Importance of beating Wisconsin

[tower912]

Related to a thread on Dodds board...

Is beating Wisconsin your Super Bowl?


For me, it is not.  It has a little extra juice, maybe, but I feel like MU has played and will play more important games this season.  This year, it was just another step in the journey.
   To me, the importance was a bounce back game after a loss and putting another win against a high major on the resume.   And then joking about them being a mid major.

So, what say you?  Super Bowl?  A little extra?  Just another win in a pre-season of big wins? 

[Uncle Rico]

Related to a thread on Dodds board...

Is beating Wisconsin your Super Bowl?


For me, it is not.  It has a little extra juice, maybe, but I feel like MU has played and will play more important games this season.  This year, it was just another step in the journey.
   To me, the importance was a bounce back game after a loss and putting another win against a high major on the resume.   And then joking about them being a mid major.

So, what say you?  Super Bowl?  A little extra?  Just another win in a pre-season of big wins? 

Just another game but always nice to beat one of the top two teams in the Big 18

[tower912]

It mattered more when I still went to their message boards and saw what the worst of their fans were like.  It mattered more when MU had a weak OOC schedule and might be a bubble team. 

[brewcity77]

I consider Wisconsin to generally be the most important non-conference game. I appreciate the bragging rights for the week after the game, but that's really it.

Ultimately, I think the "Super Bowl" perspective is always how the losers of this game frame it for the winners when the reality is it's the down program for whom it matters more. At the moment, because Wisconsin is down compared to where they were in recent years, it has outsized importance. Their basketball first fans, which is a small but very vocal group, no longer have the perennial top-4 Big 10 and national title contenders they had under Bo, so this game is their biggest game.

I do think this game had more importance for us under Wojo because we weren't competing at the level we are now. From 2014-2022, we really weren't in the mix nationally very much, so the Wisconsin game became more important. Ellenson in Madison, Rowsey/Howard/Hauser all going off when we routed them, the Justin tip-in, when you aren't going to matter much in March, winning your rivalry game in December takes on more importance. Today, I care a lot more about Big East titles and NCAA runs than I do the Badgers.

But this is probably their one shot to make national noise. The past two years, they went NIT followed by NCAA one-and-done. Their biggest moment in both seasons was beating us. If we go back on the decline, if they find their way back to the heights Bo Ryan had them at, that will likely flip. But for now, it's simply a bigger game for them than it is for us.

Glad to have won it, though. Better than losing.

[wisblue]

It matters more to me and our daughters (all MU grads) but not exactly like a "Super Bowl".

Part of it is having relatives and, in their case, co-workers, who are big Badger fans. Also, the local media tends to fawn more over the Badgers, which is understandable given that there are a lot more Badger alumni and fans in their audiences. MU often seems overshadowed by UW.

My dislike for everything Badger is enhanced by being an alumnus of a different Big Ten school and being subjected to frequent unsolicited nasty verbal comments when I display support for one of my alma maters.

It's also bigger when the game is here because our seats at midcourt in the upper level (the best I can get with my low priority) are usually surrounded by almost half Badger fans and it's useful and satisfying to shut them up and send them home unhappy.

The second half of Saturday's game was glorious as MU ground Bucky down and the people around us who were whooping it up in the first half accepted the reality that their team was outclassed.

When MU beats the Badgers it makes the rest of the season more enjoyable knowing that MU has "bragging rights" over them, even though we aren't the type that likes to rub it in the faces of fans whose teams lose.

Even though I hope the Badgers lose every game, there is some consolation that any success they have enhances MU's resume.

If I didn't live in this area, the Wisconsin game would be just another game.

[brewcity77]

If I didn't live in this area, the Wisconsin game would be just another game.

I agree with this completely. It's somewhat how I feel about Notre Dame. When I was at Marquette, we really didn't play them regularly. There were some great games with them when we joined the Big East, but because I didn't have that connection in my school years, I didn't care about beating them as much as I did Louisville, Cincinnati, and Pitt (that was a great, short-lived rivalry). I know the recent home-and-home mattered a lot to a lot of people, but I don't get nearly as emotional about that one as I do someone like Wisconsin who I saw every year in college or the Big East teams we see twice a year.

[wisblue]

I should add that, though we dislike the Badgers, we do not take it as far as one especially deranged and monomanic fan base.

We do not refer to UW as "that school to the west" or avoid using the letter W in our written communications.

[MUfan12]

Now that I'm really starting to dislike some of our conference brethren (looking at you, Providence and Creighton) my hatred for RED has dialed back some. But anyone saying this doesn't have some extra juice to it, or that it's just another game, is lying. On our side or theirs.

I was sick of losing to them with a better team, and was ecstatic when MU just overwhelmed them in the second half.

I'm just hoping Viper livestreams Christmas at the in-laws. It would be truly uplifting holiday content.

[tower912]

I should add that, though we dislike the Badgers, we do not take it as far as one especially deranged and monomanic fan base.

We do not refer to UW as "that school to the west" or avoid using the letter W in our written communications.

Living in Michigan, I get to see the Muchigan/MSU/Ohio State stuff up close and personal.   I just can't generate that level of hate toward sports teams

[CTWarrior]

Funny, growing up here as a Red Sox fan among Yankee fans who were winning all the time,
I know what it's like.  Even though I live in CT, UW has become the biggest non-conference game for me just because I feel for you guys in Wisconsin.  Beating UConn is still my favorite for the same reasons out here, but I want you guys to have bragging rights.

[brewcity77]

I'll be honest, for me it's just about them not having bragging rights. When we win, I celebrate and move on with my day.

When they win, I'm getting multiple texts and DMs about it. My main motivation for us winning is not being able to brag but them not having the ability to do so.

[BLWarrior91]

It's a Q1 win and bragging rights for a year.  I hope the Badgers do well in the Big 10 as it helps us come seeding time.  This one was also important as our seniors and Shaka had yet to win against UW.  But now it's time to focus on Dayton and then the Big East.

[Goose]

I definitely want MU to beat Bucky, but it really means little to me a week after the game, even a loss. The program is working for bigger goals than being State Champs and that is my focus as well.

MU has played a ton of very big NC regular season games over the past four years and UW would not be in my top five or ten of those games. Plus, we have had some very big BE matchups which also trump Bucky.

All in all, I care a lot about the game for a few days and move on. I am very happy that we have a program that provides far more than having one big game a year.

[wisblue]

Living in Michigan, I get to see the Muchigan/MSU/Ohio State stuff up close and personal.   I just can't generate that level of hate toward sports teams

Then should I assume that the misspelling was unintentional?

[Nukem2]

It's nice game for either school to win for tourney purposes now since both have been doing well as well as for bragging rights. The game had far more significance to me years ago when MU was an independant. With conference play, especially with the BE, that significance has diminished. Still, a good game to win for the resume.

[IrwinFletcher]

We have lost the "Super Bowl" the previous 2 matchups and still garnered a 2-seed.

So a fun game to win for sure, but it shows it doesn't have that much of an impact on how a season plays out.

[21Jumpstreet]

Certainly not the Super Bowl, but I'm always a little more excited, a little more energized, I send off the MU logo to my Badger friends and post on social media. I scream louder at the game, I stand up and high five more, I smile a bit wider after we win. There likely won't be another regular season game this year that I'm as excited for.

This year we actually brought two UW-M grads. I sent them the photo of the Wisconsin Ave street sign with the X over the W. I told them to wear red and be loud. I wanted to rub it in a little when we won. They, of course, said MU doesn't even register as a rivalry, that we are the little brother, blah blah blah. After the game, my two sons who are both 1000 miles away at college sent a text telling me to say hello to the people we brought and F the Badgers. So, maybe even a little prouder of my sons on MU v UW ball night. 😉

But, in the grand scheme of things, not the Super Bowl.

[tower912]

Then should I assume that the misspelling was unintentional?

Unintentional.  But funny.  I think I will leave that one up.

[Shooter McGavin]

Related to a thread on Dodds board...

Is beating Wisconsin your Super Bowl?


For me, it is not.  It has a little extra juice, maybe, but I feel like MU has played and will play more important games this season.  This year, it was just another step in the journey.
   To me, the importance was a bounce back game after a loss and putting another win against a high major on the resume.   And then joking about them being a mid major.

So, what say you?  Super Bowl?  A little extra?  Just another win in a pre-season of big wins? 

It's fun to beat an in state and long time rival.  Talk of it being a Super Bowl type game  is ridiculous.  I'm curious to see who responds in the affirmative. 

[Scoop Snoop]

I definitely want MU to beat Bucky, but it really means little to me a week after the game, even a loss. The program is working for bigger goals than being State Champs and that is my focus as well.

MU has played a ton of very big NC regular season games over the past four years and UW would not be in my top five or ten of those games. Plus, we have had some very big BE matchups which also trump Bucky.

All in all, I care a lot about the game for a few days and move on. I am very happy that we have a program that provides far more than having one big game a year.

As usual, well said Goose. Many here might call my ability to very quickly get over a loss as unfathomable, but I can put losses behind me well within an hour, sometimes as little as 10-15 minutes The season-ending ones in the tourney take a few hours though.

Getting back to the subject, the Wisconsin game is probably on the same level to me as the Creighton games. Important, but not soul-crushing if we end up on the wrong end of the score.  However, a Creighton W/L is more important.

[TallTitan34]

Obviously I'm going to be amped up for a game against a rival, but I'm not sure it can be my Super Bowl when there are other games on the schedule I'd prefer to win.

[WearGold]

The UW win is always, for me, the most satisfying of the non-con games. The atmosphere and crowd was electric. I think the win means even more this season because MU has beaten all 3 Big 10/18 teams on our schedule ... and they are 3 of the top teams in their conference. Bragging rights multiplied!

[muwarrior69]

I am an old guy, and my hearing is not as good as it used to be, but I could swear I heard the "color" analyst while watching the game on FOX say this could be the last time we play UW. I hope I heard wrong because it is a great rivalry, but with conference realignment and big money, rivalries like this are going by the wayside.

Any talk about this or did I just hear wrong?

[MarquetteDano]

I think where you live plays a role.  I have a MU friend who lives in Madison who gets a lot of flack when we lose... to him it means a lot.

I live out of state... so it means a bit less.  Still important as I have some UW-Madison family grads, but not the same as my Madison living MU friend.

[The Sultan]

I am an old guy, and my hearing is not as good as it used to be, but I could swear I heard the "color" analyst while watching the game on FOX say this could be the last time we play UW. I hope I heard wrong because it is a great rivalry, but with conference realignment and big money, rivalries like this are going by the wayside.

Any talk about this or did I just hear wrong?

I don't recall hearing that.