1981 Big Ten Conference football season

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.

1981 Big Ten Conference football season
LeagueNCAA Division I-A
SportFootball
Number of teams10
Top draft pickArt Schlichter
Co-championsIowa, Ohio State
  Runners-upMichigan, Illinois
Season MVPArt Schlichter
Top scorerBob Atha
Football seasons
← 1980
1982 →
1981 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 15 Ohio State + 6 2 0 9 3 0
No. 18 Iowa + 6 2 0 8 4 0
No. 12 Michigan 6 3 0 9 3 0
Illinois 6 3 0 7 4 0
Wisconsin 6 3 0 7 5 0
Minnesota 4 5 0 6 5 0
Michigan State 4 5 0 5 6 0
Purdue 3 6 0 5 6 0
Indiana 3 6 0 3 8 0
Northwestern 0 9 0 0 11 0
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

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

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Results and team statistics

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Conf. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG
1 (tie) Ohio State Earle Bruce 15 7 9–3 6–2 32.2 21.1
1 (tie) Iowa Hayden Fry 18 6 8–4 6–2 21.7 13.3
3 (tie) Michigan Bo Schembechler 12 1 9–3 6–3 29.6 13.5
3 (tie) Illinois Mike White NR NR 7–4 6–3 26.1 26.2
3 (tie) Wisconsin Dave McClain NR 14 7–5 6–3 22.3 18.2
6 (tie) Minnesota Joe Salem NR NR 6–5 4–5 24.9 24.0
6 (tie) Michigan State Muddy Waters NR NR 5–6 4–5 23.9 22.6
8 (tie) Purdue Jim Young NR NR 5–6 3–6 22.0 21.9
8 (tie) Indiana Lee Corso NR NR 3–8 3–6 13.1 26.6
10 Northwestern Dennis Green NR NR 0–11 0–9 7.5 45.9

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

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

Date Time Visiting team Home team Site TV Result Attendance Ref.
January 1, 1982 Washington Iowa Rose BowlPasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) NBC L 0–28   105,611
December 31, 1981 8 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

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

All-conference players

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All-Americans

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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

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1982 NFL Draft

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

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Art Schlichter Quarterback Ohio State 1 4
Butch Woolfolk Running back Michigan 1 18
Ron Hallstrom Guard Iowa 1 22
Bubba Paris Offensive tackle Michigan 2 29

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "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.