Todd Hubler
Anyone who watched Ohio State pound Wisconsin 59-0 in Saturday's Big Ten Championship game might have noticed something else, too: Buckeye red appeared to trump Bucky red in the stands at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium.
Granted, a trip from Madison to Indy takes twice as long as one from Columbus, Ohio. But UW fans routinely travel much farther than that to attend meaningless bowl games.
I bring this up because all season, USA TODAY has presented what it calls the College Football Fan Index -- a very unscientific ranking of America's most engaged fan bases, as determined by online voting. I love these kinds of lists, even though they mean absolutely nothing. Though I often disagree with them, they're still fun to read.
Prior to Saturday night's game (which, along with a previous 59-0 thumping by Ohio State in 1979, was the second-worst loss in Badger football history) Wisconsin was trending upward at #16 on USA TODAY's index. The number of votes for the Badgers was well ahead of #17 Clemson, but far behind #15 Ole Miss -- and well behind even troubled Big 10 teams like Nebraska (#7) and Michigan (#12), both of which recently fired their coaches.
Ohio State was ranked #1.
Now, with the Badgers slated to play Auburn in the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla., on the morning of New Year's Day, the engagement ranking of Bucky Nation could potentially drop below even Bret Bielema's Arkansas Razorbacks, found all the way down at #21.
Wisconsin should rank higher. Perhaps Badger backers' lack of zeal this season stems from the fact that the entire Big 10 is no longer vying for a Rose Bowl slot under the new College Football Playoff. Or maybe it's the conference's new divisional alignment, which placed Wisconsin in the same division as such humdrum teams as Illinois, Northwestern and Purdue. Or maybe it was even that heartbreaking 28-24 opening-night loss to LSU back in August.
Running back Melvin Gordon III, who set all sorts of school and Big Ten records to become a hyped Heisman Trophy hopeful, was the main reason to stay engaged week after week.
Saturday's soul-crushing defeat damaged the team's local and national reputation. But the news isn't all bad: Gordon was named one of three Heisman finalists on Monday night, with the winner to be announced Saturday. And a convincing UW victory on New Year's Day could go a long way toward fostering forgiveness.
