INAUGURAL BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
SEQUEL WORTHY OF TITLE OF 'CLASSIC'
Ironic twists help lift Wisconsin to Big Ten title over Michigan State in fantastic rematch of one of season's best games
COMMENTARY BY MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM M
aybe no one should have been surprised by anoth- er instant (replay) classic between Wisconsin and Michigan State.
Both had won 21 of
their last 25 games, both had evolved around their talented seniors; the Spartans were the winningest class in school history and the Bad- gers the second-winningest group ever at UW. Both were saving their best football for last. Michigan State was 13-3 in November under Mark Dantonio, and Wisconsin was 19-2 in regular-season games after Nov. 1 under Bret Bielema.
Both had established their surpremacy on their home turf. Michigan State had won 14
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straight at Spartan Stadium; Wisconsin had won 16 in a row at Camp Randall Stadium. Both had the proverbial chip on their shoul-
der. The Spartans felt like they should have been in Pasadena last year; the Badgers felt like they should have been in overtime in the teams' last meeting. On top of that, Wisconsin felt jilted by fans that jumped off the bandwagon after back-to- back, gut-wrenching losses on the road at Michi- gan State and Ohio State; the Spartans felt jilted by the odds-makers that made them a double- digit underdog for the Big Ten championship game.
That was the backdrop to the sequel, which
far exceed The Hangover Part II in anyone's ex- pectations.
