No one could possibly argue against the claim that the Ohio State Buckeyes had the best Big Ten football program this past decade. No one could reasonably debate or discuss that particular point. One could, however, debate whether Michigan State or Wisconsin was the second-best program in the same decade.
Wisconsin and Michigan State both won two outright Big Ten titles and split one. Wisconsin made more Rose Bowls, but Michigan State won a Granddaddy while the Badgers went 0-3. (Wisconsin beating Oregon would change this reality and thereby swing the argument for anyone who is currently still undecided on this matter.)
Wisconsin won six division titles, Michigan State only three. Michigan State, however, reached the College Football Playoff, and Wisconsin did not. One of Wisconsin’s division and conference championships — in 2012 — came about because Ohio State was not eligible for postseason play. Wisconsin won 102 games in the 2010s, Michigan State only 91. There is a lot to consider on both sides of the debate, but Michigan State’s 3-9 season in 2016 plus a pair of six-loss seasons the past two years make it a lot easier to conclude that the Badgers have been the better program over the full decade. Michigan State was better from 2010 through 2015, but Wisconsin was better in a 10-year period as opposed to a six-year span.
We could leave the debate right there, but it’s important to emphasize that Wisconsin hasn’t won a Big Ten title since 2012, whereas Michigan State has won two Big Ten titles over the past seven years. Why can Wisconsin still claim to be the better program in the 2010s? The information above (11 more wins, three more division titles, MSU’s 3-9 disaster and general decline the past four years) is part of the story, but one other element which magnifies the Badgers is the pair of New Year’s Six bowl wins in the 2016 and 2017 seasons.
Michigan State won the Rose Bowl in the 2013 season and the Cotton Bowl in the 2014 season, when the Cotton became a New Year’s Six game after the Bowl Championship Series ended. High-end bowl wins represent only one dimension of a quality program, so it’s not as though they are some sort of “tiebreaker” between Michigan State and Wisconsin. However, MSU had big bowl wins this past decade. Entering the 2016 season, Wisconsin lacked those same wins. Being able to stack together wins in the 2017 (January) Cotton and 2017 (December) Orange Bowls reshaped Wisconsin’s trajectory this decade.
Barry Alvarez went 3-0 in Rose Bowls. Bret Bielema went 0-3. Paul Chryst’s ability to restore Wisconsin’s winning ways in New Year’s Six (formerly BCS) games enabled the Badgers to exist on par with Michigan State in that regard. Given the Badgers’ advantages in wins, division titles, and overall consistency, the consecutive NY6 bowl wins fortify their case as the second-best Big Ten football program of the decade.