1962 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

The 1962 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1962 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coach Pete Elliott, the Illini compiled a 2–7 record and finished in eighth place in the Big Ten Conference. Halfback Ken Zimmerman was selected as the team's most valuable player.

1962 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
Record	2–7 (2–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pete Elliott (3rd season)
MVP	Ken Zimmerman
Captain	Bob Scharbert, Ken Zimmerman
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1962 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Wisconsin $	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. 10 Minnesota	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	2	–	1
Northwestern	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Ohio State	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Michigan State	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Purdue	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	4	–	1
Iowa	3	–	3	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Illinois	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Indiana	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Michigan	1	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 29	at Washington*	Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	L 7–28	53,471
October 6	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	L 0–45	41,854
October 13	No. 10 Ohio State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Illibuck Trophy)	L 15–51	56,017
October 20	at Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 0–17	59,427
October 27	No. 4 USC*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 16–28	31,375
November 3	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	W 14–10	45,496
November 10	at Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 10–14	49,756
November 17	No. 4 Wisconsin	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 6–35	36,762
November 24	Michigan State	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 7–6	19,547
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game