Growing up, my dad always told me to appreciate how good we have it as Wisconsin Badgers football fans.
“They had to give away tickets to games when I was growing up,” he’d say. I didn’t listen, having never lived in a world where Wisconsin wasn’t expected to win nine or 10 games a year.
We’ve all seen the legendary Barry Alvarez video that plays before every Wisconsin home game, where he told Wisconsin fans with confidence that things would get better.
“They better get season tickets right now, because before long they probably won’t be able to,” Alvarez told fans in his first press conference.
After Wisconsin’s disappointing 1-2 start to the 2021 season, let’s take a moment to appreciate how far the Wisconsin football program has come since then–not to accept complacency, but to appreciate how good Wisconsin has been that we’re expecting wins over ranked teams on a regular basis.
With Wisconsin playing Michigan on Saturday, it’s fitting that we do it this week.
Decades of Michigan Dominance
Wisconsin and Michigan have met one another 68 times on the football field over the years, going back to a 10-6 Michigan win in 1892. Since then, Wisconsin has won just 17 of those 68 games.
From 1965 to 1980, the Badgers never once beat Michigan, with the Wolverines beating the Badgers 14 straight times. Wisconsin broke that streak with a win in 1981, but Michigan followed it with eight more wins in a row.
The Badgers got wins in 1993 and 1994, but even as Wisconsin ascended to new levels under Alvarez, Michigan beat Wisconsin six consecutive times from 1997 to 2002.
Since then, however, the Badgers have gotten the better of their Ann Arbor foes. The Badgers have won eight of 12, including five of the last seven.
Michigan hasn’t had the success it did in the 70s, 80s and 90s, but maybe there’s a lesson there too for Wisconsin fans. It’s a lesson in how long it can take to build a football program and how quickly success can fade. Appreciate the journey and enjoy success while you have it.
Michigan finished every season from 1969 to 1978 ranked in the top 10 of the AP Postseason Poll. From 1969 to 2004, it was ranked in the postseason poll every single year. Despite all of this success, It took until 1997 for the Wolverines and head coach Lloyd Carr to win their first national championship since 1948.
After 31 years of top-quality football, Michigan finally broke through. For reference, Wisconsin never once finished a season ranked from 1963 to 1992. Since 1993, Wisconsin has finished ranked in the AP Poll 17 times. We’re in the early days of Wisconsin football being a top-tier program. Be patient with success.
Having patience
Some Wisconsin fans, myself sometimes included, have bemoaned that the Wisconsin football program hasn’t taken that leap forward to making the College Football Playoff. Wisconsin has made Rose Bowls, won the Orange Bowl and Cotton Bowl, and gone to several Big Ten Championship Games.
Success is relative. Have high expectations for your football program, of course, but remember, this is a program that still has a way to go. Programs like 1990s Michigan weren’t built overnight. It took 31 years before Michigan stood at the top of the college football world.
Two bad games doesn’t make Wisconsin a bad football program. It doesn’t knock the train off the tracks and kill all of the momentum people like Alvarez have built over the past 30 years. Frustrating, sure, but not program-defining.
Keep the faith.
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