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1987 Big Ten Conference football season
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November 2025
August 2023
1987 Big Ten Conference football season NCAA Division I-A Football Former Big Ten Conference Logo 1986-1991.png 125px 10 Michigan State Champions Football 1986 1988
The 1987 Big Ten Conference football season was the 92nd season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1987 NCAA Division I-A football season.
Regular season
No. 8 Michigan State took home the 1987 Big Ten championship with a 7-0-1 record (9–2–1 overall) and earned the right to represent the conference in the Rose Bowl Game.2025 BIG TEN FOOTBALL MEDIA GUIDE Big Ten Conference November 4, 2025 https://img.boostsport.ai/2025_BIG_TEN_FOOTBALL_MEDIA_GUIDE.pdf 91–99 PDF The Spartans would defeat USC 20–17.
No. 16 Iowa and Indiana tied for second at 6–2 in conference play, finishing 10-3 and 8–4, respectively. No. 19 Michigan came in fourth at 5-3 (8–4 overall) while Ohio State took fifth place at 4-4 (6–4–1 overall).
Minnesota and Purdue tied for sixth place with 3-5 Big Ten records, going 6-5 and 3-7-1 overall, respectively. Illinois was eighth at 2-5-1 (3–7–1 overall), Northwestern ninth at 2-6 (2–8–1 overall), and Wisconsin finished last at 1-7 (3–8 overall).
Bowl games
1987–88 NCAA football bowl games
Four Big Ten teams played in bowl games, with the conference going 3–1 overall:
Rose Bowl: No. 8 Michigan State 20, No. 16 USC 17
Hall of Fame Bowl: Michigan 28, Alabama 24
Holiday Bowl: No. 18 Iowa 20, Wyoming 19
Peach Bowl: No. 17 Tennessee 27, Indiana 22
References