On Oct. 31, 1942, the Badgers hosted the top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes at Camp Randall Stadium and, for the first time ever against a No. 1 team, came away victorious, 17-7.
Although Wisconsin lost to Iowa the next week, the team still finished the 1942 season 8-1-1 and was named National Champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation.
The last time a Wisconsin football team beat a No. 1 ranked team, not a single member of the current squad had been born yet. Head coach Bret Bielema was 11-years-old.
Following that win over Michigan on Sept. 12, 1981, the first time Wisconsin had beaten the Wolverines since 1962, an article in Sports Illustrated described the Badgers as ""lowly"" and ""the bad guys.""
Far from lowly, the 1981 Badgers went on to win six more games and finished the season 7-5 and earned a berth in the Garden State Bowl—its first post-season appearance in nearly 20 years.
Since that early September Saturday in 1981, the Badgers have faced four No. 1 ranked teams, falling every time.
Wisconsin first faced a top-ranked opponent in 1936 when the team traveled to Evanston and fell to Northwestern 26 -18. Over the next six years, the Badgers twice again faced a No. 1 opponent—both losing efforts against the Minnesota.
Twenty years after defeating No. 1 Ohio State in 1942, Wisconsin again welcomed a No.1 team to Camp Randall and again came away with the win. The Badgers' 37-6 victory over the Wildcats helped pave the way to the team's third Rose Bowl appearance in program history, as well as the team's third Rose Bowl defeat, falling to No. 1 USC 42-37 on Jan. 1, 1963.
From 1964 to 1975, the Badgers faced top-ranked Ohio State teams five times. The closest game for Wisconsin in that stretch was a 24-0 loss in 1973, with the Buckeyes dominating the Badgers by scores of 62-7, 52-7 and 56-0.
Aside from the 1981 triumph over Michigan, UW did not face another top-ranked team until a matchup with the Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio on Nov. 3, 2007. The Badgers barely stood a chance, falling 38-17.
Since that first meeting against the Wildcats in 1936, Wisconsin has faced the top-ranked team in the nation a total of 19 times. The team is 3-16 in those meetings, including 3-5 at Camp Randall.
Only eight teams in the nation, however, have beaten a No. 1 team more times than Wisconsin. (Both Notre Dame and Oklahoma have defeated a top-ranked team eight times.)
This Saturday, when Wisconsin takes the field against a No. 1 Buckeyes sqaud for the seventh time, the situation could hardly be more dramatic. Playing under the lights on national television will be one of the most anticipated games for Badger fans since the 2000 Rose Bowl game in Pasadena. Only 60 minutes of football will tell whether or not this team can recapture the magic of that Halloween night on 1942.
