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1944 Illinois Fighting Illini football
1944 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
AP	No. 15
Record	5–4–1 (3–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ray Eliot (3rd season);
MVP	Buddy Young
Captain	Game captains
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium
	Seasons ← 1943 1945 →

1944 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 2 Ohio State $	6	–	0	–	0	9	–	0	–	0
No. 8 Michigan	5	–	2	–	0	8	–	2	–	0
Purdue	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	5	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	2	–	1	5	–	3	–	1
Indiana	4	–	3	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
No. 15 Illinois	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	1
Wisconsin	2	–	4	–	0	3	–	6	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	5	–	1	1	–	7	–	1
Iowa	0	–	6	–	0	1	–	7	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1944 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1944 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 5–3–1 record, were ranked #15 in the final AP Poll, and finished in sixth place in the Big Ten Conference. The team lost three games to teams ranked in the top 10 in the AP Poll: #9-ranked Notre Dame (7–13); #8-ranked Michigan (0–14); and #2-ranked Ohio State (12–26).^[1] Halfback Buddy Young was selected as the team's most valuable player.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	Illinois State Normal*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 79–0	5,386	^[3]
September 23	Indiana		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	W 26–18	7,986
September 30	at Great Lakes Navy*		Ross Field Great Lakes, IL	T 26–26	25,000	^[4]
October 7	Purdue		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 19–35	15,210
October 14	Iowa	No. 14	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 40–6	11,498
October 21	at Pittsburgh*		Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 39–5	15,000
October 28	No. 1 Notre Dame*	No. 14	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 7–13	65,114
November 11	at No. 8 Michigan	No. 10	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 0–14	43,922
November 18	vs. No. 4 Ohio State		Cleveland Stadium Cleveland, OH (Illibuck Trophy)	L 12–26	83,627
November 25	at Northwestern		Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	W 25–6	38,000
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
	Week
Poll	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Final
AP	14	—	14	9	10	—	—	—	15

^ "1944 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.
^ Bartlett, Charles (September 17, 1944). "Illinois Unveils Flock of Fleet Backs; Crushes Normal, 79 to 0". Chicago Tribune. p. 2:1. Retrieved July 4, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Illinois Holds Bluejackets to 26 to 26 Tie". Chicago Tribune. October 1, 1944. p. II-1, II-3 – via Newspapers.com.

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