[NU Sports] FORTY DAYS OF FOOTBALL: Day 33

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

One week away and it's starting to sink in that football is just around the corner! Our long national nightmare of having to watch cars go around in circles, three hours of formerly roided up ball players shockingly striking out again and again for yet another no-hitter now that they have testing or gol ... zzzzzzzzzz .... fff pass for sports is almost over!

FORTY DAYS OF FOOTBALL
######################

> DAYS 1-10: The top coaches of the decade

10) Glen Mason, Minnesota
09) Bret Bielema, Wisconsin
08) Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
07) Barry Alvarez, Wisconsin
06) Randy Walker, Northwestern
05) Lloyd Carr, Michigan
04) Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
03) Joe Tiller, Purdue
02) Joe Paterno, Penn State
01) Jim Tressel, Ohio State

> DAYS 11-20: The top games of the decade

10) 2000: Purdue 32, Michigan 31
09) 2001: Michigan State 26, Michigan 24
08) 2005: Michigan 27, Penn State 25
07) 2003: Minnesota 37, Wisconsin 34
06) 2004: Northwestern 33, Ohio State 27 (OT)
05) 2008: Penn State 13, Ohio State 6
04) 2009: Ohio State 27, Iowa 24 (OT)
03) 2002: Ohio State 10, Purdue 6
02) 2000: Northwestern 54, Michigan 51
01) 2006: Ohio State 42, Michigan 39

> DAYS 21-30: The top players of the decade

10) Laurence Maroney/Marion Barber, Minnesota
09) Antwaan Randle El, Indiana
08) Jamar Fletcher, Wisconsin
07) Dallas Clark, Iowa
06) Troy Smith, Ohio State
05) Damien Anderson, Northwestern
04) Braylon Edwards, Michigan
03) Chris Gamble, Ohio State
02) Larry Johnson, Penn State
01) Drew Brees, Purdue

> DAYS 31-40: The top teams of the decade

10) 2003 Michigan Wolverines
09) 2002 Iowa Hawkeyes

Just one rule for this list: No more than three teams from one school (so it wouldn't just be a list of Buckeye teams :) ).

TOP TEAMS
#########

08) 2006 Wisconsin Badgers

- Record: 12-1
- Quality Wins: Penn State, @ Purdue, #13 Arkansas
- Bad Losses: None
- Average margin of victory: 19.7 points
- Bowl result: Beat #13 Arkansas 17-14 in the Citrus Bowl

Bret Bielema had the type of season rookie coaches dream of, setting a school record for wins and finishing the year #5 after starting the season unranked.

So why aren't the Badgers higher on this list? Well, look no further than the schedule. Wisconsin's margin of victory was under 20 points and they played only one ranked team during the regular season. They were winning ugly ... but winning.

The first three games of the season introduced the nation to P.J. Hill, who topped the century mark in each of the three easy wins over Bowling Green, Western Illinois and San Diego State. But the competition stepped up significantly for the Big Ten opener at #6 Michigan. The Badgers hung in the game for a half, heading into the locker room down only 10-13 and harassing Chad Henne and the soon-to-be #2 Michigan offense all day. But Big Blue's defense held Hill to half a hundred yards and broke the game open after halftime to win 31-13.

Wisconsin would not face the other dominant Big Ten team in 2006, Ohio State, and rolled to three big wins over Indiana, Northwestern and Minnesota following the defeat in Ann Arbor to crack the top 25.

The next two games were at home, and the Badgers needed all of that Camp Randall home field edge to survive a scare against Illinois. Juice Williams had the Illini up 24-10 at the half before quarterback John Stocco threw two touchdowns to lead a rally and escape with a 30-24 win. The next week, Wisconsin slugged it out with Penn State under the lights and emerged a 13-3 winner, but not without a memorable moment at the end of the first half.

Bielema may have been the new kid on the block, but he angered the legend JoePa by intentionally offside kicking after a late score to run out the clock in the first half (the stupid new rule - changed after the season - began the clock when the ball was kicked instead of when it was received). Wisconsin closed out the Big Ten campaign with a big win over rival Iowa in Kinnick Stadium, 24-21.

The cheeseheads returned to Orlando, where they had sent Barry Alvarez out a winner 12 months earlier, for a good old fashioned football game with their running attack going up against Darren McFadden and Felix Jones at arkansas. The Badgers lost the rushing battle but won the game 17-14, capping a 12-1 season that may have benefitted from a soft schedule but was still a pretty impressive start to a new era in Mad-town.

Coming Friday: Happy returns in the Sunshine State

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
==========================