BADGERS’ BIGGEST TEST YET
Beating Ohio State would mean shot at national title
I’ ve mentioned before, probably more times than anyone cares to read, that I attended the University ofWisconsin. You know what that means: parties galore, frozen pinkies and toes and— what else? — a whole lot of good football.
Except, not. Not for me on that last count. I’m old enough— just barely— to have suffered through some of the worst imaginable football during my four years at the school. The Badgers won a total of nine games while I was a student. Howbad is that? Put it thisway: A senior in Champaign has seen 16 Illinois victories. OK, that’s technically untrue because students in Champaign don’t go to the games, but you get my drift. It was so bad. But then came 1993, two seasons after I graduated. I was covering the Badgers, and they went 10- 1- 1 to do the unthinkable: win the Big Ten and go to the Rose Bowl, which they actually won. And the key to it all was a 14- 14 tie against unbeaten, third- ranked Ohio State in Madison. The Buckeyes and Badgers would finish tied atop the league— this was before there were divisions— and UW would get the nod to Pasadena because it hadn’t been there in far longer, 31 years to be precise.
This 25- year period inWisconsin football has been wildly successful. Badgers teams have gone to six Rose Bowls, won more games than any Big Ten school other than Ohio State and, more recently, played in four of the six Big Ten championship games.
Yet, appearance No. 5— No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 8 Ohio State ( 7 p. m. Saturday, Fox- 32) in Indianapolis— is arguably the biggest Badgers’ game of ’ emall. That’s because a trip to college’s football’s playoff and a real, live opportunity for a national championship is at stake. For both teams, it is important to note. The Buckeyes ( 10- 2) expect to make their third playoff appearance in four years if they topple the Badgers ( 12- 0), who enter the game as 6 ½ - point underdogs.
“Both teams earned the right to play in this game,” Badgers coach Paul Chryst said, “and, obviously, to play for a Big Ten championship is a big deal.”
That Ohio State is favored speaks volumes to the programs’ pedigrees and perceived talent levels. The Buckeyes have threetime Big Ten quarterback of the year J. T. Barrett— perhaps slowed by a right knee injury— running the show, while the Badgers’ upanddown Alex Hornibrook has thrown 13 interceptions, a major concern. UWhas all- everything freshman running back Jonathan Taylor ( 1,806 yards), but OSU has perhaps the nation’s best one- two rushing combo in J. K. Dobbins and MikeWeber. UWhas the nation’s best defense, statistically, but OSU’s defensive front is loaded with coveted NFL draft prospects.
“Our guys are energized,” Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer said, “ready to go for this one.”
The last time these teams met in Indy was in 2014, when the Buckeyes came in with an untested No. 3 quarterback, Cardale Jones, and romped 59- 0 en route to the playoff and a national title. The very idea that something like that might happen again boggles the mind. It won’t. It can’t. Impossible.
For what it’s worth, I’ve got the Buckeyes winning a close one. Would I like to see it end differently? I’ll never tell.