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1977 Wisconsin

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

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 1977, game by game: won at Indiana 30–14; won vs. Northern Illinois 14–3; won at Oregon 22–10; won vs. Northwestern 19–7; won vs. Illinois 26–0; lost at No. 1 Michigan 0–56; lost vs. Michigan State 7–9; lost at No. 3 Ohio State 0–42; lost vs. Purdue 0–22; lost vs. Iowa 8–24; lost at Minnesota 7–13+26−56Won 30–14 at Indiana+16IndianaWon 14–3 vs. Northern Illinois+11Northern Illino…Won 22–10 at Oregon+12OregonWon 19–7 vs. Northwestern+12NorthwesternWon 26–0 vs. Illinois+26IllinoisLost 0–56 at No. 1 Michigan-56No. 1 MichiganLost 7–9 vs. Michigan State-2Michigan StateLost 0–42 at No. 3 Ohio State-42No. 3 Ohio StateLost 0–22 vs. Purdue-22PurdueLost 8–24 vs. Iowa-16IowaLost 7–13 at Minnesota-6Minnesota
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10atIndianaW 30–⁠1448%
Sep 17vsNorthern IllinoisW 14–⁠388%
Sep 24atOregonW 22–⁠1054%
Oct 1vsNorthwesternW 19–⁠783%
Oct 8vsIllinoisW 26–⁠073%
Oct 15at1MichiganL 0–⁠5620%
Oct 22vsMichigan StateL 7–⁠968%
Oct 29at3Ohio StateL 0–⁠4219%
Nov 5vsPurdueL 0–⁠2262%
Nov 12vsIowaL 8–⁠2468%
Nov 19atMinnesotaL 7–⁠1332%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Minnesota 13–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 115th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 5: 19
  2. Wk 6: 14
Record
5–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠6 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 14
Points
133–⁠200
Coach
John Jardine
Elo
1428 −54 this season
SP+ rating
-10.8 No. 107 of 140; offense No. 133, defense No. 64
SRS
−1.3 No. 81 of 145 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Mike Stock
Defensive coordinator
Gary Blackney
Captain
Dennis Stejskal
Most valuable player
Dave Crossen
Offense
Multiple T
Defense
5–⁠2

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Dennis StejskalFront five

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1977 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1977 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠29
Ohio State7–⁠19–⁠311
Michigan State6–⁠1–⁠17–⁠3–⁠1
Indiana4–⁠3–⁠15–⁠5–⁠1
Minnesota4–⁠47–⁠5
Purdue3–⁠55–⁠6
Iowa3–⁠54–⁠7
Wisconsin3–⁠65–⁠6
Illinois2–⁠63–⁠8
Northwestern1–⁠81–⁠10

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