Conference record book
Big Ten Conference Top 25 Games of the 1980s
The best games involving a Big Ten member at the time of kickoff, ranked without favoring either side.
- Games
- 25
- Top score
- 82/100
- 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.
- 1985Week 8
Michigan at Iowa
Michigan 10, Iowa 12
Conference game
No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 1 Iowa · 2-point margin
Ranking 49/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
82
Game score
- 1989Week 3
Notre Dame at Michigan
Notre Dame 24, Michigan 19
Nonconference
No. 1 Notre Dame vs. No. 2 Michigan · 5-point margin
Ranking 49/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
79
Game score
- 1983PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan vs. Auburn
Michigan 7, Auburn 9
Postseason · Neutral site
No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 3 Auburn · 2-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
74
Game score
- 1984Week 3
Miami at Michigan
Miami 14, Michigan 22
Nonconference
No. 5 Miami vs. No. 3 Michigan · 8-point margin
Ranking 44/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
- 1985PostseasonNeutral site
Nebraska vs. Michigan
Nebraska 23, Michigan 27
Postseason · Neutral site
No. 7 Nebraska vs. No. 5 Michigan · 4-point margin
Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 31/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
- 1987Week 5
LSU at Ohio State
LSU 13, Ohio State 13
Nonconference
No. 7 LSU vs. No. 9 Ohio State · 0-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 35/35 · Overtime 0/15
71
Game score
- 1986Week 13
Michigan at Ohio State
Michigan 26, Ohio State 24
Conference game
No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 11 Ohio State · 2-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
70
Game score
- 1988Week 4
Miami at Michigan
Miami 31, Michigan 30
Nonconference
No. 1 Miami vs. No. 15 Michigan · 1-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
70
Game score
- 1985Week 10
Iowa at Ohio State
Iowa 13, Ohio State 22
Conference game
No. 1 Iowa vs. No. 8 Ohio State · 9-point margin
Ranking 43/50 · Closeness 26/35 · Overtime 0/15
69
Game score
- 1986PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan vs. Arizona State
Michigan 15, Arizona State 22
Postseason · Neutral site
No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 7 Arizona State · 7-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
69
Game score
- 1983Week 5
Ohio State at Iowa
Ohio State 14, Iowa 20
Conference game
No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 4 Iowa · 6-point margin
Ranking 40/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
69
Game score
- 1986Week 8
Iowa at Michigan
Iowa 17, Michigan 20
Conference game
No. 11 Iowa vs. No. 4 Michigan · 3-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
69
Game score
- 1981Week 7
Iowa at Michigan
Iowa 9, Michigan 7
Conference game
No. 12 Iowa vs. No. 5 Michigan · 2-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
68
Game score
- 1983Week 4
Ohio State at Oklahoma
Ohio State 24, Oklahoma 14
Nonconference
No. 3 Ohio State vs. No. 8 Oklahoma · 10-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 25/35 · Overtime 0/15
66
Game score
- 1984PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan vs. BYU
Michigan 17, BYU 24
Postseason · Neutral site
No. 13 Michigan vs. No. 1 BYU · 7-point margin
Ranking 38/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
66
Game score
- 1989PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan vs. USC
Michigan 10, USC 17
Postseason · Neutral site
No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 12 USC · 7-point margin
Ranking 37/50 · Closeness 28/35 · Overtime 0/15
65
Game score
- 1988PostseasonNeutral site
Michigan vs. USC
Michigan 22, USC 14
Postseason · Neutral site
No. 11 Michigan vs. No. 5 USC · 8-point margin
Ranking 36/50 · Closeness 27/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1980Week 13
Michigan at Ohio State
Michigan 9, Ohio State 3
Conference game
No. 7 Michigan vs. No. 11 Ohio State · 6-point margin
Ranking 34/50 · Closeness 29/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1984Week 4
Penn State at Iowa
Penn State 20, Iowa 17
Nonconference
No. 7 Penn State vs. No. 14 Iowa · 3-point margin
Ranking 31/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1988Week 3
Michigan at Notre Dame
Michigan 17, Notre Dame 19
Nonconference
No. 9 Michigan vs. No. 13 Notre Dame · 2-point margin
Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 33/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1986Week 3
Michigan at Notre Dame
Michigan 24, Notre Dame 23
Nonconference
No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 20 Notre Dame · 1-point margin
Ranking 29/50 · Closeness 34/35 · Overtime 0/15
63
Game score
- 1989Week 11
Michigan at Illinois
Michigan 24, Illinois 10
Conference game
No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 8 Illinois · 14-point margin
Ranking 41/50 · Closeness 21/35 · Overtime 0/15
62
Game score
- 1983Week 13
Ohio State at Michigan
Ohio State 21, Michigan 24
Conference game
No. 14 Ohio State vs. No. 8 Michigan · 3-point margin
Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 32/35 · Overtime 0/15
62
Game score
- 1985Week 2
USC at Illinois
USC 20, Illinois 10
Nonconference
No. 6 USC vs. No. 11 Illinois · 10-point margin
Ranking 35/50 · Closeness 25/35 · Overtime 0/15
60
Game score
- 1984Week 7
Ohio State at Purdue
Ohio State 23, Purdue 28
Conference game
No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 14 Purdue · 5-point margin
Ranking 30/50 · Closeness 30/35 · Overtime 0/15
60
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.