1959 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1959 Big Ten Conference football standings
	$ – Conference champion; Rankings from AP Poll

1959 Illinois Fighting Illini football
1959 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 12
AP	No. 13
1959 record	5–3–1 (4–2–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ray Eliot (18th season);
MVP	Bill Burrell
Captain	Bill Burrell
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 1958 1960 →

The 1959 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1959 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 18th year under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 5–3–1 record and finished in a tie for third place in the Big Ten Conference.^[1] After the season, guard Bill Burrell was selected as the team's most valuable player and also received the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy as the Big Ten's most valuable player.^[2]

Schedule[]

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	at Indiana		Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 0–20
October 3	No. 4 Army*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 20–14
October 10	at Ohio State	No. 20	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)	W 9–0	82,980
October 17	Minnesota	No. 13	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 14–6	57,485
October 24	vs. No. 8 Penn State*	No. 13	Cleveland Stadium Cleveland, OH	L 9–20	15,045
October 31	No. 11 Purdue		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	T 7–7
November 7	Michigan		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 15–20	45,573	^[3]
November 14	at No. 7 Wisconsin		Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	W 9–6	56,028
November 21	No. 8 Northwestern		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	W 28–0	32,390
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Bill Burrell (offensive guard)
- Chicago Tribune Silver Football
- Consensus All-American, (guard)

^ "1959 Illinois Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
^ "Fighting Illini Football Record Book" (PDF). University of Illinois. 2015. p. 155. Retrieved December 28, 2016.
^ "Michigan Spoils Illinois' Rose Bowl Hopes, 20-15". The Sunday Pantagraph. November 8, 1959. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.

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v t Illinois Fighting Illini football
Venues	Illinois Field (1890–1922) Memorial Stadium (1923–present) Soldier Field (1994-present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Michigan Missouri Northwestern (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk, 1945–2008; Land of Lincoln Trophy, 2009–present) Ohio State (Illibuck) Purdue (Purdue Cannon)
Culture & lore	Illinois Loyalty "Oskee Wow-Wow" Marching Illini Gene Honda Fighting Illini Sports Network Chief Illiniwek 1960s slush fund scandal 2021 Penn State game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
National championship seasons in bold

1959 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Wisconsin $	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Michigan State	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Purdue	4	–	2	–	1	5	–	2	–	2
No. 13 Illinois	4	–	2	–	1	5	–	3	–	1
Northwestern	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Iowa	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Michigan	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Indiana	2	–	4	–	1	4	–	4	–	1
Ohio State	2	–	4	–	1	3	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	1	–	6	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll