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1998 Wisconsin Badgers football
1998 Wisconsin Badgers football
Big Ten co-champion; Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 38–31 vs. UCLA
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 6
Record	11–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Barry Alvarez (9th season);
Offensive coordinator	Brad Childress (7th as OC; 8th overall season)
Offensive scheme	Smashmouth
Defensive coordinator	Kevin Cosgrove (4th as OC; 9th overall season)
Base defense	4–3
MVP	Bob Adamov; Tom Burke; Matt Davenport; Aaron Gibson; Eric Grams; Cecil Martin; Mike Samuel; Mike Schneck; Leonard Taylor
Captain	Bob Adamov; Cecil Martin; Chris McIntosh; Donnel Thompson
Home stadium	Camp Randall Stadium
	Seasons ← 1997 1999 →

1998 Big Ten Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 Ohio State %+	7	–	1	11	–	1
No. 6 Wisconsin $+	7	–	1	11	–	1
No. 12 Michigan +	7	–	1	10	–	3
No. 24 Purdue	6	–	2	9	–	4
No. 17 Penn State	5	–	3	9	–	3
Michigan State	4	–	4	6	–	6
Minnesota	2	–	6	5	–	6
Indiana	2	–	6	4	–	7
Illinois	2	–	6	3	–	8
Iowa	2	–	6	3	–	8
Northwestern	0	–	8	3	–	9

$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1998 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin during the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season.

Wisconsin finished the regular season 10–1 overall (7–1 conference) and were co-champions of the Big Ten Conference (with Ohio State and Michigan) for the first time since 1993. They were awarded the berth in the 1999 Rose Bowl due to Big Ten Conference tie-breaking rules, at the time, which gave the Rose Bowl invitation to the tied team which had gone the longest period of time without an invitation: Michigan had been in the 1998 Rose Bowl, Ohio State had been in the 1997 Rose Bowl, while Wisconsin's last Rose Bowl was 1994.

The circumstances of this selection, the fact that Ohio State was the higher-ranked team (Ohio State was the pre-season #1 and spent most of the season with this ranking: Wisconsin did not play Ohio State or Michigan State that year, so Ohio State had the better record versus common opponents due to the Michigan loss), combined with the fact that the opponent (UCLA) was ranked #2 and headed to the national title game before a season-ending loss, led to ridicule in the national media: most notably, Craig James' declaration that Wisconsin was "the worst team to ever play in the Rose Bowl." Wisconsin went on to defeat #6 UCLA 38–31 in the 1999 Rose Bowl. Afterward, Badger coach Barry Alvarez fired back, "Well, I know we're at least the second worst."^[1]^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	8:00 p.m.	at San Diego State*	No. 20	Qualcomm Stadium San Diego, CA		W 26–14	37,471^[3]
September 12	11:30 a.m.	Ohio*	No. 17	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	MSC	W 45–0	74,676^[4]
September 19	1:00 p.m.	UNLV*	No. 14	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		W 52–7	75,044^[5]
September 26	11:00 a.m.	Northwestern	No. 14	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN	W 38–7	78,337^[6]
October 3	11:00 a.m.	at Indiana	No. 13	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	ESPN2	W 24–20	32,328^[7]
October 10	7:30 p.m.	Purdue	No. 12	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN2	W 31–24	78,782^[8]
October 17	11:00 a.m.	at Illinois	No. 9	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	ESPN2	W 37–3	40,627^[9]
October 24	2:30 p.m.	at Iowa	No. 9	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA (rivalry)	ABC	W 31–0	70,397^[10]
November 7	11:00 a.m.	Minnesota	No. 8	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI (Paul Bunyan's Axe)	ESPN	W 26–7	78,767^[11]
November 14	11:00 a.m.	at No. 15 Michigan	No. 8	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	ESPN	L 10–27	111,217^[12]
November 21	2:00 p.m.	No. 14 Penn State	No. 13	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN	W 24–3	78,964^[13]
January 1, 1999	3:30 p.m.	vs. No. 6 UCLA*	No. 9	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl)	ABC	W 38–31	93,872^[14]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	20	17	14	14	13	12	9	9	9	8	8	13	10	8	9	6
Coaches Poll	20	17	14	14	13	10	9	8	8	7	6	12	9	8	8	5
BCS	Not released								9	8	9	13	10	9	9	Not released

Roster

1998 Wisconsin Badgers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
TE	`81`	Mark Anelli	Fr
WR	`7`	Willie Austin	Jr
RB	`29`	Michael Bennett	Fr
QB	`5`	Brooks Bollinger	Fr
WR	`17`	Demetrius Brown	Jr
FB	`25`	Marcus Carpenter	Jr
WR	`88`	Chris Chambers	So
G	`54`	Dave Costa	So
OT	`66`	Pat Daley	Jr
RB	`39`	Carlos Daniels	Fr
WR	`3`	Nick Davis	Fr
RB	`33`	Ron Dayne	Jr
OL	`55`	Jason Eck	Jr
RB	`4`	Eddie Faulkner	So
G	`60`	Bill Ferrario	So
OT	`79`	Aaron Gibson	Sr
WR	`18`	Rasheed Golden	So
TE	`89`	Eric Grams	Sr
G	`78`	Kevin Kampmann	Jr
QB	`12`	Scott Kavanagh	Jr
FB	`41`	Chad Kuhns	Fr
FB	`37`	Cecil Martin (C)	Sr
OT	`75`	Chris McIntosh (C)	Jr
WR	`1`	Ahmad Merritt	Jr
C	`70`	Casey Rabach	So
TE	`87`	Dague Retzlaff	So
C, G	`53`	Rob Roell	Jr
QB	`10`	Mike Samuel	Sr
TE	`85`	John Sigmund	So
TE	`86`	Mike Solwold	So
OT	`68`	Mark Tauscher	Jr
FB	`38`	Matt Unertl	So
RB	`13`	Tony Williams	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`29`	Bob Adamov	Sr
S	`6`	Joey Boese	Fr
DT	`77`	Wendell Bryant	Fr
DE	`74`	Tom Burke	Sr
DB	`31`	Carlease Clark	Fr
S	`8`	Jason Doering	So
CB	`36`	Mike Echols	Fr
DE	`50`	Donny Eicher	Jr
DE	`96`	John Favret	So
CB	`2`	Jamar Fletcher	Fr
LB	`16`	Chris Ghidorzi	Jr
LB	`38`	Pat Gill	Jr
LB	`49`	Nick Greisen	Fr
LB	`42`	Ben Herbert	Fr
NT	`58`	Chris Janek	Jr
CB	`24`	Donte King	So
LB	`19`	Roger Knight	So
DT	`78`	Ross Kolodziej	So
LB	`45`	Dan Lisowski	Fr
NT	`98`	Eric Mahlik	So
S	`30`	Ryan Marks	So
LB	`43`	Delante McGrew	Fr
DE	`9`	Sam Mueller	So
S	`26`	Bobby Myers	Jr
DT	`94`	George Pratt	Fr
S	`15`	Tim Rosga	Jr
DE	`99`	Jake Sprague	Fr
S	`34`	Leonard Taylor	Sr
LB	`32`	Bryson Thompson	Fr
LB	`44`	Donnel Thompson (C)	Jr
DT	`95`	Erik Waisanen	Jr
DT	`92`	Brandon Williams	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`28`	Matt Davenport	Sr
K	`20`	Vitaly Pisetsky	Jr
LS	`46`	Mike Schneck	Sr
P	`23`	Eric Skrzypchak	Jr
P	`14`	Kevin Stemke	So

Head coach

Barry Alvarez

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Brad Childress – Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Kevin Cosgrove – Defensive Coordinator/Inside Linebackers
Tim Davis – Tight Ends
Phil Elmassian – Defensive Backs
Jay Hayes – Outside Linebackers/Special Teams
Jim Hueber – Offensive Line
Henry Mason – Wide Receivers
John Palermo – Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Line
Brian White – Running Backs
Bernie Wyatt – Director of Football Operations

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Regular starters

Position	Player
Quarterback	Mike Samuel
Running Back	Ron Dayne
Fullback	Cecil Martin
Wide Receiver	Chris Chambers
Wide Receiver	Ahmad Merritt
Tight End	Dague Retzlaff/Eric Grams
Left Tackle	Chris McIntosh
Left Guard	Bill Ferrario
Center	Casey Rabach
Right Guard	Dave Costa
Right Tackle	Aaron Gibson

Position	Player
Defensive End	Tom Burke
Defensive Tackle	Ross Kolodziej
Nose Guard	Eric Mahlik
Defensive End	John Favret
Outside Linebacker	Bob Adamov
Inside Linebacker	Donnel Thompson
Outside Linebacker	Chris Ghidorzi
Cornerback	Mike Echols
Free Safety	Jason Doering
Strong Safety	Leonard Taylor
Cornerback	Jamar Fletcher

Game summaries

UCLA (Rose Bowl)

Wisconsin vs. UCLA
(Rose Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
• #9 Badgers	7	17	7	7	38
#6 UCLA	7	14	7	3	31

Date: January 1, 1999
Location: Rose Bowl
Pasadena, California
Game start: 12:30 PST
Game attendance: 93,872
Game weather: 74 °F (23 °C), Sunny
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Bob Griese

Individual awards and honors

Tom Burke: All-America (unanimous consensus), Bill Willis Trophy, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, All-Big Ten (First Team, coaches & media)
Aaron Gibson: All-America (consensus), All-Big Ten (First Team, media; Second Team, coaches)
Ron Dayne: All-America (WCFF), 1999 Rose Bowl player of the Game, All-Big Ten (First Team, coaches & media)
Matt Davenport: All-Big Ten (First Team, coaches & media)
Kevin Stemke: All-Big Ten (First Team, coaches & media)
Jamar Fletcher: All-Big Ten (First Team, media; Second Team, coaches)
Casey Rabach: All-Big Ten (Second Team, coaches & media)
Chris McIntosh:All-Big Ten (Second Team, coaches)
Barry Alvarez: Big Ten Coach of the Year

1999 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Aaron Gibson	Tackle	1	27	Detroit Lions
Tom Burke	Linebacker	3	83	Arizona Cardinals
Cecil Martin	Fullback	6	172	Philadelphia Eagles

^[15]

References

^ Howard-Cooper, Scott (January 2, 1999). "After Dayne Runs Them Over, They Beat Themselves Up - UCLA Conquered and Divided After Rose Bowl Defeat". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
^ Gurnick, Ken (January 2, 1999). "College Football: Rose Bowl; Badgers Prove Doubters Wrong". The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
^ "Wisconsin at San Diego St". CNN. September 6, 1998. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012.
^ "Ohio at Wisconsin". CNN. September 12, 1998. Archived from the original on January 23, 2001.
^ "UNLV at Wisconsin". CNN. September 19, 1998. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012.
^ "Northwestern at Wisconsin". CNN. September 26, 1998. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012.
^ "Wisconsin at Indiana". CNN. October 3, 1998. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012.
^ "Purdue at Wisconsin". CNN. October 11, 1998. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013.
^ "Wisconsin at Illinois". CNN. October 17, 1998. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013.
^ "Wisconsin at Iowa". CNN. October 24, 1998. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012.
^ "Minnesota at Wisconsin". CNN. November 7, 1998. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012.
^ "Wisconsin at Michigan". CNN. November 14, 1998. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012.
^ "Penn State at Wisconsin". CNN. November 21, 1998. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012.
^ Bagnato, Andrew (January 2, 1999). "Badgers Say Cheese". Chicago Tribune.
^ "1999 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2018.

[1] Howard-Cooper, Scott (January 2, 1999). "After Dayne Runs Them Over, They Beat Themselves Up - UCLA Conquered and Divided After Rose Bowl Defeat". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 4, 2009.

[2] Gurnick, Ken (January 2, 1999). "College Football: Rose Bowl; Badgers Prove Doubters Wrong". The New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2009.

[3] "Wisconsin at San Diego St". CNN. September 6, 1998. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012.

[4] "Ohio at Wisconsin". CNN. September 12, 1998. Archived from the original on January 23, 2001.

[5] "UNLV at Wisconsin". CNN. September 19, 1998. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012.

[6] "Northwestern at Wisconsin". CNN. September 26, 1998. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012.

[7] "Wisconsin at Indiana". CNN. October 3, 1998. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012.

[8] "Purdue at Wisconsin". CNN. October 11, 1998. Archived from the original on October 23, 2013.

[9] "Wisconsin at Illinois". CNN. October 17, 1998. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013.

[10] "Wisconsin at Iowa". CNN. October 24, 1998. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012.

[11] "Minnesota at Wisconsin". CNN. November 7, 1998. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012.

[12] "Wisconsin at Michigan". CNN. November 14, 1998. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012.

[13] "Penn State at Wisconsin". CNN. November 21, 1998. Archived from the original on July 21, 2012.

[14] Bagnato, Andrew (January 2, 1999). "Badgers Say Cheese". Chicago Tribune.

[15] "1999 NFL Draft". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007. Retrieved March 28, 2018.

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Wisconsin Badgers football
Venues	Randall Field (1895–1916) Camp Randall Stadium (1917–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Iowa Minnesota Nebraska
Culture & lore	Bucky Badger "On, Wisconsin!" Marching band "Jump Around" Tall Grass Game Crazylegs
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025

Big Ten Conference football champions
Western Conference	Wisconsin (1896) Wisconsin (1897) Michigan (1898) Chicago (1899) Iowa & Minnesota (1900) Michigan & Wisconsin (1901) Michigan (1902) Michigan, Minnesota, & Northwestern (1903) Michigan & Minnesota (1904) Chicago (1905) Michigan, Minnesota, & Wisconsin (1906) Chicago (1907) Chicago (1908) Minnesota (1909) Illinois & Minnesota (1910) Minnesota (1911) Wisconsin (1912) Chicago (1913) Illinois (1914) Illinois & Minnesota (1915) Ohio State (1916)
Big Ten	Ohio State (1917) Illinois, Michigan, & Purdue (1918) Illinois (1919) Ohio State (1920) Iowa (1921) Chicago, Iowa, & Michigan (1922) Illinois & Michigan (1923) Chicago (1924) Michigan (1925) Michigan & Northwestern (1926) Illinois & Minnesota (1927) Illinois (1928) Purdue (1929) Michigan & Northwestern (1930) Purdue, Michigan & Northwestern (1931) Michigan & Purdue (1932) Michigan & Minnesota (1933) Minnesota (1934) Minnesota & Ohio State (1935) Northwestern (1936) Minnesota (1937) Minnesota (1938) Ohio State (1939) Minnesota (1940) Minnesota (1941) Ohio State (1942) Michigan & Purdue (1943) Ohio State (1944) Indiana (1945)
Big Nine	Illinois (1946) Michigan (1947) Michigan (1948) Michigan & Ohio State (1949)
Big Ten	Michigan (1950) Illinois (1951) Purdue & Wisconsin (1952) Illinois & Michigan State (1953) Ohio State (1954) Ohio State (1955) Iowa (1956) Ohio State (1957) Iowa (1958) Wisconsin (1959) Minnesota & Iowa (1960) Ohio State (1961) Wisconsin (1962) Illinois (1963) Michigan (1964) Michigan State (1965) Michigan State (1966) Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue (1967) Ohio State (1968) Michigan & Ohio State (1969) Ohio State (1970) Michigan (1971) Michigan & Ohio State (1972) Michigan & Ohio State (1973) Michigan & Ohio State (1974) Ohio State (1975) Michigan & Ohio State (1976) Michigan & Ohio State (1977) Michigan & Michigan State (1978) Ohio State (1979) Michigan (1980) Iowa & Ohio State (1981) Michigan (1982) Illinois (1983) Ohio State (1984) Iowa (1985) Michigan & Ohio State (1986) Michigan State (1987) Michigan (1988) Michigan (1989) Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, & Michigan State (1990) Michigan (1991) Michigan (1992) Ohio State & Wisconsin (1993) Penn State (1994) Northwestern (1995) Ohio State & Northwestern (1996) Michigan (1997) Michigan, Ohio State, & Wisconsin (1998) Wisconsin (1999) Michigan, Northwestern, & Purdue (2000) Illinois (2001) Ohio State & Iowa (2002) Michigan (2003) Iowa & Michigan (2004) Ohio State & Penn State (2005) Ohio State (2006) Ohio State (2007) Ohio State & Penn State (2008) Ohio State (2009) Michigan State & Wisconsin (2010) Wisconsin (2011) Wisconsin (2012) Michigan State (2013) Ohio State (2014) Michigan State (2015) Penn State (2016) Ohio State (2017) Ohio State (2018) Ohio State (2019) Ohio State (2020) Michigan (2021) Michigan (2022) Michigan (2023) Oregon (2024)
National championships in bold

1998 Wisconsin Badgers football

Big Ten co-champion Rose Bowl champion
Rose Bowl, W 38–31 vs. UCLA
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 5
AP	No. 6
Record	11–1 (7–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Barry Alvarez (9th season)
Offensive coordinator	Brad Childress (7th as OC; 8th overall season)
Offensive scheme	Smashmouth
Defensive coordinator	Kevin Cosgrove (4th as OC; 9th overall season)
Base defense	4–3
MVP	Bob Adamov Tom Burke Matt Davenport Aaron Gibson Eric Grams Cecil Martin Mike Samuel Mike Schneck Leonard Taylor
Captain	Bob Adamov Cecil Martin Chris McIntosh Donnel Thompson
Home stadium	Camp Randall Stadium
Seasons ← 1997 1999 →