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1980 Wisconsin

4–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Dave McClain.

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 1980, game by game: lost vs. No. 20 Purdue 6–12; lost vs. BYU 3–28; lost at No. 16 UCLA 0–35; won vs. San Diego State 35–12; lost at Indiana 0–24; won at Michigan State 17–7; lost vs. No. 10 Ohio State 0–21; lost at Iowa 13–22; lost vs. No. 12 Michigan 0–24; won at Northwestern 39–19; won vs. Minnesota 25–7+23−35Lost 6–12 vs. No. 20 Purdue-6No. 20 PurdueLost 3–28 vs. BYU-25BYULost 0–35 at No. 16 UCLA-35No. 16 UCLAWon 35–12 vs. San Diego State+23San Diego StateLost 0–24 at Indiana-24IndianaWon 17–7 at Michigan State+10Michigan StateLost 0–21 vs. No. 10 Ohio State-21No. 10 Ohio StateLost 13–22 at Iowa-9IowaLost 0–24 vs. No. 12 Michigan-24No. 12 MichiganWon 39–19 at Northwestern+20NorthwesternWon 25–7 vs. Minnesota+18Minnesota
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13vs20PurdueL 6–⁠1240%
Sep 20vsBYUL 3–⁠2830%
Sep 27at16UCLAL 0–⁠3521%
Oct 4vsSan Diego StateW 35–⁠1246%
Oct 11atIndianaL 0–⁠2427%
Oct 18atMichigan StateW 17–⁠735%
Oct 25vs10Ohio StateL 0–⁠2129%
Nov 1atIowaL 13–⁠2245%
Nov 8vs12MichiganL 0–⁠2424%
Nov 15atNorthwesternW 39–⁠1971%
Nov 22vsMinnesotaW 25–⁠751%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Minnesota 25–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 107th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

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 1980.

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
138–⁠211
Coach
Dave McClain
Elo
1458 −1 this season
SP+ rating
-1.7 No. 76 of 133; offense No. 110, defense No. 36
SRS
0.0 No. 69 of 138 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bill Dudley
Defensive coordinator
Jim Hilles
Captains
Dave Ahrens and Joe Rothbauer
Most valuable player
Dave Ahrens
Offense
Triple option
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1981

The 1981 draft
Rd 6Dave Ahrens LBSt. Louis Cardinals

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1980 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1980 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠010–⁠24
Ohio State7–⁠19–⁠315
Purdue7–⁠19–⁠317
Iowa4–⁠44–⁠7
Minnesota4–⁠55–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠56–⁠5
Wisconsin3–⁠54–⁠7
Illinois3–⁠53–⁠7–⁠1
Michigan State2–⁠63–⁠8
Northwestern0–⁠90–⁠11

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