Conference record book

Big Ten Conference Top 25 Games of the 1950s

The best games involving a Big Ten member at the time of kickoff, ranked without favoring either side.

Games: 25
Top score: 78/100
Overtime: 0

National ranking

The conference's top 25

25 of these games include at least one AP-ranked team at kickoff. Open a supported game for its box score and statistics.

1955PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan State vs. UCLA
Michigan State 17, UCLA 14
Postseason · Neutral site
No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 4 UCLA · 3-point margin
Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
78
Game score
1954Week 4
Purdue at Duke
Purdue 13, Duke 13
Nonconference
No. 5 Purdue vs. No. 6 Duke · 0-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
76
Game score
1953Week 10
Notre Dame at Iowa
Notre Dame 14, Iowa 14
Nonconference
No. 2 Notre Dame vs. No. 9 Iowa · 0-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
76
Game score
1958Week 7
Ohio State at Wisconsin
Ohio State 7, Wisconsin 7
Conference game
No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 8 Wisconsin · 0-point margin
Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
74
Game score
1957Week 10
Iowa at Ohio State
Iowa 13, Ohio State 17
Conference game
No. 8 Iowa vs. No. 3 Ohio State · 4-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
72
Game score
1953PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan State vs. UCLA
Michigan State 28, UCLA 20
Postseason · Neutral site
No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 5 UCLA · 8-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
1959Week 4
Northwestern at Iowa
Northwestern 14, Iowa 10
Conference game
No. 2 Northwestern vs. No. 10 Iowa · 4-point margin
Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
1957Week 8
Michigan at Iowa
Michigan 21, Iowa 21
Conference game
No. 11 Michigan vs. No. 5 Iowa · 0-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
1959Week 9
Wisconsin at Northwestern
Wisconsin 24, Northwestern 19
Conference game
No. 7 Wisconsin vs. No. 6 Northwestern · 5-point margin
Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
69
Game score
1956Week 10
Michigan State at Minnesota
Michigan State 13, Minnesota 14
Conference game
No. 10 Michigan State vs. No. 7 Minnesota · 1-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
69
Game score
1958Week 7
Northwestern at Iowa
Northwestern 20, Iowa 26
Conference game
No. 11 Northwestern vs. No. 2 Iowa · 6-point margin
Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
68
Game score
1954Week 4
Rice at Wisconsin
Rice 7, Wisconsin 13
Nonconference
No. 11 Rice vs. No. 3 Wisconsin · 6-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
1957PostseasonNeutral site
Oregon vs. Ohio State
Oregon 7, Ohio State 10
Postseason · Neutral site
No. 15 Oregon vs. No. 2 Ohio State · 3-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
67
Game score
1954Week 5
Purdue at Wisconsin
Purdue 6, Wisconsin 20
Conference game
No. 5 Purdue vs. No. 2 Wisconsin · 14-point margin
Ranking 45/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15
66
Game score
1956Week 10
Ohio State at Iowa
Ohio State 0, Iowa 6
Conference game
No. 12 Ohio State vs. No. 3 Iowa · 6-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
66
Game score
1958Week 9
Northwestern at Wisconsin
Northwestern 13, Wisconsin 17
Conference game
No. 13 Northwestern vs. No. 5 Wisconsin · 4-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
65
Game score
1954Week 6
Wisconsin at Ohio State
Wisconsin 14, Ohio State 31
Conference game
No. 2 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 Ohio State · 17-point margin
Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 18/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
1956Week 4
Michigan State at Michigan
Michigan State 9, Michigan 0
Conference game
No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 12 Michigan · 9-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
1954Week 5
Iowa at Ohio State
Iowa 14, Ohio State 20
Conference game
No. 13 Iowa vs. No. 4 Ohio State · 6-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
1954Week 2
Michigan State at Iowa
Michigan State 10, Iowa 14
Conference game
No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 12 Iowa · 4-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
1958Week 3
SMU at Ohio State
SMU 20, Ohio State 23
Nonconference
No. 17 SMU vs. No. 3 Ohio State · 3-point margin
Ranking 32/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
1958Week 4
Michigan State at Michigan
Michigan State 12, Michigan 12
Conference game
No. 9 Michigan State vs. No. 14 Michigan · 0-point margin
Ranking 29/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
64
Game score
1954Week 3
Wisconsin at Michigan State
Wisconsin 6, Michigan State 0
Conference game
No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 Michigan State · 6-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
1959Week 10
Northwestern at Michigan State
Northwestern 10, Michigan State 15
Conference game
No. 8 Northwestern vs. No. 11 Michigan State · 5-point margin
Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
1954Week 9
Iowa at Minnesota
Iowa 20, Minnesota 22
Conference game
No. 9 Iowa vs. No. 13 Minnesota · 2-point margin
Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score

Methodology

How each game earns up to 100 points

AP ranking, 50 points: each team earns 26 minus its game-time AP rank. Unranked teams receive zero.

Closeness, 35 points: the final margin is subtracted from 35, with margins of 35 or more receiving zero.

Overtime, 15 points: overtime starts at nine points and rises by two per additional period, capped at 15.

Conference inclusion comes from each team's conference ID stored on the game row, so later realignment never rewrites history. Regular-season AP ranks come from the game's week; postseason ranks use the final regular-season poll before bowl and playoff results.