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1983 Wisconsin

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

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 1983, game by game: won vs. Northern Illinois 37–9; won vs. Missouri 21–20; lost vs. No. 17 Michigan 21–38; won at Northwestern 49–0; lost vs. No. 19 Illinois 15–27; won at Minnesota 56–17; won vs. Indiana 45–14; lost at No. 16 Ohio State 27–45; lost vs. No. 15 Iowa 14–34; won at Purdue 42–38; won vs. Michigan State 32–0+49−20Won 37–9 vs. Northern Illinois+28Northern Illino…Won 21–20 vs. Missouri+1MissouriLost 21–38 vs. No. 17 Michigan-17No. 17 MichiganWon 49–0 at Northwestern+49NorthwesternLost 15–27 vs. No. 19 Illinois-12No. 19 IllinoisWon 56–17 at Minnesota+39MinnesotaWon 45–14 vs. Indiana+31IndianaLost 27–45 at No. 16 Ohio State-18No. 16 Ohio StateLost 14–34 vs. No. 15 Iowa-20No. 15 IowaWon 42–38 at Purdue+4PurdueWon 32–0 vs. Michigan State+32Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10vsNorthern IllinoisW 37–⁠963%
Sep 17vsMissouriW 21–⁠2057%
Sep 24vs17MichiganL 21–⁠3850%
Oct 1atNorthwesternW 49–⁠066%
Oct 8vs19IllinoisL 15–⁠2750%
Oct 15atMinnesotaW 56–⁠1766%
Oct 22vsIndianaW 45–⁠1470%
Oct 29at16Ohio StateL 27–⁠4530%
Nov 5vs15IowaL 14–⁠3448%
Nov 12atPurdueW 42–⁠3858%
Nov 19vsMichigan StateW 32–⁠071%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan State 32–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 65th-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 1983.

Record
7–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠4 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
359–⁠242
Coach
Dave McClain
Elo
1555 +30 this season
SP+ rating
11.0 No. 30 of 108; offense No. 8, defense No. 70
SRS
9.2 No. 32 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bill Dudley
Defensive coordinator
Jim Hilles
Captains
Mike Herrington, Brian Marrow and Randy Wright
Most valuable player
Al Toon
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1984

The 1984 draft
Rd 6Randy Wright QBGreen Bay Packers

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Al ToonWRAP-2; UPI-1
  • James MelkaLBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1983 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1983 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Illinois9–⁠010–⁠210
Michigan8–⁠19–⁠38
Iowa7–⁠29–⁠314
Ohio State6–⁠39–⁠39
Wisconsin5–⁠47–⁠4
Purdue3–⁠5–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Michigan State2–⁠6–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Indiana2–⁠73–⁠8
Northwestern2–⁠72–⁠9
Minnesota0–⁠91–⁠10

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