2017 Wisconsin Football Thread

[brwrsfan]

As cool and fun as it is to think about the playoff...they need to keep winning.

 

Michigan will not be easy. Their defense is quite good...and with Hornibrook's tendency to not be a good QB, and Taylors fumbling problems...this is a game the offensive issues finally kill them. I hope not.

 

And then if they do win, while MN isn't good, hopefully they don't overlook them. Be very easy to be high after beating MI and looking forward to OSU the next week and have a big letdown. Maybe it being against their biggest rival and playing for the ax would prevent that.

 

But...one game at a time. Find a way to beat Michigan, then go from there. I'm still quite peeved that this game got the early timeslot on Saturday and Illinois/Ohio State got the 2:30 ABC game.

[paul253]

Anyone else think it’s a joke that with two weekends left in the regular season and Wisconsin playing Michigan (the week before Michigan gets Ohio St) and all other teams wrapping up conference play Alabama is playing Mercer? And Auburn is playing Lafayette? And Clemson is playing the Citadel? It’s bad enough the SEC and ACC refuse to go to 9 conference games like everyone else because that guarantees another loss for half of the conferences teams. But playing games against pitiful non conference opponents, some years team that aren’t even FBS teams, is a joke an Alabama should be embarrassed. Of course they aren’t because they do it every year, just like every year they avoid a true non conference road game and every year they just happen to have a bye before the LSU game. The SEC really knows how to take care of it’s teams.

[homer]

Yeah that is a joke, Paul. That is something the NCAA needs to look at. You should be playing conference games only once non conference is over in Aug/Sept

[adambr2]

It's only going to hurt them in the end. You know if the worst happens to Alabama and they lose either the Iron Bowl or SEC title game, the CFP committee would love to try to justify a spot for them in the top 4 as a 1 loss team.

 

Had they had a top 25 team on the schedule this week and won in dominating fashion, maybe there would be a case. But there won't be when you add Mercer to an already underwhelming resume.

[brewcrewdue80]

I can agree on playing garbage needing addressing when in conference play and not finished. Its like an added bye week. They played 1st stringers likely how long? Alabama should have had to play the Iron Bowl and then on to the conference championship with their choice to play Mercer Then over the Bye week.

 

Anywho, WI big, big win! Wtg! I question numerous playcalling, giving Hornibrook the reins to pass so often vs running the ball. Then we had that Wth are you thinking up 2 score 3downs. Taylor ran 51? Yards 1st down. Run the clock...nope Hornibrook drop back 10+yard sack lickily, which he could have fumbled and on that play an easy defensive 6 run in. I think that series of plays happened around 5mins to go so running clock was in order, not pushing for a hero throw by the worst Int rate QB in NCAA.

[pacopete4]

Please don’t overlook Minny at home. Beat the crap out of them like we know you can.

[LouisEly]

Rumor is that Barry is going to take some student section tickets away next year. This is why.

 

That's with 2:24 left before halftime. I get that it's a horrible system for getting into the game, and that's why many students aren't in their seats until the end of the first quarter, but this is unacceptable for a game this big.

[NeedMoreFans]

First, they need another way to get students into the game. When I was there, we exchanged vouchers the week before the game for a ticket. The student section filled up randomly so it looked much more full than it was. I would much prefer going back to his method if they can prevent people from A) camping out ahead of time and B) having one person from a frat saving a spot in line for 20 other people.

 

Second, they should punish students that don't show up. This could be done in any number of ways, including scanning IDs as students walk in. Your ID is not scanned? You lose your tickets and can't buy them in the future. It would raise the question about what would happen if a student can't make a game and they need to sell their ticket, but I'm sure there could be some fail-safe built in. Or they could reward students that do show up; scan IDs, you are entered into a drawing of some sorts for a prize that is worthwhile.

[madbad2000]

The camping out for voucher turn in and saving spots in line were ridiculous when I was there. I lived right across from the Kohl Center and it was not pleasant to watch, or hear, or see. We just turned ours in the day of the game. Didn't really gain anything extra by waiting in line all night in the freezing cold. Sad to think what the student section has become. Fix it and fix it fast...both sides.

[LouisEly]

Now you get vouchers, but have to exchange them before the game. Gates open up 1 hour before kickoff. You walk in, exchange your voucher for a ticket, they give you a random section.

 

There are valid reasons for not showing up - coming down with the flu, having to work, big assignment due on Monday, etc. - and the entry system is horrible. But no excuse for not being there by the second quarter.

 

Best is rewarding for showing up on time. Raise ticket prices by $5, get a $10 "rebate" if your student ID is scanned 20 minutes before kickoff, a $5 rebate if scanned by kickoff (i.e., 11:05 for an 11am game). Acts like a sunk cost - people irrationally overvalue sunk costs. Call it a "deposit" or something, and if your ID isn't scanned by kickoff you lose your deposit. (Behavioral economics - people are more motivated to avoid losses than get similar gains.)

[owbc]

They are not selling out the regular seats (except for the 1-2 games/year with decent opponents) so I don't see how it would benefit them to shrink the student section. This year's homecoming crowd was the smallest since 1995. There are 5,000+ unsold tickets for some of these games. The half-empty sections in the upper deck aren't as visible from TV but they are there. It's not just Wisconsin--college football attendance has been declining for 6 straight years.

 

The Big Ten and UW athletic department needing to look themselves in the mirror and figure out how to make watching a football game in person a more pleasant experience. The product is currently optimized for making as much money as possible which means playing the games whenever ESPN/Fox ask them to be played. The games are too long and too many of them start at 11 AM. The opponents are mostly a joke, including the conference ones. The tickets are too expensive. You can't buy a beer in the stadium. As far as I know there has been no attempt to rectify this by the UW or even acknowledge there is a problem. The student section policies are the same as they were when I was a student 10 years ago. Maybe this will finally spur some change.

[brwrsfan]

Well....an easy solution would be to move a large chunk of the student section to the upper deck. That way when they show up late or don't show up at all, nobody will notice.

 

I have seen several sports columnists on Twitter comment on how embarrassing it is when they show it on TV in the second quarter and it's half full. I get it, it's hard to get in and students want to drink (I went to lots of games there when I was younger). But now that it's being noticed and talked about in a negative light, they need to do something to fix it.

 

I also agree that there are some drawbacks to attending games for non-students. It's not cheap. The 11am starts make it a lot more difficult for people that live outside of the Madison area. And I know it's not in their control, but the inability for me (at 35) to not drink a beer there is pretty annoying.

[sdcheezhd]

Now you get vouchers, but have to exchange them before the game. Gates open up 1 hour before kickoff. You walk in, exchange your voucher for a ticket, they give you a random section.

 

I was there for the Iowa game last week and after you exchanged your voucher you got to pick your section. It worked the same for my brother for the Maryland game. It took maybe 20-25 minutes from there to the seats, with a long line/backup at the end, so that's a fair amount of the delay - it looked like about 1/2 the sections were filled at kickoff. Some of those empty seats are kids moving down to be closer, with friends etc., since everyone stands the whole game so you can pack more in. And if you spread those empty seats over the whole section it would look full.

 

I think it benefits both the students and the other fans to allow students to sell their vouchers to non-students so I'd be against that changing. Especially if it's just because some guy on TV comments about how it looks.

 

My brother was in O and told me that P sucks but I was misinformed - the kids in P were really nice and I learned that it is in fact O that sucks.

[Samurai Bucky]

 

My brother was in O and told me that P sucks but I was misinformed - the kids in P were really nice and I learned that it is in fact O that sucks.

 

Well done...

[homer]

 

My brother was in O and told me that P sucks but I was misinformed - the kids in P were really nice and I learned that it is in fact O that sucks.

 

Well done...

 

 

That's great! Especially because we all know that O does in fact suck.

[homer]

When I was in school in the early 90's it was first come first seated. Worked great my sophomore year as the team was getting good but still hadn't turned the corner. I remember 60K for a Purdue game and thought it was ridiculous that many people showed up. I guarantee you that if UW had three or four years in a row where they missed a bowl and then all of a sudden had a good team again those stands would be full by kick off. But....that's not really an option since they are always good

 

Frankly, they should just allow students to enter the building and sit like the rest of the fans. You can see the tunnels packed with people at kickoff because they have to wait to get to their stupid seat. University is so scared of another stampede that they've over corrected the situation.

[owbc]

When I was in school in the early 90's it was first come first seated. Worked great my sophomore year as the team was getting good but still hadn't turned the corner. I remember 60K for a Purdue game and thought it was ridiculous that many people showed up. I guarantee you that if UW had three or four years in a row where they missed a bowl and then all of a sudden had a good team again those stands would be full by kick off. But....that's not really an option since they are always good

 

Frankly, they should just allow students to enter the building and sit like the rest of the fans. You can see the tunnels packed with people at kickoff because they have to wait to get to their stupid seat. University is so scared of another stampede that they've over corrected the situation.

 

Exactly. There's no reason why they couldn't have a digital seat selection system. One week before the game, have a website where you enter the voucher #s for you and your friends and pick a section and area (e.g. Section O top, middle or bottom). The system then emails digital tickets to everyone in the group. The preference for the seat selection system should be based primarily on the time that the tickets were scanned in previous games. Show up on time = better seat selection for future games.

[Baldkin]

I was there for the Ron Dayne years, and it was exactly the same as it is now -- only now they "reward" you with a better seat if you get there early with the way they exchange tickets.

 

This isn't going to change. It's the same way for Basketball games, you just don't see it as 1/2 the student seats are in the upper deck at the Kohl Center (and those go last).

[Fear The Chorizo]

Badgers still sitting at #5 in the weekly CFP beauty pageant. Miami moves up a spot after struggling at home against apparent powerhouse Virginia - the same team that got demolished by Indiana earlier this year. 3-loss Miss St. somehow jumps 2 spots after squeaking by a terrible Arkansas team, and LSU also jumps up 2 spots because that's pretty much the SEC rule of thumb for teams ranked #10-20....if they win (even against a local community college), they automatically are bumped up 2 spots to support Bama's SOS argument. Funny how the committee finds a way to get South Carolina in their rankings just before they play Clemson - that 31-10 beatdown of Wofford must've really turned some heads...

 

Results of this weekend's games will go a long way to showing whether the committee is willing to entertain leaving an undefeated WI out of the playoff - if Bama loses to Auburn and WI finds both Auburn and Alabama ranked ahead of them next Tuesday with Georgia right behind them, there's a solid chance the Badgers get robbed even if they'd beat OSU. The committee sure seems to be doing everything they can to position the field for including two SEC or two ACC teams in the final 4.

[young guns]

I like how the argument was we haven't played anyone and then we get Iowa and Michigan ranked the week we play them and win. But if it comes down to possibly a 1 loss bama it will be they didn't play anyone and Iowa and Michigan aren't ranked anymore, while ignoring northwestern and propping up the fsu win for bama because "they looked real good that week. Like one of the best teams in the country".

[Fear The Chorizo]

I think Alabama is in trouble this weekend against Auburn - which sets up a similar scenario when the BCS title game was a rematch between LSU and Alabama. I just don't buy that Alabama is by far away a dominant team this year, even if they've been ranked #1 all season long - if they don't even win their SEC division and get a chance to beat Georgia for the SEC title, they have no business making the CFP.

[tmwiese55]

They are not selling out the regular seats (except for the 1-2 games/year with decent opponents) so I don't see how it would benefit them to shrink the student section. This year's homecoming crowd was the smallest since 1995. There are 5,000+ unsold tickets for some of these games. The half-empty sections in the upper deck aren't as visible from TV but they are there. It's not just Wisconsin--college football attendance has been declining for 6 straight years.

 

The Big Ten and UW athletic department needing to look themselves in the mirror and figure out how to make watching a football game in person a more pleasant experience. The product is currently optimized for making as much money as possible which means playing the games whenever ESPN/Fox ask them to be played. The games are too long and too many of them start at 11 AM. The opponents are mostly a joke, including the conference ones. The tickets are too expensive. You can't buy a beer in the stadium. As far as I know there has been no attempt to rectify this by the UW or even acknowledge there is a problem. The student section policies are the same as they were when I was a student 10 years ago. Maybe this will finally spur some change.

 

Last year they sent out a survey/proposal for a large remodel of the stadium addressing exactly this. I can't say for sure if the plan is approved and in the works though. Essentially they'll be reducing capacity by several thousand. Biggest thing to note is a massive remodel of the endzone by the Fieldhouse. Essentially turning it into a large tailgate type area. similar to what they have above the student section now but at a much larger scale and closer to the field. If I remember correctly it would have a lot of amenities built into it and somehow merges with being able to go in and out of the fieldhouse, kind of like a suite with a big outdoor patio.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Miami losing yesterday guarantees there will be only one ACC team to make the cfp, and I'd argue that if Miami beats clemson next week there are scenarios where that conference should get left out entirely. Pitt was the first game Miami played outside of Florida in a long time, and they stunk it up.

 

Path is clear and obvious now for the badgers....win out and they are in the cfp - it starts with retaining the axe and beating down the gophers today!

[pacopete4]

Been kind of playing the waiting game on buying tickets for B10 championship hoping prices might tick down a bit. Will probably not buy them if the Badgers lose today. Need to take care of business.

[Jenkins5]

Miami lose is huge. Michigan over OSU today will beef up our strength of victory but biggest Xfactor to me is Bama must beat Auburn & win out. If Auburn wins, committee will without a doubt keep Alabama over Wisconsin with 1 lose & no way Auburn wouldn’t jump Wisconsin. To them SEC is gold. Georgia losing would be nice but don’t see it.