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
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.

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. Rank Team Head coach AP final AP high Overall record Conf. record PPG PAG
1 (tie)Ohio StateEarle Bruce1579–36–232.221.1
1 (tie)IowaHayden Fry1868–46–221.713.3
3 (tie)MichiganBo Schembechler1219–36–329.613.5
3 (tie)IllinoisMike WhiteNRNR7–46–326.126.2
3 (tie)WisconsinDave McClainNR147–56–322.318.2
6 (tie)MinnesotaJoe SalemNRNR6–54–524.924.0
6 (tie)Michigan StateMuddy WatersNRNR5–64–523.922.6
8 (tie)PurdueJim YoungNRNR5–63–622.021.9
8 (tie)IndianaLee CorsoNRNR3–83–613.126.6
10NorthwesternDennis GreenNRNR0–110–97.545.9

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 Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) NBC L 0–28   105,611
December 31, 1981 8 p.m. Navy Ohio State Liberty Bowl • Memphis, TN (Liberty Bowl) USA Network W 31–28   43,216
December 31, 1981 UCLA Michigan Houston Astrodome • Houston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl) Mizlou W 33–14   50,107
December 13, 1981 Tennessee Wisconsin Giants Stadium • East 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]

Name Position Team Round Overall pick
Art SchlichterQuarterbackOhio State14
Butch WoolfolkRunning backMichigan118
Ron HallstromGuardIowa122
Bubba ParisOffensive tackleMichigan229

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.
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