For my fifth year out of five in Madison, the non-conference season feels more and more like a preseason.
It’s not entirely the same as the NFL preseason, where the results are completely unimportant, and teams don’t even try to win. But due to the low quality of the Badgers’ opponents, there’s a similar lack of intensity, even a lack of excitement around the stadium and among the fan base. Instead of the results being unimportant, the results feel predetermined. We don’t come to Camp Randall to see if the Badgers can pull out a tough win over a worthy opponent. We go to see how bad the Badgers can wax their poor, unwitting foe and then leave (if not physically, then mentally) by midway through the third quarter.
Can I really blame the Badgers for their scheduling? Well, maybe a little bit. But what good did it to Georgia to schedule Boise State week one and end their season with a loss against a tough non-conference opponent? Georgia could play each and every one of the Little Sisters of the Poor in the non-conference slate, if they run the table in the SEC, they’re going to play for the National Championship.
Still, it hardly looks good to spend your non-conferences against the San Jose States and Northern Illinoises (a better team than they will get credit for, but public perception is what matters here). At least the Badgers have the excuse of TCU’s reluctance to play a rematch game this season, but the Badgers have a long history of playing cupcake non-conference slates. The last non-conference opponent to finish in the top-25 was West Virginia all the way back in 2002.
In fact, the Badgers have the weakest non-conference schedule in all of college football dating back to 2003, the beginning of Wisconsin’s 29-game non-conference winning streak. From the Wall Street Journal:
"Since the Wisconsin run began Sept. 20, 2003, the combined record of their nonconference opponents (excluding non-major-college ones) is 87-190 (.314)—the lowest of any school in the six major conferences. Of Wisconsin’s 29 victims, 13 either were non-Football Bowl Subdivision schools or teams that went on to lose double-digit games. The last time a regular-season nonconference opponent of Wisconsin’s ended the season in the AP top 25 was West Virginia in 2002—which finished 25th."
And today’s opponent? The Oregon State Beavers have the toughest schedule in non-conference games:
"On the complete opposite end of the scheduling spectrum is Oregon State. Their opponents’ win percentage over the same span is .758, by far the best nationally."
What the article fails to mention, however, is the Beavers’ 13 losses (including last week’s stinker against Sacramento State) over that timeframe.
The Badgers’ strategy of playing cupcakes in the non-conference isn’t going to win any votes early in the season, nor will it win in the court of public opinion. But run the table in your conference, and you have an excellent chance of reaching the National Championship game.
So while some balance would certainly be nice — and future series against Virginia Tech and Washington could help in the latter half of the decade, these complaints shouldn’t impact the decision making of Barry Alvarez and Bret Bielema come scheduling time. Their job is to put the Badgers in the best possible situation to succeed, whether success is a Big Ten title or a national title or simply winning football games. The Badgers looked just fine in the BCS with a light schedule last season, and if winning these four easy games means a national title? Nobody will remember the South Dakotas or the Oregon States of the schedule.
Photo courtesy Garrett Craig