If If If but but but.  If ifs and buts were candy and nuts everything would be better on New Years Day or the week after.

wmvusa:

Prediction, the Badger beat no one that they are not suppose to.  In other words they will beat every team that has a losing record.  Wow what an accomplishment.

you're already wrong.  minnesota is 4-2, and they were favored by 5.  Northern Illinois was unbeaten when they came to camp randall and still has a winning record. 

jimmythegreek:

wmvusa:

Prediction, the Badger beat no one that they are not suppose to.  In other words they will beat every team that has a losing record.  Wow what an accomplishment.

 

you're already wrong.  minnesota is 4-2, and they were favored by 5.  Northern Illinois was unbeaten when they came to camp randall and still has a winning record. 

Just another wingnut, James.

Our coach (33-12) is not going to be fired. 

Yup, practically NONE of those 33 wins came against winning records or teams who were favored.

as special teams coach

You're right and and I'm wrong, the Badger's will probably end up with some wins against some mediocre winning teams.

Bret's 33 wins makes him great on paper, but make no mistake, he is a paper lion.  Review his stellar history and you will find 2 meaningful victories so far.  My definition of a meaningful victory is having beaten teams that are ranked in the top 20 at the end of the season.  There are two so far, Michigan (18) in 2007 and Arkansa (15) in the Citrus Bowl.

Look at his famous 2006 season and tell me that you really believe the Badgers were battle tested during the regular season.  They never even had to play Ohio State. Smoke and Mirrors my friends.

Looking forward to defending mediocrity here in Michigan for a long, long time.

isn't one element of a good program in beating the teams you are supposed/favored to beat?  I'm not following your logic I guess.  Not UW's fault the BT is down and therefore we only play one or two top 25 teams each year in conference.  After the Iowa game, it could very well be UW's last shot at a ranked team this year. 

RR isn't having any better of a 2nd year @ Michigan than what BB had at UW so far IMO.

2007

Lost to Illinois final rank 20

Lost to Ohio State final rank 5

Lost to Tennessee final rank 12

 2008

Lost to Ohio State final rank 9

Got killed by Penn St. final rank 8

Got killed by Iowa final rank 20

Got beat by MSU final rank 24

Got killed by Florida St final rank 23

Hope that clears up the confusion, even in a weak conference Bucky has done nothing to gain national respect.  Over the last two years, 8 losses to teams ranked in the top 25,  5 of them to teams below the final top 10, 4 of them to teams 20 or below.

Here in Michigan RR is on thin ice, he is getting a brief grace period because he changed the system and it is believed the cupboard was pretty bare by Michigan standards when he took over. 

Did guru change his screen name?

wmvusa:

Here in Michigan RR is on thin ice, he is getting a brief grace period because he changed the system and it is believed the cupboard was pretty bare by Michigan standards when he took over.

Since when do Michigan and Wisconsin have comparable football programs?  And I'd be surprised if RR was shown the door this season.  Would anyone of any reputation want to go there after the way Carr got shown the door and RR getting only 2 years?

wmvusa:

My definition of a meaningful victory is having beaten teams that are ranked in the top 20 at the end of the season.

So nice to be going by your definition.  How convenient.

But let's take that and go with it.  We have 3 full seasons of Bielema so far with results pending on number 4.  He has two by your definition.

How many of such wins did his predecessor have?  13.

You see, it's pretty hard to do.  Unless you're a national championship contender every year, you likely will have a break even record against top 20 caliber team AT BEST.  If you do beat somebody, it stands a very good chance that you help knock them from the top 20 status (i.e. Purdue 2004)

In Alvarez' first four years, he had two.  That included the first Rose Bowl season.  He then had two over the next four years.  He was quite successful from the 1998 season through 2000 (3 seasons; 5 such wins).  I seem to remember that those included two nice Rose Bowl runs....coincidence?  He then finished his career with 4 wins in the last five seasons.  Bielema is SOOOO far off that pace (rolling eyes).

You get a crack at maybe two or three teams a year.  They are your toughest games.  They might be on the road.  It ain't easy.

Teams on the schedule that could be top 20:  Michigan, Iowa, bowl team.  Michigan State (slight) and Minnesota  have a slim shot.  Northwestern isn't too bad either.  We could get two this year.  Will you be around to answer to that?

wmvusa:

Lost to Ohio State final rank 9

Got killed by Penn St. final rank 8

Got killed by Iowa final rank 20

Got beat by MSU final rank 24

Got killed by Florida St final rank 23

Hope that clears up the confusion, even in a weak conference Bucky has done nothing to gain national respect.  Over the last two years, 8 losses to teams ranked in the top 25,  5 of them to teams below the final top 10, 4 of them to teams 20 or below.

Do you see how you moved the goalposts?  Now you're evaluating Top 25 instead of Top 20.

Looks like you listed 5 losses for 2008.  Seems to match our loss total for the year too.  I wonder if we win some of those, how many remain in the top 25?  Looks like just two.  And we really should have closed the deal on one of them.

Sadly, this is something I don't see continuing.  The Badgers will beat, sometimes just barely, teams that they should beat (like NIU and Indiana).  They will never beat a team like Ohio State.  They did not look like they belonged on the same field Saturday, the first time they played a really solid team.  BB probably doesn't deserve to be fired right now, but I would not be upset to see him go.  His record isn't that impressive considering his weak non-conference schedule and inheriting a very good team that Alvarez built but is now down to mediocre. 

Your right I should not have moved the goal posts.  I should have given Bret credit for beating #25 Penn. St. with the caveat he had the benefit of Barry's players for his 2 top 25 wins in 2006/07.

That leaves him with 1 in 2007, still mostly with Barry's recruits.

Zero in 2008

?????? in 2009.  I'll stand by what I meant in my original comment.  There will not be a meaningful win this season.

I'll still make the 7 hour drive to  watch Bucky hopefully beat Michigan.

wmvusa:

Hope that clears up the confusion, even in a weak conference Bucky has done nothing to gain national respect. 

tell us something that hasn't already been discussed....i mean coming from Michigan, you can probably relate with some of the recent frustrations since BB took over.  Unfortunately for UW, they don't have the tradition and name of Michigan.

pdevine22:

Sadly, this is something I don't see continuing.  The Badgers will beat, sometimes just barely, teams that they should beat (like NIU and Indiana).  They will never beat a team like Ohio State.

Did you watch the game on Saturday?  They were beating Ohio State.  Problem is, they also beat themselves.  Turnovers and special teams breakdowns are killers to teams with a thin margin between victory and defeat.  Wisconsin is one of those teams.

pdevine22:

They did not look like they belonged on the same field Saturday, the first time they played a really solid team.

Again, did you watch the game?  The defense was great (and who'd have thought that going into the season?).  One bad drive at the end of the first half and that's it.  Offensively, they moved the ball well, but made a couple killer mistakes.  Young teams will do that.  Special teams still isn't there yet, I will concede.  But if you really watched the game, you have to see that UW was a worthy opponent to OSU.  OSU is the better team, but UW isn't far behind.  It was certainly a winnable game that got away unfortunately.

pdevine22:

BB probably doesn't deserve to be fired right now, but I would not be upset to see him go.

Why?  His coaching this season has made me believe that Barry made a good choice.  This team is much improved compared to last season and it's also much younger.  Bret is improving the squad with his coaching and his recruits.  Why would you get rid of a guy who does that?

pdevine22:

His record isn't that impressive considering his weak non-conference schedule and inheriting a very good team that Alvarez built but is now down to mediocre.

Yeah, Barry never played a weak nc schedule.  And as AD, I'm sure he has no input on current schedules either. 

Bret inherited a good squad in his first season, I agree.  But you can't crucify Bielema now because he had a good first season.  And if you give Barry credit for the 2006 players, he also needs to accept some of the blame for last seasons guys too because half that team were his recruits.  Look at all the young guys that play today, including freshmen.  That's all BB.

pdevine22:

They did not look like they belonged on the same field Saturday, the first time they played a really solid team. 

uh, you need to get your eyes checked.  badger defense shut down buckeye run game.  our offense moved the ball consistently.  badgers rolled up 368 yards of offense against one of the best defenses in the nation.  hell, even USC only had 318.  enough with the melodrama.

i agree that special teams breakdowns are unaccpetable and that goes straight to coaching.  it's been a problem since day one of BB's tenure.  however, the fact that this team did not quit, and fought until the very end with a legit chance goes to show that the 2008 team/attitude is much different than this years.