On the night of October 16, the Wisconsin Badgers football team upset top-ranked Ohio State in one of the most memorable upsets of the football season. As the fans stormed Camp Randall Stadium, it seemed as if nothing would ever top that moment.
Four months later, a similar possible scenario began to take shape. Wisconsin (19-5, 9-3 Big Ten) prepared to take the floor versus top-ranked Ohio State a few days after expecting to comfortably defeat Iowa.
Unfortunately, the matchup in Iowa City proved be a trap game, as the minds of every Badger from Jordan Taylor to Jon Leuer seemed to be on the game against the Buckeyes Saturday afternoon. Fortunately, a couple of late baskets sent the game into overtime, and Wisconsin was able to barely survive by a final score of 62-59.
Projected top draft pick Jared Sullinger and his Buckeye teammates stormed into Madison with an impressive 24-0 record, as they looked to silence the many critics who proclaimed the Badgers as the favorite. Not only were analysts predicting Wisconsin to pull off the upset, but odds makers had given UW an impressive one point spread to win the one of the most anticipated games Big Ten games so far.
After a memorable montage of the football win last fall, the Grateful Red student section expected nothing short of an upset victory.
As Dick Vitale entertained the students, and the schools took the floor, the atmosphere inside the Kohl Center was heating up. Seventeen thousand fans inside were hoping for their beloved Badgers to grab the opportunity to make another statement on the national level.
Both schools played back and forth basketball throughout the entire first half, as UW held the lead for a majority of the period. A David Lighty layup right before the horn gave OSU the lead at 28-26, and the Badgers looked to regain their composure in the second half of play.
Fortunate to be still be in the game, the Badgers came right out the gates and tied the game up on a Keaton Nankivil jumper to begin the final half. After that, things quickly began to unravel.
In less than a seven-minute span, the Buckeyes suddenly had a 15-point lead and all hope was lost for UW. The top-ranked team in the nation, playing nearly flawless basketball, was surely going to hold on and continue their bid for an undefeated season.
Ohio State’s leading scorer, William Buford–who finished with 21–and Sullinger had single-handedly taken over the game. There seemed to be a lid on the Wisconsin’s basket; they wouldn’t have hit water had they fallen out of a boat.
Wisconsin slowly began to crawl back into the game. With a mere 13 minutes to play, star guard Jordan Taylor began to take things into his own hands–literally. In the blink of an eye the Badgers had erased the 15-point deficit, and in just nine minutes had amazingly grabbed a seven-point cushion.
In what was arguably one of the most impressive performances of the college basketball season, Taylor poured in 21 of his 27 points after halftime while shooting an astonishing 5-of-8 from long distance.
A 15-point lead in the Big Ten is all but insurmountable, but somehow, some way, the Badgers were able to make history. As the final seconds ticked down, and UW was able to hold on to the 71-67 victory, the site inside of the Kohl Center seemed eerily reminiscent of that memorable night in October. The fans rushed the court and once again celebrated taking down No. 1 OSU.
The last time a school defeated two No. 1 ranked team in football and basketball was in 2006-2007 when Florida also accomplished the feat. The last time a UW basketball team was able to defeat the top ranked team in America was 1962–ironically, also Ohio State. Forty-nine years later, the Buckeyes were toppled again.