • Mike WebsterCAP-1; UPI-1
  • Jim SchymanskiDL

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1973 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1973 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠0–⁠110–⁠0–⁠16
Ohio State7–⁠0–⁠110–⁠0–⁠12
Minnesota6–⁠27–⁠4
Purdue4–⁠45–⁠6
Michigan State4–⁠45–⁠6
Illinois4–⁠45–⁠6
Northwestern4–⁠44–⁠7
Wisconsin3–⁠54–⁠7
Indiana0–⁠82–⁠9
Iowa0–⁠80–⁠11

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