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The Power Five => Big Ten => Topic started by: medinabuckeye1 on May 23, 2022, 01:46:31 PM

Title: 1962 Big Ten Season and Wisconsin more generally
Post by: medinabuckeye1 on May 23, 2022, 01:46:31 PM
I was looking at this due to a discussion with @847badgerfan (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=5) in another thread.  

The Big Ten (Nine for part of this time) absolutely dominated the Rose Bowl series early with the primary exception being Wisconsin going 0-3:

Thus, after the 1965 Rose Bowl, the Big Ten's schools were:

I want to focus on the 1962 season first because it is interesting to me for several reasons.  For one thing, the Axe game on November 24, 1962 appears to have been for the league title.  Heading into the final weekend, here are the standings for all of the teams that could have finished with two or less losses:
The Axe game was for the league title because the winner was going to finish 6-1 and Big Ten Champion.  The Rose Bowl is a little more complicated.  Minnesota had gone to the previous two Rose Bowls:

I believe that in 1962 the no-repeat rule was in effect but I'm not sure.  It is a bit confusing because Minnesota DID repeat in the 1961 and 1962 Rose Bowls  (60 and 61 seasons) but I don't think the league rule came into effect because the contract had lapsed.  By 1962 I *THINK* that the contract was back in force including the no-repeat rule.  If so then I think that Wisconsin would have clinched the Rose Bowl BEFORE the Axe game.  Even if they had lost to the Gophers, the Badgers would have finished half a game ahead of Northwestern (and any of tOSU, MSU, or PU that happened to win their final game) so they'd have been second place and gone to the Rose Bowl in lieu of the Gophers because Minnesota would have been excluded by the no-repeat rule.  Is that right, does anyone know?  

FWIW, in that final weekend:

Thus in the final standings Wisconsin (6-1) was first one game ahead of Minnesota (5-2) while the Gophers were half a game ahead of the Buckeyes and Wildcats who tied for third (4-2).  No other team finished above .500.  

More on the stakes of the 1962 Axe game:  
At the time the AP was only doing a top-10.  Heading into the Axe game USC and Mississippi were both undefeated and were ranked #1 and #2.  Wisconsin (7-1) was #3 followed by Texas (8-0-1) then Minnesota (6-1-1).  The Badgers' win propelled them to #2 setting up a #1 vs #2 Rose Bowl game against USC.  

A game between #1 and #2 may not sound like a big deal today but that is only because we see it regularly.  When #1 USC met #2 Wisconsin on January 1, 1963 that was the first meeting of #1 and #2 since Army/Notre Dame in 1946.  Back then this was rare and obviously a very big deal.  


Wisconsin's history is interesting in that they have been really good or REALLY bad:

Wisconsin won the first two league titles (1896/7) and a total of five league titles in the first 17 years of the league (1896-1912).  Then they went 39 years (1913-1951) without so much as a co-championship.  Then they won three titles in 11 years (1952-1962).  Then they went 30 (1963-1992) years without so much as a co-championship.  Since 1993 they are second in the league with six league titles which trails only tOSU (14).  So basically Wisconsin has been:


Wisconsin's "good" periods are REALLY good.  Their five titles in the first 17 years of the league is third behind only Minnesota (7) and Michigan (6).  Their three titles in 11 years from 1952-1962 is tied for second behind only tOSU (4) and their six titles since 1993 is second behind only tOSU (14).  Ie, in each of those periods they are one of the very best programs in the league but those other 69 years (1913-1951 and 1963-1992) aren't just off-peak, they are terrible.  

Badge already suggested that de-emphasis of athletics played a role in the 1963-1992 swoon.  Ok, but what explains the even longer 1913-1951 drought?  
Title: Re: 1962 Big Ten Season and Wisconsin more generally
Post by: 847badgerfan on May 23, 2022, 03:56:01 PM
I don't have a great explanation for this time period but I do know that the admin in the 1950's and early 1960's was very pro-athletics. That is when the upper deck was built at Camp Randall.

I do know that during the 1915-1950 period there was not much in the way of athletic enthusiasm on campus.

Lots of players went to schools where there was also military training. For example, Crazy Legs was at Wisconsin, but when he joined the marines he was transferred to Michigan for training, and played there two seasons. 

He played at Wisconsin on the freshmen team, and then as a sophomore carried UW to an 8-1-1 record and a #3 AP finish. And then he was gone.

He came back to UW as AD in 1969 and served until 1986. He took attendance at Camp Randall from 40K/game to 70K/game.