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1984 Wisconsin

7–⁠4–⁠1 (5–⁠3–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Dave McClain.

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 1984, game by game: won vs. Northern Illinois 27–14; won at Missouri 35–34; lost at No. 16 Michigan 14–20; won vs. Northwestern 31–16; lost at Illinois 6–22; lost vs. Minnesota 14–17; won at Indiana 20–16; won vs. No. 6 Ohio State 16–14; tied at No. 17 Iowa 10–10; won vs. Purdue 30–13; won at Michigan State 20–10; lost vs. Kentucky 19–20+17−16Won 27–14 vs. Northern Illinois+13Northern Illino…Won 35–34 at Missouri+1MissouriLost 14–20 at No. 16 Michigan-6No. 16 MichiganWon 31–16 vs. Northwestern+15NorthwesternLost 6–22 at Illinois-16IllinoisLost 14–17 vs. Minnesota-3MinnesotaWon 20–16 at Indiana+4IndianaWon 16–14 vs. No. 6 Ohio State+2No. 6 Ohio StateTied 10–10 at No. 17 Iowa0No. 17 IowaWon 30–13 vs. Purdue+17PurdueWon 20–10 at Michigan State+10Michigan StateLost 19–20 vs. Kentucky-1Kentucky
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 8vsNorthern IllinoisW 27–⁠1452%
Sep 15atMissouriW 35–⁠3445%
Sep 22at16MichiganL 14–⁠2036%
Sep 29vsNorthwesternW 31–⁠1682%
Oct 6atIllinoisL 6–⁠2240%
Oct 13vsMinnesotaL 14–⁠1780%
Oct 20atIndianaW 20–⁠1669%
Oct 27vs6Ohio StateW 16–⁠1436%
Nov 3at17IowaT 10–⁠1026%
Nov 10vsPurdueW 30–⁠1364%
Nov 17atMichigan StateW 20–⁠1051%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsKentuckyHall of Fame ClassicL 19–⁠2054%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Kentucky 20–⁠19 in the Hall of Fame Classic; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 51st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 15: 20

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 1984.

Record
7–⁠4–⁠1
Conference
5–⁠3–⁠1 tied for 4th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 20
Points
242–⁠206
Coach
Dave McClain
Elo
1583 +47 this season
SP+ rating
6.2 No. 48 of 106; offense No. 63, defense No. 22
SRS
4.5 No. 42 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bill Dudley
Defensive coordinator
Jim Hilles
Most valuable player
Al Toon
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1985

The 1985 draft
Rd 1Al Toon WRNew York Jets
Rd 1Richard Johnson DBHouston Oilers
Rd 1Darryl Sims DEPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 2Scott Bergold OTSt. Louis Cardinals
Rd 4Dan Turk CPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 4Jeff Dellenbach OTMiami Dolphins
Rd 7Gary Ellerson RBGreen Bay Packers
Rd 7Kevin Belcher OTLos Angeles Raiders

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

  • Larry EmeryRBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Dan TurkCUPI-2
  • James MelkaLBAP-2; UPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1984 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1984 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠29–⁠313
Illinois6–⁠37–⁠4
Purdue6–⁠37–⁠5
Iowa5–⁠3–⁠18–⁠4–⁠116
Wisconsin5–⁠3–⁠17–⁠4–⁠1
Michigan State5–⁠46–⁠6
Michigan5–⁠46–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠64–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠72–⁠9
Indiana0–⁠90–⁠11

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