1972 Wisconsin Badgers football team

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]

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	Head coach John Jardine Coordinators/assistant coaches Larry Van Dusen – Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Backs Lew Stueck – Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers George Chryst – Junior Varsity Offensive Coach Norm Dow – Quarterbacks Jim Martin – Wide Receivers Charlie McBride – Offensive Line Dick Selcer – Defensive Backs Dick Teteak – Defensive Line LaVern Van Dyke – Administrative Assistant Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

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