Big Ten Conference history

Conference record book

Big Ten Conference Top 25 Games of the 1960s

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

Games
25
Top score
84/100
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.

  1. 1966Week 11

    Michigan State at Notre Dame

    Michigan State 10, Notre Dame 10

    Nonconference

    No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 1 Notre Dame · 0-point margin

    Ranking 49/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15

    84

    Game score

  2. 1962PostseasonNeutral site

    Wisconsin vs. USC

    Wisconsin 37, USC 42

    Postseason · Neutral site

    No. 2 Wisconsin vs. No. 1 USC · 5-point margin

    Ranking 49/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15

    79

    Game score

  3. 1965PostseasonNeutral site

    Michigan State vs. UCLA

    Michigan State 12, UCLA 14

    Postseason · Neutral site

    No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 5 UCLA · 2-point margin

    Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15

    79

    Game score

  4. 1965Week 7

    Michigan State at Purdue

    Michigan State 14, Purdue 10

    Conference game

    No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 6 Purdue · 4-point margin

    Ranking 45/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15

    76

    Game score

  5. 1963Week 5

    Ohio State at Illinois

    Ohio State 20, Illinois 20

    Conference game

    No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 7 Illinois · 0-point margin

    Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15

    76

    Game score

  6. 1968PostseasonNeutral site

    Ohio State vs. USC

    Ohio State 27, USC 16

    Postseason · Neutral site

    No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 USC · 11-point margin

    Ranking 49/50 · Closeness 24/35 · Overtime 0/15

    73

    Game score

    Full Game · 1968 USC vs. Ohio State (Bowl Full Game)

  7. 1965Week 3

    Notre Dame at Purdue

    Notre Dame 21, Purdue 25

    Nonconference

    No. 8 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Purdue · 4-point margin

    Ranking 42/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15

    73

    Game score

  8. 1960PostseasonNeutral site

    Minnesota vs. Washington

    Minnesota 7, Washington 17

    Postseason · Neutral site

    No. 1 Minnesota vs. No. 4 Washington · 10-point margin

    Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 25/35 · Overtime 0/15

    72

    Game score

  9. 1965Week 11

    Michigan State at Notre Dame

    Michigan State 12, Notre Dame 3

    Nonconference

    No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 6 Notre Dame · 9-point margin

    Ranking 45/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15

    71

    Game score

  10. 1967PostseasonNeutral site

    Indiana vs. USC

    Indiana 3, USC 14

    Postseason · Neutral site

    No. 5 Indiana vs. No. 1 USC · 11-point margin

    Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 24/35 · Overtime 0/15

    70

    Game score

  11. 1967Week 4

    Notre Dame at Purdue

    Notre Dame 21, Purdue 28

    Nonconference

    No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 4 Purdue · 7-point margin

    Ranking 42/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    70

    Game score

  12. 1962Week 11

    Minnesota at Wisconsin

    Minnesota 9, Wisconsin 14

    Conference game

    No. 10 Minnesota vs. No. 2 Wisconsin · 5-point margin

    Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15

    70

    Game score

  13. 1961Week 9

    Michigan State at Purdue

    Michigan State 6, Purdue 7

    Conference game

    No. 9 Michigan State vs. No. 7 Purdue · 1-point margin

    Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    70

    Game score

  14. 1968Week 3

    Purdue at Notre Dame

    Purdue 37, Notre Dame 22

    Nonconference

    No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 2 Notre Dame · 15-point margin

    Ranking 49/50 · Closeness 20/35 · Overtime 0/15

    69

    Game score

  15. 1968Week 5

    Purdue at Ohio State

    Purdue 0, Ohio State 13

    Conference game

    No. 1 Purdue vs. No. 4 Ohio State · 13-point margin

    Ranking 47/50 · Closeness 22/35 · Overtime 0/15

    69

    Game score

  16. 1966PostseasonNeutral site

    Purdue vs. USC

    Purdue 14, USC 13

    Postseason · Neutral site

    No. 7 Purdue vs. No. 10 USC · 1-point margin

    Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15

    69

    Game score

  17. 1961Week 6

    Notre Dame at Michigan State

    Notre Dame 7, Michigan State 17

    Nonconference

    No. 8 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 Michigan State · 10-point margin

    Ranking 43/50 · Closeness 25/35 · Overtime 0/15

    68

    Game score

  18. 1969PostseasonNeutral site

    Michigan vs. USC

    Michigan 3, USC 10

    Postseason · Neutral site

    No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 5 USC · 7-point margin

    Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    68

    Game score

  19. 1960Week 6

    Wisconsin at Iowa

    Wisconsin 21, Iowa 28

    Conference game

    No. 11 Wisconsin vs. No. 1 Iowa · 7-point margin

    Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    68

    Game score

  20. 1963Week 7

    Ohio State at Wisconsin

    Ohio State 13, Wisconsin 10

    Conference game

    No. 9 Ohio State vs. No. 8 Wisconsin · 3-point margin

    Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    67

    Game score

  21. 1960Week 6

    Ohio State at Purdue

    Ohio State 21, Purdue 24

    Conference game

    No. 9 Ohio State vs. No. 10 Purdue · 3-point margin

    Ranking 33/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15

    65

    Game score

  22. 1960Week 9

    Iowa at Minnesota

    Iowa 10, Minnesota 27

    Conference game

    No. 5 Iowa vs. No. 1 Minnesota · 17-point margin

    Ranking 46/50 · Closeness 18/35 · Overtime 0/15

    64

    Game score

  23. 1969Week 11

    Ohio State at Michigan

    Ohio State 12, Michigan 24

    Conference game

    No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 7 Michigan · 12-point margin

    Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 23/35 · Overtime 0/15

    64

    Game score

  24. 1963PostseasonNeutral site

    Washington vs. Illinois

    Washington 7, Illinois 17

    Postseason · Neutral site

    No. 10 Washington vs. No. 3 Illinois · 10-point margin

    Ranking 39/50 · Closeness 25/35 · Overtime 0/15

    64

    Game score

  25. 1960Week 7

    Purdue at Iowa

    Purdue 14, Iowa 21

    Conference game

    No. 15 Purdue vs. No. 1 Iowa · 7-point margin

    Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15

    64

    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.