1945 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

1945 Illinois Fighting Illini football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	2–6–1 (1–4–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ray Eliot (4th season)
MVP	Mac Wenskunas
Captain	Ralph Serpico
Home stadium	Memorial Stadium

1945 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Indiana $	5	–	0	–	1			9	–	0	–	1
No. 6 Michigan	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
No. 12 Ohio State	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Northwestern	3	–	3	–	1			4	–	4	–	1
Purdue	3	–	3	–	0			7	–	3	–	0
Wisconsin	2	–	3	–	1			3	–	4	–	2
Illinois	1	–	4	–	1			2	–	6	–	1
Minnesota	1	–	5	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Iowa	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1945 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1945 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth year under head coach Ray Eliot, the Illini compiled a 2–6–1 and finished in seventh place in the Big Ten Conference. Center Mac Wenskunas was selected as the team's most valuable player.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 22	Pittsburgh*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 23–6
September 29	at Notre Dame*	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN	L 0–7
October 6	Indiana	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 0–6
October 20	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	T 7–7
October 27	No. 16 Michigan	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 0–19
November 3	Great Lakes Navy*	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	L 6–12
November 10	Iowa	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 48–7
November 17	at No. 9 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH (Illibuck Trophy)	L 2–27
November 24	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	L 7–13
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game