Many athletes turned in some virtuoso performances
With the sports world on hold, we gave you the 50 greatest moments in Wisconsin sports history over the past 50 years (plus 10 more). Now, here's a countdown of 50 of the best single-season performances in the past 50 years (1970-2019) of Wisconsin sports history. Who should also make the list?
For this exercise, we considered players with Wisconsin teams and didn't consider individual athletes competing in international or individual sports. Here are Nos. 25-1.
25. Mark Johnson (1978-’79)
In truth, it's difficult to isolate Johnson's singular best season with Wisconsin Badgers hockey, but he did lead the nation with 90 points as a junior — a mark that still stands as best in Badgers history — one year after teaming with Mike Eaves as one of Wisconsin sports' greatest 1-2 threats in the past 50 years. It was the lone year in his three with Wisconsin men's hockey that Johnson didn't go to the national semifinals, but he was named first-team All American and was MVP of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association.
24. Reggie White (1998)
The biggest free-agent signing in Wisconsin sports history, White joined Green Bay in 1993 and helped return the franchise to glory. But his best season was his last, when he posted 16 sacks and forced four fumbles, both his high water marks with the Packers, and was named NFL defensive player of the year. He retired thereafter before playing one year with Carolina in 2000.
23. Ryan Braun (2012)
Like with Christian Yelich, Braun's
follow-up to his MVP season was also sensational, and he finished second in the MVP voting. He led the league with a .987 OPS, with 41 homers and 108 runs scored, all while reaching base at a .391 clip and stealing 30 bases.
22. Charles Woodson (2009)
Signed as a free agent without many alternate suitors three years earlier, Woodson morphed into a star with the Green Bay Packers and will merit enshrinement in Canton soon. He led the league with nine interceptions during his first of two All-Pro seasons in Green Bay, with three touchdowns and 179 total return yards. The first cornerback to win defensive player of the year since 1994, he also defended 18 passes, forced four fumbles and made 74 tackles. The Packers lost to Arizona in overtime that season in the playoffs, 51-45, but the table was set for the Super Bowl run that followed.
21. Dwyane Wade (2003)
The Marquette University star was Conference USA player of the year and a first team All-American after scoring 21.5 points per game with 6.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists. But his magnum opus came in the NCAA Tournament, when he posted a triple double and carved up No. 1-ranked Kentucky in the Elite Eight (29 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists), leading Marquette to its first Final Four since 1977. Having a Hall of Fame career in the NBA certainly didn't hurt how Wade is remembered during his college days.
20. CC Sabathia (2008)
Sabathia's season has attained nearmythic status, and he didn't even start pitching for the Brewers until July. The midseason acquisition went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA and put the Brewers on his back as he led them to the playoffs for the first time in 26 years. The burly lefthander struck out 128 batters in 130 innings with 25 walks (1.003 WHIP), and he worked on three days rest down the stretch as the Brewers tried to maximize their ace. It was a noble gesture on the cusp of a massive free-agency pay day.
19. Ben Sheets (2004)
The greatest pitching season in Brewers history featured an 18-strikeout game in May — easily setting the franchise record — and incredible numbers across the board except for in the winloss column, where Sheets was 12-14. Fortunately, that metric doesn't carry the weight in once did. Though he finished only eighth in the Cy Young voting, Sheets was dominant with a 2.70 ERA over 237 workhorse innings, a franchise-record 264 strikeouts and a mere 32 walks, helping him post a 0.983 WHIP. Sheets is the only starter in the history of baseball to post a season with a K/9 of at least 10.0, BB/9 of 1.3 or lower and an ERA+ of at least 141 (mind you, Sheets' was 162).
18. Aaron Rodgers (2010)
Rodgers' postseason run gets him on this list. The third-year starter led the Packers to a Super Bowl triumph with his 3,922 yards passing and 28 touchdowns, with 11 interceptions. He completed 66% percent of his passes and was electric in the postseason, particularly in a second-round win over topseed Atlanta where he completed 31 of 36 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns. He threw nine touchdowns in the postseason and tallied 25 touchdowns to just four picks over his final 11 games.
17. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1973-’74)
Adbul-Jabbar's six seasons in Milwaukee were all noteworthy and this one was his third of three MVP campaigns. The Bucks went to the NBA Finals and fell in seven to the Celtics, although Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook just before the buzzer in the second overtime of Game 6 sent the series back to Milwaukee for one last shot. For the year, he posted 27 points per game, 14.5 rebounds, 3.5 blocked shots (the first season the league kept official stats in the category), 1.4 steals and 4.8 assists. He played 43.8 minutes per game over 81 games in Milwaukee's final great season of the Abdul-Jabbar era.
16. Russell Wilson (2011)
The transfer from North Carolina State became a star in his one season with the Badgers, completing 72.8% of his passes for 3,175 yards and 33 touchdowns. He led the Badgers to 42-39 victory in the inaugural Big Ten championship game against Michigan State, in which he completed 17 of 24 passes with three touchdowns and even caught two passes for 31 yards. It's a classic case of what-if given Wisconsin's consecutive heartbreaking losses in the final moments to Ohio State and Michigan State during the season; without those setbacks, Wisconsin could have been playing for a national title. Instead, Wisconsin lost a third heartbreaker in the Rose Bowl to Oregon, 45-38. Wilson's 191.8 passer rating is sixth-best in college football history. Wilson's success on the next level has made his brief stay in Wisconsin all the more memorable.
15. Ron Dayne (1999)
Dayne racked up 2,034 yards rushing and set the NCAA Division I record for career rushing yards, and his overall mark of 7,125 remains the most rushing yards of anyone in DI history. He scored 20 touchdowns and helped the Badgers reach a second straight Rose Bowl. He capped off his season by rushing for 200 yards in 34 carries with a touchdown in a win over Stanford in Pasadena, California.
14. Ryan Braun (2011)
The National League MVP helped the Brewers win the National League Central and reach the NLCS, with his clinching home run late in the season against the Marlins providing one of the season's more dramatic moments. Braun led the league with a .994 OPS and .596 slugging percentage, belting 33 homers and driving in 111 runs, with a careerbest 33 stolen bases. He batted a cool .500 in the NLDS (9 for 18) with a homer and four RBI, and then he drove in six runs in the NLCS.
13. Brett Favre (1995)
The Packers truly arrived in 1995 under the leadership of the third-year quarterback, who won his first MVP and posted remarkable numbers, including eight touchdown passes in the postseason. Green Bay went 11-5 and reached the NFC Championship Game, with Favre throwing for 4,413 yards and 38 touchdowns in the regular season with 13 interceptions. He completed 63% of his passes, including one that went for a record 99-yard touchdown. Of Favre's three consecutive MVP seasons, this one was statistically his best relative to the rest of the league.
12. Christian Yelich (2018)
Acquired before the 2018 season in a blockbuster deal, Yelich exploded into an NL MVP, helping Milwaukee ride a
late-season surge to the National League Central title. He posted a 1.000 OPS (1.219 in the second half), won the club's first batting title with a .326 average, broke out with 36 homers and 110 RBI and did his best work in the clutch. He hit three homers in two days during a season-ending three-game sweep of the Tigers that helped forge a tie atop the standings, and he drove in a run in Game 163 that gave Milwaukee the divisional crown. He also homered in Game 7 of the NLCS, briefly giving the Brewers the lead, although Milwaukee ultimately fell one game short of the World Series.
11. Aaron Rodgers (2014)
The Packers quarterback won his second MVP one year after a collarbone injury limited him to nine starts in 2013. The Packers went 12-4 that season, with Rodgers completing 66% of his passes for 4,381 yards and 38 touchdowns with just five picks.
10. Melvin Gordon (2014)
The single-season rushing record holder in University of Wisconsin history ran for 2,587 yards and a staggering 29 touchdowns in his redshirt junior season, averaging 7.5 yards per carry. He added 153 yards receiving and three touchdown catches for good measure. He briefly took hold of the NCAA singlegame rushing record when he punished Nebraska for 408 yards and four touchdowns on just 25 attempts on Nov. 15, and then he capped the year with 251 rushing yards on 34 carries to help Wisconsin beat Auburn in overtime of the Outback Bowl in his final game at UW. Gordon finished second in Heisman voting for his historic year, entering the record books as second all-time in single-season rushing yards and scrimmage yards.
9. Frank Kaminsky (2015)
In what is considered one of the best seasons of any college basketball player in the 2010s, Kaminsky led the Badgers to the NCAA championship game with a sensational senior campaign. The Naismith Player of the Year scored 18.8 points per game with 8.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists, shooting 42% from threepoint range. He scored 29 points in a win over Arizona to return to the Final Four, 20 in a legendary win over No. 1 and undefeated Kentucky in the national semifinals, and 21 in the title-game loss to Duke.
8. Suzy Favor (1989-’90)
The University of Wisconsin distance-running superstar won her final 40 races and won nine NCAA individual track and field titles during her time with the Badgers. As a senior, she recorded a meet record 1:59.11 in the 800 meters at the NCAA outdoor meet, plus broke her own previous meet record with a 4:08.26 in the 1,600 meters. She swept the 1,500 and 3,000 in a grueling double at the NCAA indoor meet and also took second in the cross country championships held the preceding fall. She raked in a boatload of awards: Big Ten female athlete of the year, the Honda Sports Award for track and cross country, the Honda-Broderick Cup as the nation's top female athlete, the Babe Zaharias Female Athlete of the Year Award and the Jumbo Elliott Award, the Heisman Trophy of track and field.
7. Brett Favre (1996)
The Super Bowl champion reeled in the second of three straight MVP awards when he threw for 3,899 yards and 39 touchdowns with 13 interceptions. He threw an 80-yard touchdown pass during the regular season and a memorable 81-yard bomb to Antonio Freeman in the Super Bowl. It may not have been as statistically superior as his 1995 season, but this Packers team went 13-3 and won two more games than the 1995 team, not to mention the Super Bowl.
6. Christian Yelich (2019)
It's not his MVP season, but Yelich was objectively better one year later, which makes his decision to sign in Milwaukee over the offseason such a thrill. The MVP runner-up won his second straight batting title (.329), delivered a 1.100 OPS, with 44 homers, 97 RBI and 30 stolen bases. Milwaukee was able to claw its way to the playoffs for a second straight year even though Yelich fouled a ball off his kneecap in September and was unavailable for the home stretch. For a while, he was flirting with numbers that would have ranked his season among the greatest in MLB history.
5. Giannis Antetokounmpo (2018-’19)
The NBA MVP was sensational as the Bucks went to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time in 18 years. He scored 27.7 points per game and hauled in 12.5 rebounds with 5.9 assists while also being named first team all-defense in his first season under coach Mike Budenholzer. The Bucks won 60 games, best record in the NBA, and Giannis played in 72 contests. He shot 58% from the field and reached the point when he was officially a league superstar.
4. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1971-’72)
The Bucks fell short of the NBA finals with a loss to the Lakers, but don't let that distract you from the sheer dominance of Milwaukee's superstar. He scored a career-best 34.4 points per game with 16.6 boards and 4.6 assists. He also played 44 minutes a game but saw action in 81 games and repeated as league MVP.
3. Robin Yount (1982)
The MVP was big in the regular season and mammoth in the clutch. Not only did he lead the league with a .957 OPS (.578 slugging) and 46 doubles, he also hit two homers in the final game of the regular season to get the Brewers into the playoffs with a do-or-die win against Baltimore. He added one of the biggest homers in the World Series to help Milwaukee win Game 5, and he finished the World Series 12 for 29 with an absurd 1.072 OPS and .414 batting average. The shortstop won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger, with 29 homers, 114 RBI and a .333 batting average that missed an American League batting title by a fraction.
2. Aaron Rodgers (2011)
Rodgers was dazzling in leading the Green Bay Packers to a 15-1 record and netting his first of two MVPs. Coming off a Super Bowl triumph, Rodgers posted career bests in yards passing (4,643), touchdowns (45) and completion percentage (68.3%) touchdowns with just six interceptions (and he didn't even play in one game). His 122.5 quarterback rating is the best single-season mark all-time and did so with a remarkable 10.5 adjusted yards per attempt that ranks third all-time.
1. Lew Alcindor (1970-’71)
He was still Lew Alcindor when he led the Milwaukee Bucks to their one and only championship before changing his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar the following offseason. The secondyear big man averaged 31.7 points per game to lead the league, plus 16.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists, all while shooting 57.7% from the floor. He earned the first of his three MVP awards.