Wisconsin to Play Alabama in 2015 Cowboys Classic
Wisconsin just inked a deal to become the next Big Ten team to play get murdered by Alabama in a marquee early season game.
Wisconsin, the three-time defending Big Ten champion, and Alabama, the two-time defending BCS champion, will open the 2015 football season on Sept. 5, 2015 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
"As a league we decided that we needed to upgrade our non-conference schedule," UW Director of Athletics Barry Alvarez said. "We understand that strength of schedule will be a factor in determining which teams earn the right to participate in the new four-team playoff system and we want to be in that mix. There's no better way to do that than by playing the defending national champions. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to play a storied program like Alabama in a terrific venue like Cowboys Stadium. It will be a great experience for our program, our players and our fans."
"This is a tremendous opportunity for our team to open the 2015 season against a nationally-recognized SEC opponent," Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersen said.
The game time and television network have yet to be determined.
UW and Alabama have met just one time in the schools' history, a 15-0 Badger victory on Nov. 3, 1928 at Camp Randall Stadium. Wisconsin has not played an SEC team since playing five consecutive bowl games against the conference from 2003-07 (UW went 2-3 in those games). The Badgers have not played an SEC team during the regular season since losing, 27-7, at LSU on Sept. 30, 1972.
All joking aside, if the Big Ten wants to get on the SEC's level, it will have to start beating SEC teams. They don't come much bigger than Alabama. And, as fans, these are the games we want to see early in the year. Kudos to both programs for scheduling this one.
Comments
Why do all these "neutral site" games take place in the south?
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
Funny thing is all I had to read was Wisco to play Alabama and before I could even read another word I already was thinking in my head that no way in hell it will be at Camp Randall
Terms of probation, most likely.
The postgame show is brought to you by... Christ, I can't find it. The hell with it...
Now THAT"S funny, damn it. Kudos to your quick wit!
"Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." - Groucho Marx
The South will NOT rise again!
D-I college football is still the only level of football in America where any and all meaningful non-conf games take place in 60 (or warmer) degree weather or a dome. Just imagine the reaction if the NFL decided that the Steelers or Giants or Patriots or Packers had to play all of their playoff games in domes and/or in warm weather "neutral" site locations.
The SEC has a built-in advantage even before these games begin as long as they keep taking place in Atlanta or NO or Dallas or Florida.
Early season night games are 60 degrees plus in Ohio.
Just do a one and one I'm sick of this crap.
Fitzbuck
Toledo - Ohio's right armpit
"A troll by any other name is still a troll".
The last time an SEC team traveled north of the Mason-Dixon line for a football game was back in 1991 and that was Florida traveling to Syracuse to play the Orangemen..Altho now that I think of it Vandy did travel north of the line just recently....Even the gimme games are against teams south of the Mason-Dixon line
Battles are sometimes won by generals; wars are nearly always won by sergeants and privates. Football is no different, the guys down in the trenches win the games, not the coach.
Alabama went to Penn State quite recently. We need to stop complaining as a conference and start winning. With the talent level on the field, I doubt that the games being played down south have much to do with it.
Why are you doing this to yourself Wisconsin? Just going to make the Big Ten look bad once again
So Bert Bielama didn't have to leave Wisconsin to lose to the SEC afterall.
Ouch,do they not remember what happened to that team up north last september?? I smell another blow-out!!
SCOTTC.
Go home Wisconsin, you're drunk.
"if irony were made of strawberries, we' d all be drinking a lot of smoothies right now."
And somebody's drinking Ripple......
Alvarez,
"You big dummy"
"Success - it's what you do with what you got" - Woody Hayes
now this comment got me laughing, hahaha
Completely agree that this is a good, B1G needs to play the SEC in order to be able to compete with them... however two suggestions:
1 - Why not start a little lower on the pole, maybe a South Carolina, or an Arkansas??
2 - I know we tend to beat this one to death, but why ARE the games always in the south... this is early September, why doesn't Soldier field host an annual "Windy City Classic" every year, or Indy, with a B1G team in a Marquee matchup??? Can we make this happen? The fans within driving distance will always have a slight home field advantage...
Re: #2, I think a lot of these you have to attribute to Jerry Jones and his successful marketing of "Jerry World." Given the amount of scratch that went in to building that stadium, they need high profile events like this to happen every season.
Wow.... let's hope this new Coach Anderson gets his team together in time.
It's 2015. He'll have had a year in Madison under his belt by then. (Which will probably have been adjusted a hole or two due to a year of eating bratwursts.)
#fistpumpgobuckeyes
You would think Alabama would want to prove themselves against a real Big Ten team in Ohio State.
Most likely, yes, Wisconsin will get demolished. But it's two seasons down the road with a new head coach for the Badgers, so anything can happen. Also, I agree with what is said at the end of the post... in order to be considered on the same level with the best, you have to beat the best. And in order to beat 'em, you have to actually play 'em.
Who knows, Saban might be gone by then.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
Why isn't OSU getting games like this? Or do we have them planned, just not for a few years? Even if it's a bloodbath, if I was a Michigan fan last year, a Wisconsin fan in 2015, or a Penn State team (that got a home and home with them a couple of years ago), I'd just be happy to get to play someone like Alabama in the regular season. We might lose, but we also might win, we might get a damn entertaining game, and we might get the strength of schedule boost ND had last year.
There is no upside for Alabama to play OSU and be beat three times in a row. NCG 2014, NCG 2015 and the Cowboy Classic 2015.
WIBUCKEYE
Were you looking at my paper over my shoulder?
As has been said, good job Wisky for stepping up (as sacrificial lamb), but I'd much rather see them invite Bert and the boys at Arky up to Camp Randall.
The postgame show is brought to you by... Christ, I can't find it. The hell with it...
I actually think Wisconsin matches up a little better to Bama than a lot of other B1G schools (Outside of Ohio State). The ground and pound game might be enough to move slowly down the field against Bama. They certainly do not have the speed to keep up with them (see, Michigan 2012) but you don't need a ton of speed if you can continuously pound the ball between the tackles. I am by no means saying Wisconsin wins this game but I do think they match up better than what Michigan did last year.
I disagree. Wisconsin are like a drunken late-night version of Tressel/Bollman Ball. They will get 41-14ed but way worse. It will be pure Carnage.
I don't think you got the memo that Wisconsin's switching to the Pistol offense
/Duff'd It
I'd rather see the irony bowl featuring Wisky and Arkansas
Battles are sometimes won by generals; wars are nearly always won by sergeants and privates. Football is no different, the guys down in the trenches win the games, not the coach.
Don't you mean the Schlitz Bowl? it is Bert after all.
All the games of the season are just practices for that glorious saturday in November when we get to jack Shoelace's invisible cereal bowl and drink our fill of delicious skunkweasel tears ...Michigan Still Sucks!!
I give Wisky credit. With a new coach, this is how you get exposure. If you get beat (or stomped), you go from there. If you win, it's a freaking bonanza.
Wisconsin must know something we dont in terms of violations that will cripple all that has become Alabama... if not, they better start planting evidence to start the downfall before the 2015 season
outstanding comments in this thread - just my .02
indianapolis and chicago could definitely pull something like this off too. I guess there's no puppet master like Jerry behind them to push for something like this. another .02
I like football
What Wisconsin thinks this does for their program:
And what actually happens:
scUM was so proud of themselves for scheduling Alabama last year. I remember some of my friends who're scUM fans patting the athletic department on the back and saying that "playing with Alabama is the only way to learn how to beat them and bring yourselves up."
They did not "play with" Alabama. Alabama ran right past them like they were a FCS team. scUM's players and coaches learned nothing from a loss like that. The only attention they got for weeks afterward was negative.
I'm all for scheduling big opponents, but make sure you have the skill to prove you deserve to be on the same field.
Although I have no idea what Wisky and Bama's rosters will look like in 2015, here is my prediciton:
Alabama - 52
Wisconsin - 10
I base this on absolutely no statistical or factual data whatsoever.
How about 6 or 7 straight years of finishing 7th or worse in the B1G recruiting rankings?