CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2003 Wisconsin

7–⁠6 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Barry Alvarez.

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 2003, game by game: won at West Virginia 24–17; won vs. Akron 48–31; lost vs. UNLV 5–23; won vs. North Carolina 38–27; won at Illinois 38–20; won at Penn State 30–23; won vs. No. 3 Ohio State 17–10; lost vs. No. 13 Purdue 23–26; lost at Northwestern 7–16; lost at No. 24 Minnesota 34–37; won vs. No. 21 Michigan State 56–21; lost vs. No. 17 Iowa 21–27; lost vs. Auburn 14–28+35−18Won 24–17 at West Virginia+7West VirginiaWon 48–31 vs. Akron+17AkronLost 5–23 vs. UNLV-18UNLVWon 38–27 vs. North Carolina+11North CarolinaWon 38–20 at Illinois+18IllinoisWon 30–23 at Penn State+7Penn StateWon 17–10 vs. No. 3 Ohio State+7No. 3 Ohio StateLost 23–26 vs. No. 13 Purdue-3No. 13 PurdueLost 7–16 at Northwestern-9NorthwesternLost 34–37 at No. 24 Minnesota-3No. 24 MinnesotaWon 56–21 vs. No. 21 Michigan State+35No. 21 Michigan StateLost 21–27 vs. No. 17 Iowa-6No. 17 IowaLost 14–28 vs. Auburn-14Auburn
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30atWest VirginiaW 24–⁠1740%
Sep 6vsAkronW 48–⁠3176%
Sep 13vsUNLVL 5–⁠2375%
Sep 20vsNorth CarolinaW 38–⁠2773%
Sep 27atIllinoisW 38–⁠2050%
Oct 4atPenn StateW 30–⁠2347%
Oct 11vs3Ohio StateW 17–⁠1038%
Oct 18vs13PurdueL 23–⁠2656%
Oct 25atNorthwesternL 7–⁠1668%
Nov 8at24MinnesotaL 34–⁠3736%
Nov 15vs21Michigan StateW 56–⁠2155%
Nov 22vs17IowaL 21–⁠2747%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsAuburnMusic City BowlL 14–⁠2847%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Auburn 28–⁠14 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The tied 69th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 21
  2. Wk 3: 18
  3. Wk 4: 14
  4. Wk 8: 23
  5. Wk 9: 14
  6. Wk 10: 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 2003.

Record
7–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 7th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 14
Points
355–⁠306
Coach
Barry Alvarez
Elo
1550 +11 this season
SP+ rating
11.2 No. 37 of 117; offense No. 42, defense No. 32
SRS
7.5 No. 34 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 31
Offensive coordinator
Brian White
Defensive coordinator
Kevin Cosgrove
Captains
Lee Evans, Jim Leonhard, Jeff Mack and Jim Sorgi
Most valuable player
Lee Evans
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 31— allowed
Defense-0.1own 31— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2003 class

Justin Ostrowski SDE★★★★★No. 32
Kurt Ware SDE★★★No. 682
Roderick Rogers S★★★No. 682
Luke Swan WR★★No. 1050
Dan Roscoe OT★★No. 1050

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2003 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs12.00.767
Receivers32.00.767
Offensive line22.00.767
Defensive line24.00.892
Defensive backs22.50.783
Athletes and specialists12.00.767
Whole class112.50.792

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2004

The 2004 draft
Rd 1Lee Evans WRBuffalo Bills
Rd 5Alex Lewis LBDetroit Lions
Rd 6Jim Sorgi QBIndianapolis Colts

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Dan BuenningOGMedia-2

From Wikipedia’s 2003 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2003 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠36
Ohio State6–⁠211–⁠24
Purdue6–⁠29–⁠418
Iowa5–⁠310–⁠38
Minnesota5–⁠310–⁠320
Michigan State5–⁠38–⁠5
Wisconsin4–⁠47–⁠6
Northwestern4–⁠46–⁠7
Penn State1–⁠73–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠72–⁠10
Illinois0–⁠81–⁠11

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