1972 Wisconsin Badgers football team

1972 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Purdue	6	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	5	–	2	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Illinois	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Wisconsin	2	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	8	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1972 Wisconsin Badgers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the 1972 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coach John Jardine, the Badgers compiled a 4–7 record (2–6 against conference opponents) and finished in ninth place in the Big Ten Conference.^[1]

Rufus Ferguson led the team with 1,004 rushing yards, was selected as the team's most valuable player, and was chosen by the Associated Press (AP) as a first-team running back, and by the United Press International (UPI) as a second-team running back, on the 1972 All-Big Ten Conference football team.^[2] Three other Wisconsin players received All-Big Ten honors: center Mike Webster (UPI-2); offensive guard Keith Nosbusch (AP-2, UPI-2); linebacker Dave Lokanc (AP-1, UPI-2).^[2]^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	Northern Illinois*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 31–7	62,710
September 23	Syracuse*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 31–7	67,234
September 30	at LSU*	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	L 7–27	69,142	^[4]
October 7	Northwestern	Camp Randal Stadium Madison, WI	W 21–14	74,595
October 14	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 7–33	50,122
October 21	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 0–31	62,638
October 28	No. 4 Ohio State	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 20–28	78,713
November 4	Iowa	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	W 16–14	78,723
November 11	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 6–27	53,507
November 18	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 7–27	45,703
November 25	Minnesota	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (rivalry)	L 6–14	60,746
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

1972 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
G	`66`	Mike Becker	Jr
QB	`14`	Gregg Bohlig	So
G	`63`	Bob Braun	Sr
RB	`25`	Tony Davis	So
RB	`21`	Rufus Ferguson	Sr
WR	`84`	Mike Haas	Sr
RB	`22`	Duane Johnson	Fr
OT	`75`	Bob Johnson	So
OT	`70`	Dennis Lick	Fr
TE	`86`	Tom Lonnborg	Sr
FB	`30`	Gary Lund	Sr
RB	`39`	Jeff Mack	So
OT	`62`	Keith Nosbusch (C)	Sr
TE	`88`	Jack Novak	So
C	`53`	John Pagel	Sr
C	`52`	Mike Passini	Sr
WR	`87`	Rod Rhodes	So
FB	`23`	Chuck Richardson	Sr
WR	`45`	Art Sanger	Jr
G	`67`	Dan Schroeder	Jr
QB	`15`	Rudy Steiner	Sr
C	`51`	Mike Webster	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`58`	Ed Bosold	Jr
S	`19`	Chris Davis	Jr
S	`46`	Ron Buss	Sr
DE	`69`	Phil Connors	Sr
LB	`35`	Bob Hanssen	Jr
DT	`54`	Brian Harney	Jr
LB	`56`	John Hoffman	Jr
DT	`70`	Tom Koch	Sr
DT	`60`	Mark Levenhagen	Jr
LB	`57`	Dave Lokanc (C)	Sr
DT	`79`	Michael Mayer	Sr
DT	`77`	Angelo Messina	Jr
LB	`59`	Todd Nordwig	Jr
CB	`24`	Alvin Peabody	So
DB	`28`	Randy Safranek	Sr
LB	`50`	David Schrader	Sr
DT	`74`	Jim Schymanski	Jr
DE	`81`	Mike Seifert	Jr
DE	`78`	Bob Storck	Sr
CB	`29`	Jim Wesley	Jr
LB	`47`	Mark Zakula	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`7`	Rich Barrios	Jr
P	`41`	Stan Williams	So

The following Wisconsin players were selected in the 1973 NFL draft.^[5]

^ "1972 Big Ten Conference Year Summary". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 18, 2017.
^ ^a ^b "Wells named to All-Big Ten team". The Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois). November 28, 1972.
^ "UM, State, Buckeyes Dominate UPI's All Big Ten Team". Ludington Daily News (UPI story). November 28, 1972. p. 5.
^ "Badgers lose to LSU, 27–7". The La Crosse Tribune. October 1, 1972. Retrieved October 24, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1972 NFL Draft: Full Draft". NFL.com. National Football League. Retrieved March 1, 2017.