Wisconsin football fans have likely moved on from what was a disastrous 2024 campaign.
Wisconsin finished the season at 5-7, went 0-3 in trophy games and missed a bowl game for the first time since 2001. All things considered, it was the program’s worst season since that 2001 campaign.
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That final mark feels even worse considering the Badgers sat at 5-2 entering a late-October home matchup against Penn State. What followed: five consecutive losses, including to rivals Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota by a combined score of 110-42. The team’s form regressed significantly as the season concluded.
The result of one notable bowl game adds a bit of insult to that discussed injury.
Nebraska defeated Boston College 20-15 in the Pinstripe Bowl on Saturday. The victory closed a 7-6 season for the Cornhuskers. It is their first winning season since 2016 and first bowl win since 2015.
Without Wisconsin, that result would not have been possible.
Nebraska started the season 5-1 with strong wins over Colorado, Purdue and Rutgers. It then went on a substantial slide, losing to Indiana 56-7, Ohio State 21-17, UCLA 27-20 and USC 28-20. The team sat at 5-5 entering its Week 13 matchup against Wisconsin, facing yet another late-season collapse with bowl eligibility at stake.
Wisconsin was also 5-5 entering the matchup after consecutive losses to Penn State, Iowa and Oregon. The game was season-defining for both teams, regardless of the outcome.
Nebraska dominated Wisconsin that afternoon, winning 44-25. It was the Cornhuskers’ first win over the Badgers since 2012 and first with the Freedom Trophy at stake. There are further stats that emphasize the historic nature of the result. Most notably, it clinched Nebraska’s first bowl appearance in nine seasons — its fans celebrated as such.
Matt Rhule’s team went on to lose to Iowa the following week to finish the regular season at 6-6. Wisconsin became the team’s only win from Oct. 5 on. Now that the Cornhuskers have since clinched a winning record with a bowl victory, ending a near-decade-long drought, it’s hard to ignore Wisconsin’s role in allowing that to happen.
Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell and Rhule will inevitably be compared as each continues their respective tenures. Each were high-profile hires entering the 2023 season, brought in to reverse each program’s current course. Both coaches are now an identical 12-13 through two years — each with a 7-6 and a 5-7 season, in reversed order.
Rhule currently has the slight upper hand over Fickell given Nebraska’s bowl win and final record. If the two teams’ trajectories continue on divergent paths, as currently appears the case, it will be challenging to ignore that Week 13 result as a major turning point.
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