Urban Meyer’s effect on the Badgers

Listen, no one wanted to see the Buckeyes suffer more than me.  With the firing of Jim Tressel and NCAA sanctions knocking on the door, it seemed like Ohio State was in for a few years of misery.  Not only that, it would pretty much guarantee the Badgers a spot in the Big Ten Title game each year.  Illinois, Purdue and Indiana are three programs which are not on the rise.  Penn State was a top contender but then there was Jerry Sandusky.  Finally, we have the Buckeyes, who seemed like they would turn into an afterthought yet with the hiring of Urban Meyer, they are back to being a perennial powerhouse. 

The hiring of Urban Meyer will propel Ohio State
into the national title race each year.  

Yet, this hiring is the opposite of negative for the Big Ten.  The Big Ten’s biggest problem in the past five years is respect.  If Wisconsin were to make it to the Big Ten Title game each year by winning our division, I can assure you they would still have none.  However, add Urban Meyer into the mix and the Big Ten can quickly become the SEC.  After-all, the SEC bias was not in full force five years ago, it only came to be after a few national titles by Urban Meyer’s Florida Gators.

 

This is exactly what could happen in the Big Ten and is exactly what the Big Ten needs.  With Urban calling the shots, Ohio State automatically becomes a national title contender. Before Meyer even signed, recruits were signing with the Buckeyes with the chance to play for Meyer.   Four and Five star recruits from all over the country will flock to OSU for a chance at another national title with Meyer. 

National attention will shift slowly back to the Big Ten which is exactly what a team like Wisconsin needs.  It was clear this year that the Big Ten was not thought highly of both with the media and the BCS computers.  Had Ohio State not hired Meyer, Ohio State would have been just another mediocre team Wisconsin had on their schedule.  Yet, add a top five team in the country and your strength of schedule increases significantly.  Not only that, Wisconsin – Ohio State has become one of the most heated rivalries in the past decade so any game between the two will always draw national attention.   

The main concern that Badger fans have is beating Ohio State.  Without Urban Meyer’s hire, Wisconsin would have had dominance over the Buckeyes for the foreseeable future since our program is on the rise.  Yet, let’s not forget what has happened over the past decade when Ohio State had a coach by the name of Jim Tressel. 

Year in and Year out, Tressel had Ohio State as a national title contender and had some of the best recruits in the land.  However, since 1999, the Badgers have gone 5 – 6 against Ohio State including the horrific hail-mary this year in the horse shoe.  So as you can see Badger fans, just because Ohio State has a great coach does not mean they will control the Big Ten or control us.  As long as Bielema continues to get great recruits, we should not have to be too concerned with Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes. That being said, when we have a season where we are a national title contender, a win over Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes will go a lot further than Luke Fickell’s.  I am not concerned, we will beat them.  On Wisconsin!