With the passing of another holiday season we’re already 20% through the 21st century — seems like it just started. Passing of the holiday season also sees passing of the college football season, except for the forthcoming LSU-Clemson championship playoff game.
As it’s totally out of our control, one can’t let the outcome of a game affect your quality of life. But we sometimes get caught up in the drama anyway.
As friend and former colleague, Jim Peach, New Mexico State University economics professor and its NCAA representative, reminds me, “fan” is short for “fanatic.” One has to be fanatic, or at least irrational to endure four hours of commercials to observe 60 minutes of occasional action on the field. Of course, one could skip a session at the gym by occupying commercial interruptions with sit-ups, pushups and squats. Alternative exercise would be to occupy the incessant commercials by walking around. The catch is that such walks more often than not are another trip to the refrigerator.
This college football season produced the usual mix of pleasant surprises and bitter disappointments. Perhaps the biggest national surprise, even shock, was the University of Minnesota’s football rise from the ashes. Prior to the season, what rational observer would have predicted that the hapless Gophers would end their season in the Outback Bowl, whipping SEC’s Auburn, a perennial powerhouse, seen early on as a candidate for the national championship?
Even with their 8-0 winning record at the time, the Gophers garnered no respect — it had to be a fluke, or a cushy schedule — until they whipped then-fourth ranked Penn State. They followed by losing to Iowa that has a history of upsetting higher ranked teams, and to the Badgers, for the Big 10 West title and the opportunity to play Enormous State University, otherwise known as The Ohio State University, for the Big 10 title.
Long-suffering Minnesota fans are justifiably excited about the resurgence of Minnesota football. It was good for the disrespected Big 10 to have Minnesota whip the SEC’s powerful Auburn. I was pleased to see Minnesota’s success.
How can I, raised on a Wisconsin dairy farm, a University of Wisconsin graduate, and a genuine cheese head, be glad for Minnesota’s success? That’s easy — the Badgers are still my favorite. But the UM gave me the gift of steady employment for 23 years. So after the Badgers, it must be the Gophers. Which brings us to the Badgers’ one-point loss to Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
The Badgers characteristically lose at least one game they should win. Last year, it was to the Gophers; this year to the struggling Illini.
With that shocking loss to Illinois, the UW staff got more creative. Instead of consistently running Jonathan Taylor into the line, they used him as a decoy and receiver, resulting in victories over Iowa and resurgent Minnesota for the Big 10 West title. They even soundly whipped Ohio State University during the first half — sadly, only for the first half — for the Big 10 title.
Although outplaying Clemson, the OSU Buckeyes let the Big 10 down by blowing another game in the Championship series that it should have won. While throwing only one interception all season, the OSU quarterback threw two interceptions in that one.
The Badgers also let the Big 10 down once again. While outplaying Oregon most of the game, totally dominating time of possession, they uncharacteristically defeated themselves. You can’t give a team like Oregon 21 points on four turnovers and expect to win. Even then, the Badgers came within one point and a controversial interference call of winning that game.
The Big 10 ended the season with a 3-4 Bowl record. It desperately needed victories by OSU and the Badgers to get some desperately needed national respect.
It’s not that the Badgers have a bad bowl record — just a bad Rose Bowl record, having lost their last three — the 2010, 2011 and 2012 seasons. Since their Rose Bowl loss of the 2012 season, the Badgers played in other bowl games for each of the 2013 to 2018 seasons, winning five of the six. But the season 2019 Rose Bowl victory was not to be.
The Badgers remain a very good, sometimes even great, team. But they have yet to crack the elite category. The resurgence of the Gophers — their first 11-win season since 1905 — reminds us of the arrival of Barry Alvarez as Badgers coach in 1990. He inherited the doormat of the Big 10 that had not had a winning season since 1984, and had only won a measly seven games in Big 10 Conference play during that time. The 1990 Alvarez record remained at 1-10. By his third season, 1992, Wisconsin showed signs of life, upsetting Ohio State on national TV, shocking everyone.
His fourth season at Wisconsin compiled a 10-1-1 record and their first Rose Bowl appearance since 1963, and only the second bowl victory in school history — over UCLA. Prior to arrival of Alvarez, the Badgers had been to only six bowls in their entire history. During the Alvarez tenure, the Badgers won or shared three Big 10 titles, and played in 11 bowl games, including three Rose Bowls (1993, 1998, and 1999 seasons) winning all three of them.
If Nebraska would return to its winning ways, and Minnesota’s resurgence continues, the Big 10 West might even gain some national respect.
In 1990 I left the Minnesota tundra for New Mexico State University to head its Agricultural Economics Department.
Although the NMSU Aggies have long been struggling, they have produced some great players. Packer fans surely remember Devon House who played corner back for Green Bay for six seasons. A frequent NMSU opponent is the U. of Texas — El Paso (UTEP), some 50 miles down the road from Las Cruces. Green Bay’s “other Aaron,” star running back Aaron Jones, is a product of UTEP.
We’ll see if UTEP’s contribution to Green Bay will help keep us from another disappointment. But hey, it’s nothing we can control.
— John Waelti of Monroe can be reached at jjwaelti1@tds.net. His column appears Saturdays in the Monroe Times
