Thank you, Iowa. That is what the Wisconsin Badgers and their fans are saying after the Hawkeyes ended Minnesota’s dreams of producing an unbeaten season. The 23-19 Iowa triumph in Kinnick Stadium served a very important purpose for Wisconsin: It gave Minnesota one Big Ten loss. Wisconsin, with two Big Ten losses, has been brought back into the Big Ten West title hunt. Wins over Purdue and then Minnesota will give the Badgers another ticket to Indianapolis and a chance to get a (possible, not guaranteed) rematch against Ohio State.
You know Wisconsin wants that rematch. You know Wisconsin wanted the Minnesota game to be a division championship battle. You know Wisconsin needed Minnesota to lose once before Nov. 30 in order for the Badgers to have a realistic chance at going to the Rose Bowl. (Penn State will have a say in this conversation, but that is a separate matter.)
As big as the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe always is, and as fierce as the rivalry between Wisconsin and Minnesota — not just the football programs, but the two states — has often been, the Badgers-Gophers clash just got a lot bigger. Thank you, Iowa.
Given how rare Wisconsin and Minnesota have been very good teams at the same time, it is worth cherishing this upcoming battle. The 2016 game was the biggest UW-U of M game in recent memory. Minnesota won nine games that season, including its bowl game. Wisconsin won 11 games.
Before 2016, you would have to go all the way back to 1962 to find a time when both programs were prominent and prosperous. Wisconsin beat Minnesota, 14-9, in the 1962 game between the two schools. The great Badger team quarterbacked by Ron Vander Kelen, which also contained future UW athletic director Pat Richter, went to the 1963 Rose Bowl and played USC in a classic game. Richter, of course, hired Barry Alvarez as head football coach, the most important moment in Wisconsin football history. Wisconsin’s prominence today is rooted in that one decision, which changed everything for football in Madison.
Thank you, Iowa. Wisconsin-Minnesota could be for a ticket to Pasadena. It WILL be for a ticket to Indianapolis, barring a highly improbable UW stumble against Purdue. It is always for the Axe, but this year, it will be for a lot more than that.