ESPN’s Bill Connelly recently unveiled a piece detailing the best college football programs of each decade going back to the 1920s.
Wisconsin appeared a few times on his list. It was listed as the ninth-best program of the 1950s and, notably, the sixth-best program of the 2010s.
Wisconsin’s performance from 2010-2019 included two top-five finishes. The program fell behind only Alabama (four national championships), Ohio State (2014 national champs), LSU (2019 national champs), Oklahoma (two top-five finishes) and Georgia (five top-five finishes). Surprisingly, the Badgers slotted in above a Clemson program which won two national championships during that timeframe.
The Wisconsin fanbase may not appreciate the program’s performance from 2010-2019 nearly enough. It makes some sense, as the end-of-year standing consistently fell behind the caliber of the team. Narrow Big Ten Championship losses in 2016, 2017 and 2019 go a long way toward crafting that narrative.
With Luke Fickell now at the helm hoping to get Wisconsin back to championship status, I think another run similar to the 2010s would be viewed as a huge success. Who knows what happens when the Badgers take the field in a College Football Playoff game or Big Ten Championship. But if Fickell’s teams are at or above the level as some of Chryst’s best, the finishing results may finally look a bit better.