The 1965 Big Ten Conference football season was the 70th season of college football played by the member schools of the Big Ten Conference and was a part of the 1965 NCAA University Division football season.
This was the first year Big Ten teams were allowed to play 10 regular season games. Ohio State was the lone school not to play a 10th game, sticking with nine-game regular seasons through 1970.
Key<br> AP final = Team's rank in the final AP Poll of the 1965 season<br> AP high = Team's highest rank in the AP Poll throughout the 1965 season<br> PPG = Average of points scored per game<br> PAG = Average of points allowed per game<br> MVP = Most valuable player as voted by players on each team as part of the voting process to determine the winner of the Chicago Tribune Silver Football trophy; trophy winner in bold
The Big Ten's individual statistical leaders for the 1965 season include the following:
The following players were picked by the Associated Press (AP) and/or the United Press International (UPI) as first-team players on the 1965 All-Big Ten Conference football team.
Offense
Defense
At the end of the 1965 season, six Big Ten players secured consensus first-team honors on the 1965 College Football All-America Team. The Big Ten's consensus All-Americans were:
Other Big Ten players who were named first-team All-Americans by at least one selector were:
The 1965 Heisman Trophy was awarded to Mike Garrett of USC. Three Big Ten players finished among the top 10 in the voting: Illinois fullback Jim Grabowski (third); Michigan State quarterback Steve Juday (sixth); and Purdue quarterback Bob Griese (eighth).
The following Big Ten players were among the first 100 picks in the 1966 NFL draft: