The cream rose to the top in state
With the sports world on hold, we gave you the 50 greatest moments in Wisconsin sports history over the past 50 years (plus 50 more). Now, here's a look at 50 of the best single-season performances in the past 50 years (19702019) of Wisconsin sports history.
For this exercise, we considered players with Wisconsin teams and didn't consider individual athletes competing in international or individual sports. Here are Nos. 50-26.
50. Tom Burke (1998)
The Big Ten co-defensive player of the year and lineman of the year was a consensus first-team All-American with the Badgers and holds the Big Ten record for most sacks in a season with 22. He also posted 31 tackles for loss in 12 games. The NCAA did not start counting sacks as an official stat until 2000, but Burke's 22 would have been five off Derrick Thomas' record of 27.
49. Teddy Higuera (1988)
His 32-inning scoreless innings streak in 1987 was impressive and he
was second in Cy Young voing in 1987, but he was at his best in 1988, when he led the league with a 0.999 WHIP and finished 16-9 with a 2.45 ERA. He struck out 192 over 227 innings and walked 59.
48. Tommy Harper (1970)
The Brewers first all-star was something for which the reinvigorated fan base could cheer when baseball returned to Milwaukee. Harper finished sixth in the MVP voting despite playing for a team that went 65-97 thanks to a huge season of 31 homers and 38 stolen bases, with 82 druns riven in and an OPS of .899. Harper's 6.8 WAR makes it the seventh-best season by that metric in Brewers history, per Fangraphs.
47. Jonathan Taylor (2018)
The sophomore won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back ran for 16 touchdowns and posted a career-best 2,194 yards on 307 attempts for a whopping 7.1 per carry.
Sidney Moncrief of the Milwaukee Bucks averaged 22.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game in 1982-83.
46. Aaron Rodgers (2012)
Rodgers didn't slow down after his virtuoso 2011 season. He completed 67.2% of his passes, threw for 4,295 yards and 39 touchdowns and once again led the NFL in quarterback rating (108.0). He managed to do all of that despite being sacked an NFL-high 51 times.
45. Jim Leonhard (2002)
The sophomore walk-on hauled in 11 interceptions, leading the Big Ten in interception return yards (115), plus he returned a punt for a touchdown for good measure. Recently, Leonhard has had a successful run as the Badgers' defensive coordinator.
44. Prince Fielder (2011)
Fielder finished in the top four in MVP voting three times over a five-season stretch in Milwaukee, but his final campaign as a Brewer was arguably his best. Finishing third in the MVP voting behind his teammate Ryan Braun, Fielder's season featured 38 homers with 120
RBI, and he helped the Brewers reach a league championship series for the first time since 1982. He posted a .981 OPS and reached base at a career-best .415 clip. He was also named All-Star Game MVP when he hit a three-run homer at Chase Field in Arizona.
43. Giannis Antetokounmpo (2017-’18)
Giannis had officially evolved into a powerhouse by this point, with 26.9 points, 10.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. The second-team All-NBA choice led the Bucks to a seventh game in the first round of the playoffs (before falling to the Celtics) by tipping in a game-winner just before the buzzer in Game 4. Antetokounmpo finished the season fifth in the NBA in scoring and player efficiency rating and was sixth in win shares.
42. Joe Thomas (2006)
It's hard to truly quantify how successful an offensive lineman's season has been, but we'll just take the word of the people who made him the Outland Trophy winner for best lineman in
America and made him a unanimous first-team All-American. Thomas became the No. 3 pick in the subsequent NFL draft and fashioned a Hall of Fame career with the Cleveland Browns, making 10 Pro Bowls and seven first-team All Pro squads. With Thomas blocking as a senior, PJ Hill ran for 1,500 yards and the Badgers wound up 12-1, with a win over Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl.
41. Sidney Moncrief (1982-’83)
Moncrief 's second of five all-star campaigns featured 22.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals per game, and he earned the NBA's firstever Defensive Player of the Year Award (something he'd duplicate the following year). He shot 52% from the field and 83% at the free-throw line.
40. Devin Harris (2003-’04)
Harris averaged 19.5 points per game for Wisconsin and 4.4 assists his junior year before leaving early and becoming the fifth pick in the subsequent NBA draft. He also collected 1.8 steals and 4.3 rebounds for a squad that took second in the Big Ten and was rated No. 6 in the country by KenPom.com. Harris was named Big Ten player of the pear, second team All-American and Big Ten Tournament MVP as the Badgers took home the title.
39. Justin Beaver (2007)
The UW-Whitewater football standout ranks among the 15 best rushers in NCAA history at any level, and he topped it off by helping Whitewater win its first NCAA Division III title. Beaver won the Gagliardi Trophy for the nation's outstanding player in D3 and set conference and school rushing records, finishing with a 253-yard game in the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl against Mount Union. His 2,455 yards for the season broke the D3 record he set in 2005, when he rushed for 2,420 yards.
38. Beata Nelson (2018-’19)
Perhaps it's under the radar, but Nelson was one of the biggest stories in 2019 Wisconsin athletics. She won three NCAA titles and broke NCAA records in two races (100-yard backstroke, 200 backstroke), with merely the second best-ever time in the 200 individual medley (making her the second woman to eclipse the 1-minute 51-second mark with her time of 1:50.79). She cut half a second off the 100 backstroke record.
37. Jonathan Lucroy (2014)
He doesn't always get mentioned among the great home-grown successes the Brewers have had over the past 20 years, but he belongs right there in the conversation. Lucroy finished fourth in the MVP voting after posting an .837 OPS — sensational for a catcher — with 53 doubles, a .373 on-base percentage and a chance to start the 2014 All-Star Game. What set Lucroy apart was his pitch-framing abilities, considered an under-the-radar feature at the time that has come into prominence in the majors today. Fangraphs tallies his 8.2 WAR from this year as the second-best season ever by a Brewer.
36. Alando Tucker (2006-’07)
The national player of the year contender scored 19.9 points per game as a senior, leading the Badgers to a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament (with an
eventual loss to UNLV in the second round). He added 5.4 boards and 2.0 assists per game and was Big Ten player of the year. In March, he broke the school's all-time scoring record, a mark he still holds at 2,217 points. He became the program's first consensus first-team All American since 1942 and broke Devin Harris's single-season point total with 716.
35. LeRoy Butler (1996)
The 1996 season was certainly headlined by Brett Favre and Reggie White, but don't sleep on what Butler accomplished in the secondary. Butler intercepted five passes with 149 return yards and a touchdown. He also forced a fumble, recovered two and posted a careerbest 6.5 sacks. Butler is just one of five players to record a season with at least six sacks and five picks.
Rollie Fingers was spectacular for the Brewers in 1981, earning both the Cy Young and MVP awards in the American League.
34. Paul Molitor (1987)
Team Streak was a whale of a ride, and one of the big reasons was a 39game hitting streak Molitor compiled in the second half of the season, a streak that no player has matched since. Molitor wasn't an all-star that year and finished fifth in the MVP voting, but the team was able to stay afloat largely because he was such a force in the second half. He finished with a 1.003 OPS, a league-leading 114 RBI and 41 doubles, plus a career-best 45 stolen bases and a .438 on-base percentage.
33. Mike Caldwell (1978)
The Brewers recorded their first winning season, and it wasn't by a narrow margin. The 93-69 Milwaukee club may have been Bambi's Bombers, but it didn't hurt to have the 29-year-old lefthander on the hill. Caldwell went 22-9 with a 2.36 ERA and league-leading 23 complete games (different times, but the Brewers as a franchise have had 14 complete games since 2008). The wins remain a franchise record today, and Caldwell also developed a reputation of owning the Yankees (3-1, 0.99 ERA in six appearances with three complete games), a team that went on to win the 1978 World Series.
32. Ahman Green (2003)
Green was named to four straight Pro Bowls running the football for the Packers, and he was at his best in 2003 when he racked up 1,883 yards (5.3 yards per rush) and recorded 15 touchdowns. He added 60 receptions for another 367 yards and five scores in a season for Green Bay that included a dramatic flourish at the end of the season before "4th and 26" burned the Packers in the divisional round. His 2,250 yards from scrimmage are the 15th-most in a season in NFL history.
31. Marques Johnson (1978-’79)
Just 22 years old, Johnson posted 25.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game for the Milwaukee Bucks, meriting the first of his three straight All-Star Game appearances. He shot 55% from the field and averaged 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.2 blocks per game, landing him a spot on first team All-NBA even though the Bucks did not make the postseason. Johnson was third in the league scoring and second in player efficiency rating.
30. Sterling Sharpe (1992)
Sharpe broke the NFL record for single-season receptions with 108, passing Art Monk's 106 of 1984, and led the league with both 1,461 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns. He averaged a league-best 91.3 yards per game in the first season with Brett Favre at the helm and remains one of the game's most underappreciated stars.
29. Montee Ball (2011)
As great as Russell Wilson was in 2011, he had a lot of help from his running back, who set the NCAA record for touchdowns in a season with 39. Ball had four rushing touchdowns in a thrilling Big Ten title-game win over Michigan State and finished with 1,923 yards rushing (6.3 per attempt) and 33 touchdowns. He also had 24 receptions for 306 yards and another six scores.
28. Butch Lee (1977-’78)
Marquette's men's basketball team won the 1977 title, but Lee wasn't done, earning the Associated Press player of the year award in his follow-up season as a senior. Lee scored 17.7 points per game with 4.9 assists and 51% shooting from the field, and Marquette finished the year 24-4. Lee was subsequently taken with the 10th overall pick in the NBA draft by the Atlanta Hawks.
27. Jonathan Taylor (2019)
It's tough to choose between Taylor's sophomore and junior seasons, but we'll go with the more recent showing as the higher of the two. Taylor won the Doak Walker Award again by running for 2,003 yards and finishing his career with the most rushing yards of any player through his junior season. He caught 26 passes and finished with 26 total touchdowns, helping the Badgers win their division and reach the Rose Bowl. He was subsequently taken in the second round of the NFL draft by the Indianapolis Colts.
26. Rollie Fingers (1981)
In a strike-shortened year, the new acquisition won both the Cy Young and American League MVP awards as the Brewers qualified for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Fingers posted a 1.04 ERA and saved a leaguebest 28 games, with a 0.872 WHIP aided by just 13 walks in 78 innings with 61 strikeouts. He allowed two runs over his final 362⁄3 innings.