The Badgers From The Past Decade: How'd They Do? Part Three

Part One: Wisconsin vs. Iowa, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Ohio State
Part Two: The Teams Wisconsin didn't face as much (Purdue, Michigan State, and Illinois)
Part Three: The Rest of the Big Ten (Michigan, Penn State, and Indiana)
Part Four: Wisconsin's Infamous Nonconference Schedule

vs. Indiana: 6-2, 1-1 against Cam Cameron, 0-1 against Gerry DiNardo, 2-0 against Terry Hoeppner, 4-0 against Bill Lynch

2000 W 43-22
2001 L 63-32
2002 L 32-29
2003-2004 Hiatus
2005 W 41-24
2006 W 52-17
2007 W 33-3
2008 W 55-20
2009 W 31-28
2010 W 83-20

This series was frustrating at the outset. Losing to the 2002 Hoosiers was an indication of just how "not good" the Badgers were that season (Barry finished 2-6 in conference play that year). It would be 2 years before the Badgers got a crack at a poor Indiana team, and they wasted no time in trouncing the Hoosiers by 17 points. In 2006, the Badgers hammered IU again. Rinse and repeat in 2007. The next season, with the Badgers at 1-5 coming off an AWFUL loss to Michigan State, Wisconsin unloaded on Indiana in Memorial Stadium, handing them a 5 touchdown defeat.

2009 was a pretty hectic game, the Badgers didn't capitalize on some of the Hoosiers' mistakes and Indiana stayed in the game for far longer than necessary. One of the many 2009 nailbiters (Fresno State, Northwestern, and NIU), I don't have many fond memories of the Badgers almost getting upset.

I was in the upper deck for the game this year, and the Badgers simply destroyed Indiana. Montee Ball and James White ripped them to shreds, and even Nate Tice and Jon Budmayr got in on the scoring action. Murderous efficiency against bad teams is a must have, and the Badgers displayed plenty of that against the Hoosiers.

vs. Penn State: 4-4

1999-2000 Hiatus
2001 W 18-6
2002 L 34-31
2003 W 30-23
2004 W 16-3
2005 L 35-14
2006 W 17-13
2007 L 38-7
2008 L 48-7
2009-2010 Hiatus

No words. There are still people who hate Bielema for the 2006 clock killing tactic, but considering what happened the next two years, I think that's safely out of play. I mean, come on. Hating a guy you destroyed 86-14 over your last two meetings for something in 2006 is just ridiculous. You should thank him instead. Just my take.

vs. Michigan: 5-5, 2-4 against Lloyd Carr and 3-1 against Rich Rodriguez

2000 L 13-10
2001 L 20-17
2002 L 21-14
2003-2004 Hiatus
2005 W 23-20
2006 L 27-13
2007 W 37-21
2008 L 27-25
2009 W 45-24
2010 W 48-28

Lloyd Carr's job description had to have included something about "making Wisconsin fans' lives miserable", because after taking over from Gary Moeller, he didn't lose to the Badgers until 2005. And there were some excruciatingly close games in there, ones that Michigan, in retrospect, had no business winning whatsoever, but them's the breaks. The 2005 game remains one of the most epic in Wisconsin history. Getting box seats for that game made it even better (that's the first and probably the ONLY time I'll ever be in the Evjue Communications Center for a game). I can't forget Calhoun's insane TD run. Or John Stocco's QB Draw to take the lead and eventually the win.

The next year was a screwy game, once again, and the Badgers fell flat in that blasted Michigan Stadium. Again. The fact that Michigan went 11-0 and essentially screwed Wisconsin out of the BCS made it worse. The next year, with P.J. Hill injured once again, the Badgers pounded Chad Henne and Lloyd Carr eventually pulled him (and that's one decision that's still a little odd to me. Carr benching Henne and Hart, in the hopes that they'd be healthy against Ohio State, backfired spectacularly when Henne managed all of 3 points the next week. At home. FAIL) Wisconsin won 37-21, but all ESPN mentioned was the BS 97 yard touchdown pass from Ryan Mallett to Mario Manningham (who I hate to this day). Still, that was one heck of a game to attend live (I was somewhere in Section Q for that game).

2008 was definitely a screwjob, but it feels like that's what happens every time the Badgers travel to Ann Arbor. The 45-24 pummeling the Badgers handed Michigan in 2009 to knock the Wolverines to 5-6 on the year and 1-6 in the Big Ten was very nice. Then this year happened, and the Badgers completely shut down Michigan for a half, forcing the Wolverines into playing a game of catch-up that they didn't have a chance in, considering how porous their rushing defense was. Michigan earned every inch of punishment they took in that game and then some.