Wisconsin decade in review: Badgers vs Illinois

Wisconsin vs. Illinois

As the 2019 season brings to a close another decade of college football, Badgers Wire has been engaged in a series of reflective pieces. “Record Review” is another series examining how the Badgers have fared against the rest of the Big Ten conference in the 2010s. Next up is an examination of the Badgers’ record against divisional rival Illinois. The Illini haven’t had too much success in the past 10 seasons, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that Wisconsin dominates this series. 

Using Stassen, Badgers Wire pulled up every result against Illinois in the decade. The Badgers are 8-1 against the Fighting Illini. This year, the Illini finally notched a win over Wisconsin for the first time since 2007. It’s impressive how dominant the Badgers have been in this particular Big Ten West matchup. Up until this year, the closest game the two played was the previous time Illinois won, 12 years ago. Other than that, the closest game you could find were a couple of 10-point wins by the Badgers. 

The toughest loss for the Badgers is obviously the one-point defeat at the hands of the Illini this year. One could make the argument that the loss didn’t really affect anything other than their overall perception with voters, but if Wisconsin had been 11-1 and not 10-2 heading into the Big Ten Championship Game, it would have been playing for a playoff spot, not just a conference championship. Having lost to Illinois, the reality was that when the Badgers got beaten down by Ohio State a week later, it didn’t look good.  

One thing to say about the loss to Illinois is that’s the type of thing the Badgers have been good about avoiding; they need to avoid that type of loss in the future if they want to compete for national titles. As already mentioned, win that game and it doesn’t come down to a final week contest against Minnesota, UW’s biggest rival. Win the easy games when they’re there and improve on the harder ones. If Wisconsin can kick things back to the normal setting in this series (in other words, this decade preceding 2019), they’ll be alright in the next decade. 

2020 and beyond could witness the evolution of the Illini. Illinois could get a little better with Lovie Smith as head coach. He’s done well in the NFL, making a Super Bowl, and even if it takes him a few more seasons, there is no reason to think he can’t be a moderately successful college coach. Hell, he’s made a Super Bowl with Rex Grossman as his quarterback. If he can do THAT, he should be able to win in Champaign. He’ll make it interesting, but Wisconsin has the talent and coaching to keep the loss column low if the Badgers are committed to this game versus the Illini every year.