Unlike SEC football fans, Big Ten fans don’t make it a point to chant their conference’s name when another conference rival wins a big game. Big Ten fans aren’t nearly as wedded to the idea of conference pride as SEC fans are. Ohio State fans want Michigan to lose, darnit, and Michigan fans want the same. Conference pride has its limits.
That said, there is one time when Big Ten fans do band together more than others: When an SEC team is on the other side of the divide. Big Ten fans want the SEC to suffer, and they should. The reasons are numerous, chiefly the fact that the SEC has often stood in the Big Ten’s way on the road to national titles in football and the prestige which comes with it. However, one of the more important reasons Big Ten fans rightly despise the SEC is that in bowl games, guess who just happens to have the closer, more convenient game locations? The SEC, of course.
Michigan has to play the Citrus Bowl in Orlando against an SEC team. Minnesota has to go down to Tampa to play an SEC team in the Outback Bowl. The northern teams have to go to the South to play SEC teams in bowl games. Yes, New Orleans and Miami are fun places for New Year’s travel, but it remains that SEC teams don’t have to play in the snow in late December or early January. It is the ultimate imbalance which always tilts in favor of the SEC and against the Big Ten.
So, when Wisconsin hosted LSU at Lambeau Field — even though the game was played in late-summer heat — at least an SEC team was FINALLY venturing to the heart of the Midwest instead of relaxing at home. FINALLY, the Big Ten team had a game against the SEC on its own turf. Wisconsin carried the banner for the Big Ten that day, making the game a huge opportunity for UW, but also a burden. Let’s not ignore that part.
Wisconsin was unranked. LSU was the preseason No. 5 team in the country and a solid favorite, even in Green Bay. LSU had Leonard Fournette and a defensive coordinator named Dave Aranda, who had been with Wisconsin but went to the SEC (like Bret Bielema, only as a coordinator and not a head coach).
Do you think Wisconsin had a lot to prove on that Saturday afternoon?
The Badgers’ defense certainly played like it. On a day when the two starting quarterbacks combined to throw four interceptions, Wisconsin’s defense forced three turnovers and limited LSU’s offense to 2 of 10 third-down conversions. Wisconsin’s defense covered for an offense which also committed three turnovers and was just 3 of 15 on third downs.
Ultimately, the Badgers squeezed out just enough offense, with Rafael Gaglianone hitting a 47-yard field goal with just under four minutes left in regulation for a 16-14 lead. D’Cota Dixon intercepted LSU’s Brandon Harris at the Badger 25 with 57 seconds left. LSU was so mad and rattled that Tiger offensive lineman Josh Boutte laid a nasty and dirty hit on Dixon. He was ejected. The Badgers not only beat LSU; they broke LSU.
That Wisconsin team won the Big Ten West and then captured the Cotton Bowl over a man you might know: P.J. Fleck, then at Western Michigan.
After the game, Corey Clement spoke for all Badgers and Wisconsin fans:
“When you look at the ranking, OK, they’re No. 5. But what are we? And we beat them,” Clement said. “It’s just one of those things where you think, `We’re still not getting respect probably.”
Wisconsin at least earned more that day against the SEC.