1973 Big Ten Conference football season

Key
AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1973 season[1]
AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1973 season[1]
PPG = Average of points scored per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold[1]
PAG = Average of points allowed per game; conference leader's average displayed in bold[1]
MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy; trophy winner in bold[2]

Four Big Ten teams changed head coaches between the 1972 and 1973 seasons, as follows:

• Duffy Daugherty retired as Michigan State's head football coach at the end of the 1972 season. Denny Stolz, who had been the Spartans' defensive coordinator for two years, took over as head coach.
• Bob DeMoss was replaced by Alex Agase as Purdue's head coach. Agase had been Northwestern's head coach from 1964 to 1972.
• Agase was replaced as Northwestern's head coach by John Pont. Pont had been Indiana's head coach from 1965 to 1972.
• Pont was replaced as Indiana's head coach by Lee Corso. Corso had been the head coach at Louisville from 1969 to 1972.

On September 15, 1973, the Big Ten football teams opened the season with five conference games.

• Ohio State 56, Minnesota 7
• Michigan 31, Iowa 7
• Illinois 28, Indiana 14
• Northwestern 14, Michigan State 10
• Purdue 14, Wisconsin 13

On September 22, 1973, the Big Ten teams played nine non-conference games, resulting in four wins and five losses. Ohio State had a bye week.

• Michigan 47, Stanford 10
• Minnesota 41, North Dakota 14
• Illinois 27, California 7
• Michigan State 14, Syracuse 8
• Miami (OH) 24, Purdue 19
• Colorado 28, Wisconsin 25
• Notre Dame 44, Northwestern 0
• UCLA 55, Iowa 18
• Arizona 26, Indiana 10

On September 29, 1973, the Big Ten teams played 10 non-conference games, resulting in three wins and seven losses.

• Ohio State 37, TCU 3
• Michigan 14, Navy 0
• Kansas 34, Minnesota 19
• West Virginia 17, Illinois 10
• UCLA 34, Michigan State 21
• Notre Dame 20, Purdue 7
• Nebraska 20, Wisconsin 16
• Pittsburgh 21, Northwestern 14
• Penn State 27, Iowa 8
• Indiana 17, Kentucky 3

On October 6, 1973, the Big Ten teams played 10 non-conference games, resulting in five wins and five losses. After concluding three weeks of non-conference play, the Big Ten teams had compiled a 12–17 non-conference record.

• Ohio State 27, Washington State 3
• Michigan 24, Oregon 0
• Nebraska 48, Minnesota 7
• Stanford 24, Illinois 0
• Notre Dame 14, Michigan State 10
• Purdue 27, Duke 7
• Wisconsin 37, Wyoming 28
• Ohio 14, Northwestern 12
• Arizona 23, Iowa 20
• Indiana 28, West Virginia 14

On October 13, 1973, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.

• Ohio State 24, Wisconsin 0
• Michigan 31, Michigan State 0
• Minnesota 24, Indiana 3
• Illinois 15, Purdue 13
• Northwestern 31, Iowa 15

On October 20, 1973, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.

• Ohio State 37, Indiana 7
• Michigan 35, Wisconsin 6
• Minnesota 31, Iowa 23
• Illinois 6, Michigan State 3
• Purdue 21, Northwestern 10

On October 27, 1973, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.

• Ohio State 60, Northwestern 0
• Michigan 34, Minnesota 7
• Illinois 50, Iowa 0
• Michigan State 10, Purdue 7
• Wisconsin 31, Indiana 7

On November 3, 1973, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.

• Ohio State 30, Illinois 0
• Michigan 49, Indiana 13
• Minnesota 52, Northwestern 43
• Michigan State 21, Wisconsin 0
• Purdue 48, Iowa 23

On November 10, 1973, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.

• Ohio State 35, Michigan State 0
• Michigan 21, Illinois 6
• Minnesota 34, Purdue 7
• Wisconsin 35, Iowa 7
• Northwestern 21, Indiana 20

On November 17, 1973, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.

• Ohio State 55, Iowa 13
• Michigan 34, Purdue 9
• Minnesota 19, Illinois 16
• Michigan State 10, Indiana 9
• Wisconsin 36, Northwestern 34

On November 24, 1973, the Big Ten teams played five conference games.

• Michigan 10, Ohio State 10
• Minnesota 19, Wisconsin 17
• Northwestern 9, Illinois 6
• Michigan State 15, Iowa 6
• Purdue 28, Indiana 23

On January 1, 1974, Ohio State (ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll) defeated USC (ranked No. 7), 42–21. Pete Johnson scored three touchdowns, and Archie Griffin capped the scoring with a 47-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1973 All-Big Ten Conference football team.[3][4]

Offense

Defense

At the end of the 1973 season, Big Ten players secured four of the consensus first-team picks for the 1973 College Football All-America Team.[5] The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:

Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:

Three Ohio State players finished among the top six in the voting for the 1973 Heisman Trophy: John Hicks (second); Archie Griffin (fifth); and Randy Gradishar (sixth).[6]