Yes, the UW football team sits comfortably at No. 6 in both the Associated Press and Bowl Championship Series polls. Yes, their defense has given up the fewest points in the country and is No. 2 in total defense. Yes, you can believe the hype--it's so much fun to speculate, and this team is going somewhere very sunny and warm in January. But put down the suntan lotion for just a second, would you? No one wants to see you in that Speedo anyway, sheesh.
Has everyone lost track of the here and now? Those Rose Bowl-colored glasses we're all looking through can't correct our suddenly very farsighted vision--maybe we should take them off. There is a dangerous and very near object in the Badgers' path to Pasadena--this weekend's game against the Northwestern Wildcats.
Hey, quit laughing. Your Econ professor is probably trying to say something very important about tariffs right now, and you just woke up the kid sleeping on your left. If the prospect of losing to Northwestern makes you chortle uncontrollably, go back three pages and finish the crossword.
For the rest of you, this is no joke. Remember last year? UW ended Ohio State's 19-game winning streak on a dramatic fourth quarter touchdown pass from backup quarterback Matt Schabert to Lee Evans. In the ensuing week, UW improved to 6-1 and rose to No. 12 in the polls. We here on campus let our collective ego inflate like Barry Bonds' forehead after a visit to the BALCO labs. Two weeks later, after dropping a close game to Purdue, Northwestern stuffed the Badgers 16-7 and sent UW down the road to mediocrity. UW lost to Minnesota and Iowa, with Evans beating Michigan State by himself in between.
Seeing as how the schedule plays out exactly the same as last year, it is comforting to see Wisconsin has already avoided repeating itself by taking the steam out of the Boilermakers. But victory is never a given when the Badgers and Wildcats tussle.
Since 1995, the teams have played seven times. Northwestern has won four times, despite UW being favored, sometimes heavily, in every single game. The only common theme among all the games is that what is most improbable is most likely to happen.
Take 1995, for example. The Badgers committed seven turnovers and played arguably the worst game in the Barry Alvarez era in losing 35-0.
Or how about 1996? All quarterback Mike Samuel had to do was kneel a couple times to secure the win but instead freshman running back Ron Dayne got the call, and promptly fumbled. Northwestern scored a last-second touchdown to win.
Or perhaps we could look back to 2000, the last time the fur flew between these teams at Camp Randall Stadium. Northwestern's offense shredded UW for 544 yards and scored on their final five possessions of the game to pull off a shocking 47-44 double-overtime win over the No. 7 Badgers.
I know, I know, you all think I'm crazy. There's no way we can fail against those geeks from Evanston, Ill., this time. Not with Bret Bielema's defense leading the way. This time, nothing weird will happen.
Of course, I thought the Red Sox were going to crush the Yankees. I was so sure I made a bet with the Cardinal's city editor and die-hard Yankees fan Maureen Backman that if Boston lost, I would wear a Northwestern shirt in the student section this Saturday. So for me, the weirdness has already begun.
On second thought, put those Rose Bowl-colored glasses back on. Maybe then you won't be able to see my shirt.
mtworringer@wisc.edu.
