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1974 Wisconsin

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

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 1974, game by game: won at Purdue 28–14; won vs. No. 4 Nebraska 21–20; lost at Colorado 21–24; won vs. Missouri 59–20; lost at No. 1 Ohio State 7–52; lost vs. No. 3 Michigan 20–24; won at Indiana 35–25; lost vs. Michigan State 21–28; won at Iowa 28–15; won at Northwestern 52–7; won vs. Minnesota 49–14+45−45Won 28–14 at Purdue+14PurdueWon 21–20 vs. No. 4 Nebraska+1No. 4 NebraskaLost 21–24 at Colorado-3ColoradoWon 59–20 vs. Missouri+39MissouriLost 7–52 at No. 1 Ohio State-45No. 1 Ohio StateLost 20–24 vs. No. 3 Michigan-4No. 3 MichiganWon 35–25 at Indiana+10IndianaLost 21–28 vs. Michigan State-7Michigan StateWon 28–15 at Iowa+13IowaWon 52–7 at Northwestern+45NorthwesternWon 49–14 vs. Minnesota+35Minnesota
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14atPurdueW 28–⁠1436%
Sep 21vs4NebraskaW 21–⁠2028%
Sep 28atColoradoL 21–⁠2440%
Oct 5vsMissouriW 59–⁠2044%
Oct 12at1Ohio StateL 7–⁠5218%
Oct 19vs3MichiganL 20–⁠2428%
Oct 26atIndianaW 35–⁠2560%
Nov 2vsMichigan StateL 21–⁠2858%
Nov 9atIowaW 28–⁠1561%
Nov 16atNorthwesternW 52–⁠762%
Nov 23vsMinnesotaW 49–⁠1473%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Minnesota 49–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 62nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 4: 11
  2. Wk 6: 13
  3. Wk 9: 20
  4. Wk 13: 19
  5. Wk 14: 20

Led the nationBilly Marek: points per game (12.7)

Record
7–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 4th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 11
Points
341–⁠243
Coach
John Jardine
Elo
1566 +117 this season
SP+ rating
14.3 No. 27 of 124; offense No. 4, defense No. 84
SRS
16.4 No. 13 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Ellis Rainsberger
Defensive coordinator
Lew Stueck
Captains
Gregg Bohlig and Mark Zakula
Most valuable player
Gregg Bohlig
Offense
I formation
Defense
5–⁠2

All-Big Ten

3 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Billy MarekRBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Jack NovakEnds/receivers
  • Dennis LickOTAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1974 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1974 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠13
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠24
Michigan State6–⁠1–⁠17–⁠3–⁠112
Wisconsin5–⁠37–⁠4
Illinois4–⁠3–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
Purdue3–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota2–⁠64–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠63–⁠8
Iowa2–⁠63–⁠8
Indiana1–⁠71–⁠10

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