1981 Big Ten Conference football season

Last updated

1981 Big Ten Conference football season
League NCAA Division I-A
SportFootball
Number of teams10
Top draft pick Art Schlichter
Co-champions Iowa, Ohio State
  Runners-up Michigan, Illinois
Season MVP Art Schlichter
Top scorer Bob Atha
Football seasons
  1980
1982  
1981 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
TeamW L TW L T
No. 15 Ohio State + 6 2 09 3 0
No. 18 Iowa + 6 2 08 4 0
No. 12 Michigan 6 3 09 3 0
Illinois 6 3 07 4 0
Wisconsin 6 3 07 5 0
Minnesota 4 5 06 5 0
Michigan State 4 5 05 6 0
Purdue 3 6 05 6 0
Indiana 3 6 03 8 0
Northwestern 0 9 00 11 0
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1981 Big Ten Conference football season was the 86th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1981 NCAA Division I-A football season.

Contents

The 1981 Big Ten co-champions were Iowa and Ohio State. In an odd twist of fate, the Hawkeyes and Buckeyes did not play each other, while all other conference teams played a full round-robin. Due to this, Iowa was awarded the Rose Bowl berth since its last appearance was in 1959; by comparison, Ohio State went to Pasadena seven times between 1969 and 1980.

Season overview

Results and team statistics

Conf. RankTeamHead coachAP finalAP highOverall recordConf. recordPPGPAG
1 (tie) Ohio State Earle Bruce 1579–36–232.221.1
1 (tie) Iowa Hayden Fry 1868–46–221.713.3
3 (tie) Michigan Bo Schembechler 1219–36–329.613.5
3 (tie) Illinois Mike White NRNR7–46–326.126.2
3 (tie) Wisconsin Dave McClain NR147–56–322.318.2
6 (tie) Minnesota Joe Salem NRNR6–54–524.924.0
6 (tie) Michigan State Muddy Waters NRNR5–64–523.922.6
8 (tie) Purdue Jim Young NRNR5–63–622.021.9
8 (tie) Indiana Lee Corso NRNR3–83–613.126.6
10 Northwestern Dennis Green NRNR0–110–97.545.9

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1981 season [1]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1981 season [1]
PPG = Average of points scored per game [1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game [1]

Bowl games

Four Big Ten teams played in bowl games at the end of the 1981 season.

DateTimeVisiting teamHome teamSiteTVResultAttendance
January 1, 1982 Washington Iowa Rose BowlPasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) NBC L 0–28  105,611
December 31, 19818 p.m. Navy Ohio State Liberty BowlMemphis, TN (Liberty Bowl) USA Network W 31–28  43,216
December 31, 1981 UCLA Michigan Houston AstrodomeHouston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl) Mizlou W 33–14  50,107
December 13, 1981 Tennessee Wisconsin Giants StadiumEast Rutherford, NJ (Garden State Bowl) Mizlou L 21–28  38,782
#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Eastern Standard Time.

Statistical leaders

The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders include the following: [1]

All-conference players

All-Americans

The NCAA recognizes four selectors as "official" for the 1980 season. [2] They are (1) the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), (2) the Associated Press (AP), (3) the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), and (4) the United Press International (UPI).

Consensus All-Americans

1982 NFL Draft

The following Big Ten players were selected in the first six rounds of the draft: [3]

NamePositionTeamRoundOverall pick
Art Schlichter QuarterbackOhio State14
Butch Woolfolk Running backMichigan118
Ron Hallstrom GuardIowa122
Bubba Paris Offensive tackleMichigan229

Related Research Articles

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The 1980 Big Ten Conference football season was the 85th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season.

The 1985 Big Ten Conference football season was the 90th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1985 NCAA Division I-A football season.

The 1997 Big Ten Conference football season was the 102nd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season.

The 1944 Big Ten Conference football season was the 49th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1944 college football season.

The 1945 Big Ten Conference football season was the 50th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1945 college football season.

The 1957 Big Ten Conference football season was the 62nd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1957 NCAA University Division football season.

The 1961 Big Ten Conference football season was the 66th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1961 NCAA University Division football season.

The 1960 Big Ten Conference football season was the 65th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1960 NCAA University Division football season.

The 1958 Big Ten Conference football season was the 63rd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1958 NCAA University Division football season.

The 1978 Big Ten Conference football season was the 83rd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season.

The 1979 Big Ten Conference football season was the 84th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1979 NCAA Division I-A football season.

The 1984 Big Ten Conference football season was the 89th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1984 NCAA Division I-A football season.

The 1990 Big Ten Conference football season was the 95th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1990 NCAA Division I-A football season.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 "1981 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  2. "2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). 2014. pp. 3, 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 26, 2018. Retrieved February 10, 2015.
  3. "1982 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved November 2, 2016.