CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1997 Wisconsin

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

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 1997, game by game: lost vs. No. 17 Syracuse 0–34; won vs. Boise State 28–24; won at San José State 56–10; won vs. San Diego State 36–10; won vs. Indiana 27–26; won at Northwestern 26–25; won vs. Illinois 31–7; lost at Purdue 20–45; won at Minnesota 22–21; won vs. No. 12 Iowa 13–10; lost vs. No. 1 Michigan 16–26; lost at No. 6 Penn State 10–35; lost vs. No. 12 Georgia 6–33+46−34Lost 0–34 vs. No. 17 Syracuse-34No. 17 SyracuseWon 28–24 vs. Boise State+4Boise StateWon 56–10 at San José State+46San José StateWon 36–10 vs. San Diego State+26San Diego StateWon 27–26 vs. Indiana+1IndianaWon 26–25 at Northwestern+1NorthwesternWon 31–7 vs. Illinois+24IllinoisLost 20–45 at Purdue-25PurdueWon 22–21 at Minnesota+1MinnesotaWon 13–10 vs. No. 12 Iowa+3No. 12 IowaLost 16–26 vs. No. 1 Michigan-10No. 1 MichiganLost 10–35 at No. 6 Penn State-25No. 6 Penn StateLost 6–33 vs. No. 12 Georgia-27No. 12 Georgia
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 24vs17SyracuseL 0–⁠3441%
Sep 6vsBoise StateW 28–⁠2488%
Sep 13atSan José StateW 56–⁠1067%
Sep 20vsSan Diego StateW 36–⁠1060%
Sep 27vsIndianaW 27–⁠2678%
Oct 4atNorthwesternW 26–⁠2551%
Oct 11vsIllinoisW 31–⁠785%
Oct 18atPurdueL 20–⁠4552%
Oct 25atMinnesotaW 22–⁠2169%
Nov 8vs12IowaW 13–⁠1048%
Nov 15vs1MichiganL 16–⁠2632%
Nov 22at6Penn StateL 10–⁠3523%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs12GeorgiaOutback BowlL 6–⁠3338%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Georgia 33–⁠6 in the Outback Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 73rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 24
  2. Wk 9: 24
  3. Wk 13: 23
  4. Wk 14: 24

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 1997.

Record
8–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 23
Points
291–⁠306
Coach
Barry Alvarez
Elo
1544 −25 this season
SP+ rating
-0.3 No. 64 of 112; offense No. 76, defense No. 45
SRS
−0.2 No. 58 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Brad Childress
Defensive coordinator
Kevin Cosgrove
Captains
Kevin Huntley, David Lysek and Carl McCullough
Most valuable player
Tom Burke
Offense
Smashmouth
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1998

The 1998 draft
Rd 2Tony Simmons WRNew England Patriots
Rd 4Donald Hayes WRCarolina Panthers

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Matt DavenportKCoaches-1; Media-2

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1997 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1997 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠012–⁠01
Ohio State6–⁠210–⁠312
Penn State6–⁠29–⁠316
Purdue6–⁠29–⁠315
Wisconsin5–⁠38–⁠5
Michigan State4–⁠47–⁠5
Iowa4–⁠47–⁠5
Northwestern3–⁠55–⁠7
Minnesota1–⁠73–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠72–⁠9
Illinois0–⁠80–⁠11

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