Photo Courtesy: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images
Author: Ben Cross
For the third straight season, Wisconsin football will have at least 10 wins, whether or not they win the Orange Bowl against Miami on Dec. 30. Their 12-1 record is not only their most wins in program history, but their 12-0 start was their first undefeated regular season since over a century before, a time in which they didn’t play more than nine games and college football as a whole was much less competitive.
These mile marks are more than simply noteworthy, and, even with a slightly easier schedule than most years for UW, shouldn’t be looked at as any less impressive than what it is. It is difficult to remain undefeated in college football, much less in a power five conference like the Big Ten, and even less at a school like Wisconsin that averaged outside of an ESPN top 30 recruiting class every year that contributed players to this current team.
While the mantra around Madison developed into the statement that, “anything less than a playoff berth is a disappointment given the schedule,” it should have never been and is upsetting to hear from a normally, very proud fan base. Any other school, save the four currently in the playoff, would consider themselves lucky to pull off what Wisconsin was able to this year, including the opportunity to play a Miami team in Miami in one of the best collegiate football games of the year.
With the most All-Americans this program has also ever had, Badger fans need to take a step back and realize the talent and success this team has garnered from a national media that usually pays far less attention to the scarlet and white.
The Orange Bowl should be a fun game to watch, but more than anything else, it should be a celebration of everything the 2017-18 Wisconsin Football team has accomplished this season, regardless of the outcome.