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 this decade. First up is the Wisconsin Badgers’ record against the current Big Ten champion, Ohio State. As one might suspect for the Badgers, it’s not a pleasant record to look over. But let’s kick off Record Review with an examination of the record versus the Buckeyes.
Using Stassen, Badgers Wire pulled up every result against Ohio State since 2009. Overall, the Badgers went 1-9 against the Buckeyes in this decade. They were 1-2 at home, 0-4 at the Horseshoe, and 0-3 in neutral-site games for the Big Ten championship. While the Badgers played the Buckeyes much closer in the 2017 and 2019 Big Ten title games than the previous time they met in the Big Ten Championship Game, their overall point differential in those conference championships is minus-78 (120-42). Their only win over the Buckeyes this decade came in 2010.
The toughest loss for the Badgers in this series has to be the 2011 loss to a Buckeye team that finished 6-7 overall under Luke Fickell, in the lost season between Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer. While another loss wouldn’t have improved their bowl appearance or overall season that year — not a soul was going to change the fact that LSU and Alabama would play a rematch of their 9-6 game that season — Wisconsin still had a chance to beat Ohio State when it was down, and UW couldn’t do it. The best the 2011 Badgers could have done was play in the Rose Bowl, which is where they ended up anyhow. Nevertheless, blowing a chance to beat Ohio State should sting for any good Big Ten program.
This particular series means a lot for Wisconsin, since it represents an end goal. In order to win the Big, a school outside Columbus will almost certainly have to beat Ohio State. If a team can’t do it during a year in which Ohio State finished below .500 for the first time since 1988 (if you don’t count the vacated 2010 season), it’s going to be harder to turn that corner. If Wisconsin wants to start winning the conference on a regular basis, improving its recruiting rankings, and playing in College Football Playoff games, beating the Buckeyes is a must in the 2020s. Badgers Wire has written about what the Badgers could learn from Ohio State as they fight to achieve their higher goals in the coming decade.