Importance of beating Wisconsin

[MU82]

I haven't lived in Wisconsin for 40 years, and I don't have any Madison relatives or friends who pull the ol' Viper's-brother-in-law on me, so that's not a factor at all.

When I was at Marquette, ND was far and away our biggest rival, and I still dislike ND, even in football. Indiana just became my favorite college football team.

Overall, as is the case with a few others here, beating the likes of Creighton and UConn matters more to me. And all of them pale compared to the importance of any NCAA tourney game.

But I do view the Madison game as the biggest non-con game because that's what it's become, and I really did want MU to win this one for Shaka and the seniors. Plus, as others have said, it is important to a lot of Wisconsin state Scoopers and I want y'all to be happy!

And finally, the silly hype some still give Madison for "getting it done" -- even though that program under Gard is LOOONG past the point of getting anything meaningful done -- makes for fun fan-board fodder.

Bo ain't walkin' back through that door!

[Uncle Rico]

Hatred is underrated.  Perhaps I can tutor you Tower and increase your wrath towards certain people, organizations, teams, universities, governments, and a plethora of other animate and inanimate objects? 

Hatred isn't the way of Jesus Christ, our lord and savior

[Its DJOver]

It doesn't effect our resume in any way, but the fact that we won using their old roster build was pretty nice. 3 Seniors that have only played college ball at MU and 2 Juniors that have only played college ball at MU. All know and love Shaka's system. Madison started 2 transfers are likely to have to hit the transfer market again next summer because the only players that scored that will be there next year are Blackwell, who's solid but there's no reason that Chase won't be able to put him in his pocket next year, and Winter, who seems to be a lot like Crowl, where he gets his points on drop offs, but can't create his own shot. What happened to that Freshman guard that was thought to have a shot at starting? He's scored just as many points as Sean and Al this year.

[Badgerhater]

Wisconsin has really receded into a lesser program and I predict it will get mired in the middle of the new Big 10.

But it is a P4 game and typically WI has been ranked—so it's a very good objective win that MU needs as part of OOC.

Less objectively, it's a high energy game that is hard to replicate in the OOC.  It's good that the team sees that before conference and success breeds success.

It's not the Super Bowl but it just feels good.

[Viper]

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? 

not Super Bowl...I'd equate that with a national title game...but it's the single biggest game on the schedule, imo. When I was a student, it was Notre Dame. Louisville was big. DePaul and Wisconsin were up there too. However, since we play ND very infrequently these days (Louisville not at all) combined with Wisconsin continuing to be an annual affair combined with the juice this game generates in-state combined with the elevation of their program with Stu Jackson, it's the single biggest game on the schedule every year, imo. As Tony Smith said pregame on Saturday, if winning just one game on the season ...this would be it. And, state coverage the day or two leading up to the game is beyond any other. Never understood why folks downplay this one...just a game. really? If that's the case, what single game generates more juice for you? I can tell you having attended this matchup both in Milwaukee and at the Kohl, fans get just a little more cranked-up for this one. Beat your rival !

[Viper]

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.

I've got some special gifts awaiting 🤣

[MUDPT]

It was funny seeing the silence on social media from the usual suspects. When Buzz beat them, it was because we had a bunch of dumb Juco's (Oates). When Wojo beat them, it didn't matter because of their success in the tournament. Now Marquette has way more success, all with 4 year players (as if that ever mattered); the UW faithful has no leg to stand on.

Also they stormed the court last year and can never seriously talk about a "Super Bowl" ever again.

[Big Papi]

This game is not the super bowl.  It is a little extra.  It is a little extra because of proximity of the two schools, the quality of the two schools since I have been a fan and we play them every year so this game will always be a little extra, especially if you live in Wisconsin.  It is one of the top 1 or 2 games in our non-conference schedule every year.

Outside of the conference schedule where we play everyone twice, there is a familiarity between UW and MU programs.  That will slowly erode away with NIL and the new transfer policy.  In state Recruiting used to play a role in making this a little extra too but that has not been an issue over the last 8 years or so.  The best in state players just go elsewhere and the 2 programs just recruit different players.

A conference foe will always have more of a rivalry impact.  I used to hate Cincy and Thuggins.  Now that was a rivarly in Conference USA.  As was Louisville.

A rivalry game really should be DePaul but they have been so bad for so long.  Cincy and Louisville have now been replaced with who?  Nova, Xavier, UConn?  I don't think there is a consensus these days.

[Viper]

Hatred is underrated.  Perhaps I can tutor you Tower and increase your wrath towards certain people, organizations, teams, universities, governments, and a plethora of other animate and inanimate objects? 

sometimes a little hate...is good

[MU82]

what single game generates more juice for you?

Several of us already mentioned which games matter as much or more than the Madison game does.

The last couple years, the UConn and Creighton games for sure. Beating UConn twice in 2023 was an ACCOMPLISHMENT that truly mattered, way beyond beating Madison two days ago IMHO. The couple years that Seton Hall was good and its players were pr!cks, beating them felt really important. Same with Providence.

We all love beating Madison and we all hate losing to them. But once the conference season starts, the importance of any Madison game shrinks. When we were competing for Big East titles and top-2 seeds the last two years, the fact that we had lost to Madison was totally meaningless to me.

But again, I don't have a RED bro-in-law - a fact that, for you, appears to significantly color your viewpoint.

[Uncle Rico]

Several of us already mentioned which games matter as much or more than the Madison game does.

The last couple years, the UConn and Creighton games for sure. Beating UConn twice in 2023 was an ACCOMPLISHMENT that truly mattered, way beyond beating Madison two days ago IMHO. The couple years that Seton Hall was good and its players were pr!cks, beating them felt really important. Same with Providence.

We all love beating Madison and we all hate losing to them. But once the conference season starts, the importance of any Madison game shrinks. When we were competing for Big East titles and top-2 seeds the last two years, the fact that we had lost to Madison was totally meaningless to me.

But again, I don't have a RED bro-in-law - a fact that, for you, appears to significantly color your viewpoint.

Radford is up there

[Zog from Margo]

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.

The UW game has some added juice, but I think your comment here is exactly right. The game is a lot more important when you are concerned that yours is the program that might be heading in the wrong direction. That concern was strong during the Wojo years for those, not within the Wojerati, who could tell that his actual coaching was not good to start and was not improving.

With a real coach now at the helm, I am confident the program is headed in the right direction. As a result, my concern over any one game, including the UW game, is diminished. I know if MU plays its game, it can play with anyone. If they lose a game or two, they will be back on track fairly quickly. Shaka's team is well coached and he successfully recruits to how he wants his team to play and what he wants the culture to be. Works for me.   

[bilsu]

This year we are 3-0 against Big 10, which makes me very happy.

[tower912]

This year we are 3-0 against Big 10, which makes me very happy.

That is what I will be able to say to my friends here when they ask how good MU is.

[StillAWarrior]

I know it's silly because my four years at Marquette were the only time I lived in Wisconsin, but I've always taken the rivalry to heart. Marquette is far and away my favorite sports team of any sort, and I view Wisconsin as the main non-conference rival and the game as the biggest non-conference game each year. I still joke that my two favorite teams are Marquette and whoever is playing Wisconsin.

I absolutely acknowledge that there are a lot of Big East games that are bigger each year, but there's nobody in the Big East that I feel the same about. There are two reasons for this. First, in the pre-conference season and during the tournament, I generally root for Big East teams. I never root for Wisconsin. Ever. Second, the rivalries in the BEast come and go to a certain extent based on who is at the top -- it's obviously UConn right now, but it was Villanova for years. The rivalry against Wisconsin is constant.

[cheebs09]

I do think the fact Bo isn't involved brings down the heat a bit. Similar to Crean/Buzz not being involved.

Gard is kind of boring (as was Wojo) from an opposing fan's perspective.

[dgies9156]

It only matters because:

-- It's a Quad 1 win.

-- It helps with visibility to defeat a BIG Team.

-- It helps with recruiting.

Wisconsin just isn't a big deal to me. We were 4-0 against Wisconsin when I was at MU. Now, when we play Notre Dame, Indiana or Tennessee, that's another story.

Bucky matters because it gets us well-positioned for tough games and closer to the Promised Land of Natty #2.

[Jay Bee]

Being from Minneapolis, I learned to hate uw-Madison long before becoming a Warrior.

The badgers are disgusting, and I enjoy beating them. I'd rather win BEast chips & NCAA tourney games, but handing them an L in December is fun.

[tower912]

I still generally dislike them. I don't really do hate with sports teams anymore. They aren't going steal a seed from MU, so I have no problem with them finishing over .500 in the B1? and remaining a quality win.   

[Uncle Rico]

Like any rivalry, the importance of the game can often revolve around the characters involved and the success of the rival.

Wisconsin is a rival because they have always been on the schedule.  Prior to 1994, the rivalry was most heated when Al McGuire was coach because Marquette dominated it and was in the midst of their greatest success while Wisconsin was mired in being Wisconsin.

For Marquette fans, Notre Dame and the like were probably a bigger rival because they were good and an actual real threat to the success of Marquette.

The Marquette revival coincided with the rise of Wisconsin under Dick Bennett and Bo Ryan, coaches with deep state ties that helped grow the ties to Wisconsin by the ShopKo Badger fans.  When Wisconsin found success, the fans finally had a reason to crow and Marquette could no longer lord what happened in 1977 over them.

The other reason for the heat being turned up was, Bo and TC not exactly being fans of one another.  Neither fanbase liked either and that added to it.  Wisconsin's success at the end of the Buzz era and the Buzz exit tilted things west but the heat dissipated after.  I'd wager the rivalry was never hotter than 2000-2015.

With Wisconsin's post-Bo success largely being the 1st two seasons after he left and early tourney exits and general Gard apathy settling in, a lot of Wisconsin fandom has also dissipated quite a bit.  They're no different than most fanbase in that they're front runners.

The rivalry is not what it was.  Certain segments of the Marquette fanbase circle this game and a loss is devastating.  I'm a Milwaukee guy and do not like dealing with happy Rodent fans but the needle when Marquette wins is still fun.  But that said, until Wisconsin shows signs of life beyond what they have been and have a coach that isn't vanilla, I think the temperature is lukewarm.

And yes, I know they were a 3-seed 3 years ago but by time the dance came around, that team had used up all its black magic and got bounced like they should have.

[TallTitan34]

The badgers are disgusting, and I enjoy beating them. I'd rather win BEast chips & NCAA tourney games, but handing them an L in December is fun.

This.

They are also the lone non-con opponent I don't cheer for the rest of the way to boost Marquette's metrics.

[TallTitan34]

The other reason for the heat being turned up was, Bo and TC not exactly being fans of one another.

Always enjoyed when Tom Crean, in his pre-game recorded messages to the crowd, would call every opponent well coached with the exception of the Badgers.

[Lennys Tap]

Super Bowl? Of course not. We've only played in that game twice - 1974 and 1977. But (to me anyway) it's our most important non conference game. Judging from the way the crowd, the players and the coaching staff reacted I'd say they agree.

[Shaka Shart]

It was funny seeing the silence on social media from the usual suspects. When Buzz beat them, it was because we had a bunch of dumb Juco's (Oates). When Wojo beat them, it didn't matter because of their success in the tournament. Now Marquette has way more success, all with 4 year players (as if that ever mattered); the UW faithful has no leg to stand on.

Also they stormed the court last year and can never seriously talk about a "Super Bowl" ever again.

I remember the "We don't do rent a player"

[Miss Katie’s]

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 think they mentioned it could be the last time for the seniors, which it will be unless MU plays them in the tourney.