This might be the best senior class to ever come through University of Wisconsin. If only the seniors had gotten a sendoff that was equally memorable.

During their improbable and unpredictable run to an 11-1 record (even though I had them pegged at 10-2, which was much higher than many I spoke to in the preseason), the Wisconsin football team was often faced with adversity. For example, quarterback John Stocco had to undergo surgery only weeks before the season opener and his status was in doubt. And Wisconsin looked like a team with plenty of holes in about as unimpressive a 3-0 start as you are likely to find. Of course, there was also the lone loss of the season, when UW was thumped in the second half in Ann Arbor.

Even at 11-1, there were times when the Badgers looked to have their backs against the wall. However, in each and every one of those instances, and countless more, whenever players were asked how they would deal with a setback, they would almost always give a simple answer.

"We're going to put it on our seniors."

Whenever there was a distraction or a challenge to be faced, the seniors were the first to accept responsibility for how Wisconsin would respond. Whenever the team needed to be addressed, the seniors were the first ones to make sure a message was sent, loud and clear. Whether it was Stocco, left tackle Joe Thomas, safety Joe Stellmacher or somebody else, the 2006 UW senior class was absolutely essential to the success of not only this season, but the last four years as well.

Having brought the Badgers to three consecutive January bowl games for only the second time in school history and having been a part of 37 victories (with one game left to play), this group of UW seniors is without question one of the most successful to ever come through Madison. This group brought Wisconsin the most regular-season wins in school history, the stunning upset of Auburn in Barry Alvarez's head-coaching finale, and a national-championship and Big Ten-title run in 2004. In fact, they've been banging on the door for the conference crown in each of the past four seasons.

This group was even part of the Badgers' 2003 upset of defending national champion Ohio State, a night game that anyone who attended will tell you was as raucous and exhilarating as Camp Randall has ever been. It was, at the time, the biggest victory in years for Wisconsin, and it set the tone for this senior class to achieve near unprecedented success.

Through four years, this senior class lifted Wisconsin back to national prominence after several down years, and to the second-best four-year win total in school history.

It's a shame that the school, in a way, let such a decorated class down.

Senior Day is a day that is meant to be an event. It already is one for those playing in their final home game, but it is meant to be for the fans also. It is meant to pay homage to those fans who will no longer be able see Camp Randall every Saturday, whether in the stadium or on television.

However, after sitting and watching the seniors get introduced to an at-best two-thirds full Camp Randall, Senior Day seemed to be more of an afterthought. With just about five minutes left before the scheduled kickoff, the Badgers were rushed onto the field without their normal pregame video introduction to wind up the crowd, and the seniors were listed off one-by-one and greeted by their families briskly enough so that the game could begin on time, as scheduled.

It was a little hollow on several levels, and I couldn't help but feel bad that the class that had given so much for the school had been so overlooked in what was supposed to be a day of celebration.

Last season, I was at Penn State for the Nittany Lions' Senior Day. That group was having an identical season to what UW is having now, going through the Big Ten with only one loss.

Ten minutes before the game, which began at 2:30 p.m., the event staff played a montage so moving and powerful that even I, having no emotional investment in Penn State at all, couldn't hold back a tear or two. The team was then immediately brought out to a capacity crowd — which was at that point more stirred up than the vanilla malts at Mickey's Dairy Bar — and each player was called out individually by a public-address announcer who read each name as if the player had just scored a game-winning TD, not as if he were taking attendance.

The kickoff was a couple minutes late, with the game not starting until 2:37. This was a nationally televised game, mind you, with ABC and Brent Musberger in town to call it.

Why couldn't the Badgers take their time and delay the start of a game that was barely even broadcast in Madison?

Or better yet, why not push the game back to 2:30 or even later — especially considering that the Athletic Department had brought in lowly Buffalo for the season's climax, a team that wasn't going to excite fans to wake up by 9 a.m. in order to be at the stadium in time to cheer on the seniors. It wasn't as if too much TV money was driving the deal, with the game only being shown on ESPNU, which is available in about 7 to 8 million homes.

This isn't the first time I've felt this way. Last season, Ray Nixon was the only senior on the men's basketball team. He was a win or two away from being the winningest player in UW history.

He didn't get a video montage, or real celebration. In fact, he didn't even get his face on the game program, as Jason Chappell was featured on the cover. That is nothing short of a lack of foresight and effort on the part of Wisconsin.

If you picked up a program at Saturday's football game, you'd notice that Nov. 18, 2006, is not labeled as Senior Day on the cover, but W Club Day. At least they put a senior (Stellmacher) on the cover. Just don't strain yourself searching for Senior Day references inside, as you'll only find a fan poll on the best Senior Day game.

Even at Alvarez's last game, if you hadn't been in Madison in the weeks leading up to it, you would've had no clue that the contest was anything special, as there weren't any pregame festivities.

I'm really not trying to rip the Athletic Department, or anyone in particular, I just feel like these seniors deserved more.

In three-and-a-half months, on March 3, the UW men's basketball team will have their Senior Day and will wave goodbye to three seniors who have been just as influential to the program's success as their football counterparts.

I just hope that they get sent off the right way, the way they deserve to be.

Dave is a senior majoring in English and journalism who is looking forward to getting treated like royalty in May, when he is honored on The Badger Herald's Senior Day. Send your favorite Badger senior moment to [email protected].