This will be the first feature in what I hope to make an ongoing series on this blog. My girlfriend Tina often speaks of how great her alma mater is, and I often have to point out how much better UW is. Last season I heard quite a bit about how easy UW's schedule was as an excuse for why michigan couldn't win more games than UW. I have heard less of that this season, but still heard critiques when UW played Akron (nevermind michigan played Hawaii and UCF).
UW has had trouble scheduling top teams in the past, mostly because no one wants to play (and likely lose) at Camp Randall. I decided to check the past 10 years and see if UW or michigan had a tougher go of it. Over the last 10 years from 2007-2016 michigan played 34 teams ranked in the top 25 when the game was played, and UW played 35. michigan played 4 teams ranked in the top 5, and UW played 6.
Here's the best part. UW has always been criticized for being able to beat teams they should beat, but not beating the best teams with elite athletes. Over the 10 years from 2007-2016, UW was a respectable 16-19 vs the top 25, and 2-4 vs the top 5. Over the same period michigan was 10-24 vs the top 25, and 0-4 vs the top 5.
Suck on that michigan.
Is your refusal to capitalize "Michigan" like how Michigan people only say "Ohio" for "Ohio State" and Urban Meyer calls Michigan "the team up north" or something like that?
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, I don't think there's any doubt the last 10 years have been vastly better for Wisconsin than Michigan. For quite a while now, Michigan fans have been living in the distant past and the near future (which never quite seems to materialize), while the Badgers have owned the present.
I look forward to the rest of this series. I look forward to adding my own post on October 2 after my Wolverines kick some Badger ass and restore order to the world.
ReplyDelete