Wisconsin Badgers Football Tickets - Games - Buy Wisconsin Badgers Football Tickets

Barry Alvarez guided Wisconsin to Rose Bowl wins in both 1998 and 1999 with their pinnacle, being ranked #4 in 1999. After losing between 4 to 7 games per year for the next 4 years, the 2003 team got as high as 6-1 (#14) after upsetting Ohio St. They then suffered 3 tough losses in games they could easily have won and had 5 first stringers miss a combined 30 starts. In 2004 I called them one of the premier teams in the Big 10 and they went 9-2 during the regular season including their 3rd straight win in Columbus. They got as high as #4 (9-0) in the coaches poll going undefeated at home for the second time since 1962. Their D allowed just 9.1 ppg in the first 9 but after injuries hurt the D-line, they allowed 34.3 ppg their last 3 (all losses). They only had 9 starters back last year which was the lowest in the Big 10 and Alvarez, in his final season, probably had his finest coaching performance yet. He took a team that was outmanned along the line of scrimmage, and in fact outgained by an average of 120.4 ypg in Big 10 play, and guided them to a Jan 1 bowl game and an upset of a stronger Auburn team. All of this from a team that was unranked in the preseason for the first time since 1996. In '89 the teams average attendance was just 41,734 but in their last 81 games under Alvarez they topped 70,000+ (82,551 avg in '05). The Badgers knocked off Michigan 23-20 on Stocco's 4 yd QB draw with :24 left in a night home game. They moved up to 5-0 and #14 before losing at Northwestern. UW trailed Minnesota 34-24 with 3:27 left and got a blocked punt for a TD to pull out the win. Against Purdue, UW was outgained 428-280 but had 89 and 62 yard IP's for TD's. The Mini had a 538-464 yd edge vs them but UW won by 17 points. In the battle for the Big 10 Title, Penn St led 21 -0 at the half with a 305-109 yd edge. Alvarez's FHG was vs Iowa and they led 10-0 but lost 20-10 being outgained 390-276. That snapped a streak of 11 straight home wins, which was the longest since 1903 (25). The upset of Auburn made them the 4th team in school history to record 10 wins (1 st since 1999). The Badgers did benefit from +13 in turnovers, had 3 close wins and had great offensive and defensive ypp's (see pg 299). Wisconsin has the best travelling fans in the NCAA and I extend an excited "welcome" to each of them to Cleveland on Sept 2nd (see Hardcore). Wisconsin's offense set a school record with 34.3 ppg last year and with just 3 offensive starters back, will likely come nowhere near that total. Defensively the Badgers were fortunate to allow 23.8 ppg as the team allowed 418 ypg, their most in the Alvarez era. This year they have 8 starters back on D and that side of the ball should be a strength under former DC Bielema. Despite the fact that UW had a lot of things go in their favor last year.