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1996 Wisconsin

8–⁠5 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Barry Alvarez.

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 1996, game by game: won vs. Eastern Michigan 24–3; won at UNLV 52–17; won vs. Stanford 14–0; lost vs. No. 3 Penn State 20–23; lost at No. 2 Ohio State 14–17; lost vs. No. 14 Northwestern 30–34; lost at Michigan State 13–30; won vs. Purdue 33–25; won vs. Minnesota 45–28; lost at Iowa 0–31; won at Illinois 35–15; won at Hawai’i 59–10; won vs. Utah 38–10+49−31Won 24–3 vs. Eastern Michigan+21Eastern MichiganWon 52–17 at UNLV+35UNLVWon 14–0 vs. Stanford+14StanfordLost 20–23 vs. No. 3 Penn State-3No. 3 Penn StateLost 14–17 at No. 2 Ohio State-3No. 2 Ohio StateLost 30–34 vs. No. 14 Northwestern-4No. 14 NorthwesternLost 13–30 at Michigan State-17Michigan StateWon 33–25 vs. Purdue+8PurdueWon 45–28 vs. Minnesota+17MinnesotaLost 0–31 at Iowa-31IowaWon 35–15 at Illinois+20IllinoisWon 59–10 at Hawai’i+49Hawai’iWon 38–10 vs. Utah+28Utah
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7vsEastern MichiganW 24–⁠367%
Sep 14atUNLVW 52–⁠1775%
Sep 21vsStanfordW 14–⁠063%
Sep 28vs3Penn StateL 20–⁠2338%
Oct 12at2Ohio StateL 14–⁠1721%
Oct 19vs14NorthwesternL 30–⁠3446%
Oct 26atMichigan StateL 13–⁠3039%
Nov 2vsPurdueW 33–⁠2568%
Nov 9vsMinnesotaW 45–⁠2875%
Nov 16atIowaL 0–⁠3140%
Nov 23atIllinoisW 35–⁠1557%
Nov 30atHawai’iW 59–⁠1079%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsUtahCopper BowlW 38–⁠1047%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Utah 38–⁠10 in the Copper Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 41st-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 1996.

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
3–⁠5 7th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
377–⁠243
Coach
Barry Alvarez
Elo
1603 +80 this season
SP+ rating
11.8 No. 30 of 111; offense No. 50, defense No. 32
SRS
10.4 No. 24 of 111 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Brad Childress
Defensive coordinator
Kevin Cosgrove
Captains
Daryl Carter, Cayetano Castro, Pete Monty, Tarek Saleh, Jamie Vanderveldt and Jerry Wunsch
Most valuable player
Pete Monty
Offense
Smashmouth
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1997

The 1997 draft
Rd 2Jerry Wunsch OTTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 4Pete Monty LBNew York Giants
Rd 4Tarek Saleh LBCarolina Panthers

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • Jerry WunschOTCoaches-2; Media-2
  • John HallKCoaches-2; Media-2

From Wikipedia’s 1996 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1996 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠111–⁠12
Northwestern7–⁠19–⁠315
Penn State6–⁠211–⁠27
Iowa6–⁠29–⁠318
Michigan5–⁠38–⁠420
Michigan State5–⁠36–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠58–⁠5
Purdue2–⁠63–⁠8
Minnesota1–⁠74–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠73–⁠8
Illinois1–⁠72–⁠9

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