MADISON ON RED ALERT IF BADGERS LOSE
October 18, 2007
The Wisconsin Badgers (5-2) entertain North Illinois (1-6) this weekend at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. The Badgers become bowl eligible with a win over the Huskies.
The Badgers are a 23 1/2 point favorite and a convincing win against the Huskies might be the jump start they need heading into the toughest part of their schedule. After Northern Illinois, the Badgers have home game left against Indiana and Michigan while they travel on the road to Ohio State and Minnesota.
The Badgers are reeling after consecutive conference losses, including a 38-7 thrashing in Happy Valley last weekend to Penn State. The 31-point loss was Wisconsin’s worst loss since Michigan State pounded them 49-14 in East Lansing in 2004.
The once 5th ranked team in the nation and a contender for the BCS championship game now finds itself in a four-way tie for fourth place in the Big Ten. Penn State, Indiana, and Northwestern are the other three teams with 2-2 records half way through the Big Ten schedule. To be mentioned in the same sentence as Indiana and Northwestern is embarrassing alone but one of those teams will probably finish with a better conference record than the Badgers.
The Badgers better not take the 116th ranked Huskies for granted in the year of the upset. Did I say 116th ranked? Wisconsin felt snubbed last year when they went 11-1 and failed to get a BCS bid because NCAA rules only allow two BCS bids per conference and they had a right to be upset.
Maybe a little word of advice for athletic director Barry Alvarez and coach Bret Bielema. If you want to be mentioned with the powerhouses in college football each year, start scheduling a tougher non-conference schedule so that you maybe ready to tackle the grind of the Big Ten schedule.
Its a sad state of affairs when the best team on your non-conference schedule is 79th ranked Washington State. Throw in UNLV (93rd), Northern Illinois (116th), and Division 1-AA, The Citadel and thats a recipe to put you exactly where you are, tied with Indiana, Penn State, and Northwestern.
Its not time to throw in the towel just yet. Michigan rebounded from embarrasing back to back home losses at the Big House to Division 1-AA Appalachian State (34-32) and Oregon (39-7) to win five straight games and find themselves now tied with Ohio State for the Big Ten lead.
If Lloyd Carr was on the hot seat earlier in the year after Michigan’s horrible start, why isn’t Bielema there right now. The Badgers controlled their own destiny even after stumbling to Illinois. Unfortunately the Badgers didn’t show up to play against Penn State and there’s only one person you can blame - the head coach.
The Badgers better not look past Northern Illinois to next weeks Big Ten home game against Indiana or they will be the second team the Huskies beat this year. Northern Illinois’ lone win has come against 116th ranked Idaho, 42-35.
Rumor has it that the govenor has the Wisconsin National Guard on call this weekend in Madison. If the Badgers somehow lose, it won’t be a pretty sight on State Street after the game.
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Badger Rebound
Playing at Camp Randall is one of Wisconsin’s fortes: The Badgers have won 11 straight games at home, all under coach Bielema.
The Badgers were flat-out embarrassed last weekend against Penn State and will be anxious to redeem themselves this weekend. That being said, the team should be pumped up to play in front of the home crowd after being on the road for two weekends and losing both games. Wisconsin hadn’t lost two consecutive games since dropping two in a row to Penn State and Iowa in 2005.
Losing two in a row is completely against Coach Bielema’s “1-0” mentality, so look for the Badgers to rebound from two tough road losses.
Its time for the Badgers to put up or shut up….The Badgers can salvage their season if they run the table but I find it hard to believe that is going to happen with the way they have played all year….Watching the Badgers is about as bad as going to a U2 concert.