CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1986 Wisconsin

3–⁠9 (2–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Jim Hilles.

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 1986, game by game: lost at Hawai’i 17–20; won vs. Northern Illinois 35–20; lost at UNLV 7–17; lost vs. Wyoming 12–21; lost vs. No. 4 Michigan 17–34; lost at No. 10 Iowa 6–17; won at Northwestern 35–27; won vs. Illinois 15–9; lost at Indiana 7–21; lost vs. Minnesota 20–27; lost vs. No. 9 Ohio State 17–30; lost at Michigan State 13–23+15−17Lost 17–20 at Hawai’i-3Hawai’iWon 35–20 vs. Northern Illinois+15Northern Illino…Lost 7–17 at UNLV-10UNLVLost 12–21 vs. Wyoming-9WyomingLost 17–34 vs. No. 4 Michigan-17No. 4 MichiganLost 6–17 at No. 10 Iowa-11No. 10 IowaWon 35–27 at Northwestern+8NorthwesternWon 15–9 vs. Illinois+6IllinoisLost 7–21 at Indiana-14IndianaLost 20–27 vs. Minnesota-7MinnesotaLost 17–30 vs. No. 9 Ohio State-13No. 9 Ohio StateLost 13–23 at Michigan State-10Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 6atHawai’iL 17–⁠2045%
Sep 13vsNorthern IllinoisW 35–⁠2070%
Sep 20atUNLVL 7–⁠1747%
Sep 27vsWyomingL 12–⁠2161%
Oct 4vs4MichiganL 17–⁠3426%
Oct 11at10IowaL 6–⁠1716%
Oct 18atNorthwesternW 35–⁠2750%
Oct 25vsIllinoisW 15–⁠954%
Nov 1atIndianaL 7–⁠2142%
Nov 8vsMinnesotaL 20–⁠2750%
Nov 15vs9Ohio StateL 17–⁠3022%
Nov 22atMichigan StateL 13–⁠2324%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Michigan State 23–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 119th-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 1986.

Record
3–⁠9
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
201–⁠266
Coach
Jim Hilles
Elo
1405 −93 this season
SP+ rating
-2.8 No. 59 of 101; offense No. 79, defense No. 40
SRS
−3.9 No. 65 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Fred Jackson
Captains
Joe Armentrout and Craig Raddatz
Most valuable player
Michael Reid
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
3–⁠4

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 2Nate Odomes DBBuffalo Bills
Rd 2Rick Graf LBMiami Dolphins
Rd 4Tim Jordan LBNew England Patriots
Rd 7Michael Reid LBAtlanta Falcons

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 3 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠111–⁠28
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠37
Iowa5–⁠39–⁠316
Minnesota5–⁠36–⁠6
Michigan State4–⁠46–⁠5
Indiana3–⁠56–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠54–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠64–⁠7
Purdue2–⁠63–⁠8
Wisconsin2–⁠63–⁠9

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