Those Unpredictable Badgers
For the second straight week, my commentary focuses on a Big Ten team. Come to think of it, the Big Ten has featured prominently in this space, possibly because 1997 is forcing me to rethink my long-standing belief that southern football- particularly SEC football- was supreme. But here we go again... we are 10 weeks into the season and the Big Ten still occupies 3 of the top 7 spots and 7 of the top 25 in the current SJS rankings. And I hate to rank those Badgers, but how can you ignore the fact that they win and win and win?
Great coaching? Not particularly. Great players? Singular. Name me another guy on that team besides Ron Dayne. Average players playing great? A couple bad calls, a couple good spots... Wisconsin has looked anywhere from awful to mediocre all year long. And still, they are 7-2, and have pretty much wrapped up a postseason bowl. Only the long line of very good Big Ten teams ahead of them will keep them out of a marquee bowl game.
Unlike other Big Ten teams like Iowa and Ohio State, Wisconsin has looked pitiful in its losses. A 34-0 drubbing to Syracuse, which might not seem so bad except that the Orangemen went on to prove they aren't anything special, barely above water at 5-3. Then, a thorough thrashing at the hands of the Purdue Boilermakers, 45-20.
But how about their wins? Any team can have an off-day, especially when you go up against the likes of Syracuse and Purdue, which, while not great teams, were nonetheless both ranked the week they faced the Badgers. Okay, how about a touchdown with 49 seconds remaining against Boise State. Yes, they are a Division I-A team, but just barely (they play in the Big West Conference, for those of you that have heard of it). How about a 43 yard field goal with 6 seconds remaining against Indiana? Indiana- a team that has been shut out 3 times this year, and managed only 6, 7, and 6 points in losses to Michigan State, Kentucky, and North Carolina. How about a 48 yard field goal with 6 seconds remaining against Northwestern, aided by a late fumble by the Wildcats. A fumble on Wisconsin's 4 yard line, where a field goal would have sealed the victory. And most galling of all to this long-time Gophers fan, how about a 22-21 victory in the Metrodome last week. If Wisconsin is the team that can't lose even though it deserves to, the Gophers are the team that can't win though they deserve to. The Badgers scored with plenty of time to spare this time- a one-yard run with 7:40 to go in the fourth quarter- and managed to hold off Minnesota for the duration (though I'm sure if Minnesota had added points the old 6 second magic would again rear its ugly head). The Wisconsin victory was tainted somewhat by a disputed call when a Wisconsin receiver apparently went out of bounds before making a catch on the final touchdown drive.
Wisconsin did have three wins of impressive magnitude- 33-7 over Illinois, 36-10 over San Diego State, and 56-10 at San Jose State. Incidentally, Illinois is 0-7, San Diego State is 3-5, and San Jose State is 2-5. Incidentally, those fourth quarter victories were against teams with records of 3-5, 1-7, 3-6, and 2-6.
But what do you do about a team like the Badgers? They win. They just win. And that's the most important number... they have won all the games that they should have won this year. So you rank them. What can you do? They will definitely need to play better to keep winning, with games against Iowa (5-2), Michigan (7-0), and at Penn State (6-0) remaining. Advice to those teams: get a big lead before the fourth quarter, and be up by 9 with 6 seconds remaining. Those next three games will be the difference maker for my opinion of Wisconsin this year. If they go 0-3, I'll call them the best team that sucked in 1997. If they can go 1-2, just 1-2, then they'll capture the title of the worst team that didn't suck in 1997.
With apologies to Kevin, UW grad, 1997.