Northwestern
B10 · 1986 Season · Final
All-Time Resume
- 12-Team Playoff & Revenue Era · 1 seasons
- Limited Playoff Era · 25 seasons
- Independents & Bowl Tie-In Era · 16 seasons · 1 Top 10
- Divisional Era · 26 seasons
- AP Poll & Postwar Era · 20 seasons
- Forward Pass & Stadium Boom Era · 28 seasons · 2 Top 10
- Pioneer Era · 14 seasons · 1 Top 10
Final finishes, as published; the season in progress counts toward record only. Compare Northwestern head-to-head · History & Eras
1986 Schedule & Results
| Wk | Date | Opponent | Conf | Opp. Record | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Week 3 · Sep 9 |  Duke (DUKE)H2H |  ACC | 4–7 | L 6–17 |
| 5 | Week 5 · Sep 23 |  Army (ARMY)H2H | IND FBSI | 6–5 | W 25–18 |
| 6 | Week 6 · Sep 30 | PRINCETON | Unranked | — | W 37–0 |
| 7 | Week 7 · Oct 7 |  Indiana (INDIANA)H2H |  B10 | 6–6 | L 7–24 |
| 8 | Week 8 · Oct 14 |  Minnesota (MINNESOTA)H2H | B10 | 6–6 | L 23–44 |
| 9 | Week 9 · Oct 21 |  Wisconsin (WISCONSIN)H2H | B10 | 3–9 | L 27–35 |
| 10 | Week 10 · Oct 28 |  Iowa (IOWA)H2H | B10 | 9–3 | L 20–27 |
| 11 | Week 11 · Nov 4 |  Purdue (PURDUE)H2H | B10 | 3–8 | L 16–17 |
| 12 | Week 12 · Nov 11 |  Ohio State (OHIO STATE)H2H | B10 | 10–3 | L 9–30 |
| 13 | Week 13 · Nov 18 |  Michigan State (MICHIGAN STATE)H2H | B10 | 6–5 | W 24–21 |
| 14 | Week 14 · Nov 25 |  Illinois (ILLINOIS)H2H | B10 | 4–7 | W 23–18 |
Past season results come from the published weekly rankings; home/away is not recorded. Unranked = opponent outside the ranked field. Kickoff times in Eastern Time. TBD = not yet announced. vs* = neutral site. Opp. Record is the current season record; — = unavailable.
Where the rating sits on the 12-tier scale (lower is better).
- Army +6
- Michigan State +6
- Illinois +4
- Iowa -3
- Ohio State -3
- Indiana -6
- Minnesota -6
- Duke -7
- Purdue -8
- Wisconsin -9
Each win stacks that opponent's win total to the right; each loss stacks that opponent's loss total to the left.
0.364 Win % · No change
Percent of all FBS teams this team is ahead of.
Higher on the chart = better rank.
Bars above the line are wins, below are losses; height = point margin.
Higher = better finish. Ranks as published.