1998 Wisconsin Badgers football team

1998 Wisconsin Badgers football
Rose Bowl Champions
Big Ten Co-Champions
Rose Bowl, W 38–31 vs. UCLA
Conference Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches No. 5
AP No. 6
1998 record 11–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach Barry Alvarez (9th year)
Offensive coordinator Brad Childress (8th year)
Defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove (4th year)
Home stadium Camp Randall Stadium
(Capacity: 76,129, Astroturf)
1998 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#2 Ohio State %+   7 – 1         11 – 1  
#6 Wisconsin $+   7 – 1         11 – 1  
#12 Michigan +   7 – 1         10 – 3  
#24 Purdue   6 – 2         9 – 4  
#17 Penn State   5 – 3         9 – 3  
Michigan State   4 – 4         6 – 6  
Minnesota   2 – 6         5 – 6  
Indiana   2 – 6         4 – 7  
Illinois   2 – 6         3 – 8  
Iowa   2 – 6         3 – 8  
Northwestern   0 – 8         3 – 9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin during the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season.

Season

Wisconsin finished the regular season 10–1 overall (7–1 conference) and were co-champions of the Big Ten Conference (with Ohio State and Michigan) for the first time since 1993. They were awarded the berth in the 1999 Rose Bowl due to Big Ten Conference tie-breaking rules, at the time, which gave the Rose Bowl invitation to the tied team which had gone the longest period of time without an invitation: Michigan had been in the 1998 Rose Bowl, Ohio State had been in the 1997 Rose Bowl, while Wisconsin's last Rose Bowl was 1994.

The circumstances of this selection, the fact that Ohio State was the higher-ranked team (Ohio State was the pre-season #1 and spent most of the season with this ranking: Wisconsin did not play Ohio State or Michigan State that year, so Ohio State had the better record versus common opponents due to the Michigan loss), combined with the fact that the opponent (UCLA) was ranked #2 and headed to the national title game before a season-ending loss, led to ridicule in the national media: most notably, Craig James' declaration that Wisconsin was "the worst team to ever play in the Rose Bowl." Wisconsin went on to defeat #6 UCLA 38–31 in the 1999 Rose Bowl. Afterward, Badger coach Barry Alvarez fired back, "Well, I know we're at least the second worst."[1][2]

Individual awards and honors

Schedule and results

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 5 8:00 PM at San Diego State* No. 20 Qualcomm Stadium • San Diego, CA (Kickoff Classic) NBC W 26–14   37,471[3]
September 12 11:30 AM Ohio* No. 17 Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI MSC W 45–0   74,676[4]
September 19 1:00 PM UNLV* No. 14 Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI W 52–7   75,044[5]
September 26 11:00 AM Northwestern No. 14 Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI ESPN W 38–7   78,337[6]
October 3 11:00 AM at Indiana No. 13 Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN ESPN2 W 24–20   32,328[7]
October 10 7:30 PM Purduedagger No. 12 Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI ESPN2 W 31–24   78,782[8]
October 17 11:00 AM at Illinois No. 9 Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL ESPN2 W 37–3   40,627[9]
October 24 2:30 PM at Iowa No. 9 Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA (Rivalry) ABC W 31–0   70,397[10]
November 7 11:00 AM Minnesota No. 8 Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI (Paul Bunyan's Axe) ESPN W 26–7   78,767[11]
November 14 11:00 AM at No. 15 Michigan No. 8 Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI ESPN L 10–27   111,217[12]
November 21 2:00 PM No. 14 Penn State No. 13 Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI ESPN W 24–3   78,964[13]
January 1 3:30 PM vs. No. 6 UCLA* No. 9 Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) ABC W 38–31   93,872[14]
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Central Time.

Regular starters

Position Player
Quarterback Mike Samuel
Running Back Ron Dayne
Fullback Cecil Martin
Wide Receiver Chris Chambers
Wide Receiver Ahmad Merritt
Tight End Dague Retzlaff/Eric Grams
Left Tackle Chris McIntosh
Left Guard Bill Ferrario
Center Casey Rabach
Right Guard Dave Costa
Right Tackle Aaron Gibson
Position Player
Defensive End Tom Burke
Defensive Tackle Ross Kolodziej
Nose Guard Eric Mahlik
Defensive End John Favret
Outside Linebacker Bob Adamov
Inside Linebacker Donnel Thompson
Outside Linebacker Chris Ghidorzi
Cornerback Mike Echols
Free Safety Jason Doering
Strong Safety Leonard Taylor
Cornerback Jamar Fletcher

Team players selected in the 1999 NFL Draft

Player Position Round Pick NFL Club
Aaron Gibson Tackle 1 27 Detroit Lions
Tom Burke Linebacker 3 83 Arizona Cardinals
Cecil Martin Fullback 6 172 Philadelphia Eagles

[15]

References

  1. ↑ Howard-Cooper, Scott (January 2, 1999). "After Dayne Runs Them Over, They Beat Themselves Up - UCLA Conquered and Divided After Rose Bowl Defeat". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  2. ↑ Gurnick, Ken (January 2, 1999). "College Football: Rose Bowl; Badgers Prove Doubters Wrong". The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  3. ↑ "Wisconsin at San Diego St.". CNN. September 6, 1998.
  4. ↑ "Ohio at Wisconsin". CNN. September 12, 1998.
  5. ↑ "UNLV at Wisconsin". CNN. September 19, 1998.
  6. ↑ "Northwestern at Wisconsin". CNN. September 26, 1998.
  7. ↑ "Wisconsin at Indiana". CNN. October 3, 1998.
  8. ↑ "Purdue at Wisconsin". CNN. October 11, 1998.
  9. ↑ "Wisconsin at Illinois". CNN. October 17, 1998.
  10. ↑ "Wisconsin at Iowa". CNN. October 24, 1998.
  11. ↑ "Minnesota at Wisconsin". CNN. November 7, 1998.
  12. ↑ "Wisconsin at Michigan". CNN. November 14, 1998.
  13. ↑ "Penn State at Wisconsin". CNN. November 21, 1998.
  14. ↑ Bagnato, Andrew (January 2, 1999). "Badgers Say Cheese". Chicago Tribune.
  15. ↑ "1999 NFL Draft".

External links

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