When the 2010s began, Ohio State ruled the roost in the Big Ten… and Wisconsin was right there with the Buckeyes at the top. In January of 2010, Oregon was playing in the Rose Bowl, and Ohio State beat the Ducks to usher in the second decade of the 21st century. In the 2010 season, Jim Tressel kept his machine rolling in Columbus, as the Buckeyes kept making BCS bowls without interruption. Ohio State didn’t make a BCS bowl in 2004, but in every other season from 2002 through 2010, the Buckeyes played in a signature January game under “Mister Sweater Vest.” The Buckeyes were the big cheese in the Big Ten when this decade started.
Wisconsin, however, matched what Ohio State did in the 2010 season and then watched Tressel get pushed out due to the off-field controversies which swallowed the OSU football program at that time. Wisconsin began the 2010s by making three straight Rose Bowls, the third (in the 2012 season and the January 2013 game against Stanford) due to the very same problems at Ohio State which sank Tressel and exacted a price from the NCAA.
However, one thing happened after Ohio State’s lost 2011 season (with Luke Fickell) which immediately smashed any notions that the Buckeyes would sink to an Earle Bruce level of performance (decent, but hardly spectacular). Urban Meyer came to Columbus. Meyer and Jim Harbaugh never did have their Ten-Year War, but Meyer has left Ryan Day with a fully-stocked program which will test defending champion Clemson in the Buckeyes’ final game of the 2010s. Ohio State is still here to stay.
It appears Wisconsin is, too.
The Badgers ended the 2010s by winning another Big Ten West title. They and Ohio State have the most appearances in the Big Ten Championship Game. The only other school to make multiple appearances in Indianapolis is Michigan State, and THAT is the big difference between the start of the 2010s and the end of the decade.
The Spartans are in real trouble. It is viewed by many that Mark Dantonio has finally run out of steam. Maybe he will surprise us and bounce back one more time, but the refusal to modernize the Michigan State offense seems to be taking a toll on that program, which is clearly fourth behind OSU, Penn State, and Michigan in the Big Ten East. If Michigan State was an elite program at the start of the decade and a powerhouse in the middle of the 2010s, it is a weakling at the end of the decade.
You can count on Ohio State and Wisconsin to deliver the goods. What else can be counted on? That is one of the big-picture questions facing Big Ten football as the 2020s begin. Enjoy our series on the 13 non-Wisconsin schools entering the new decade. What is the biggest question or challenge facing the non-Wisconsin schools in the 2020s? We will tackle that big-picture topic here at Badgers Wire. Stay tuned. Watch this space.