During a weekend which saw plenty of heartbreak over losses against inferior opponents, historical collapses in Major League Baseball, top fantasy football players getting hurt and records broken (Dan Marino and Vikings fans weren't too pleased with Favre's milestone touchdown pass), there was one steady eddy — Bret Bielema's Wisconsin Badgers.

Bielema, who innocently decided to go with a different look by forgetting his socks at home, was once again able to get the end result, even if the means weren't all that satisfying.

The Badgers defeated the Spartans 37-34 behind another Heisman-esque performance from their rumbling tailback who could probably carry the ball on every down the entire game. P.J. Hill crashed through the Spartans' ranks 34 times for 155 yards and two touchdowns.

The latest version of "how to get off of blocks and make tackles" didn't go particularly well for the defense, yet it is Wisconsin that is 5-0 and on the nation's longest winning streak.

On the flip side, Oklahoma could do no wrong.

Every week Oklahoma annihilated its opponent by 69, 38, 51 and 41 points. Quarterback Sam Bradford looked like a sniper, singlehandedly picking apart the North Texas, Miami, Utah State and Tulsa secondaries, respectively. Indeed, everything was grand. Oklahoma was surely making its case to play in the national championship game.

This past Saturday played out in much the same way until the Sooners put away the weapons and Camo and brought out tuxedoes, white gloves and cocktails to serve the Colorado Buffaloes' every need.

Colorado, a good team stuck in bad times, wanted a win. That's exactly what it got. The Buffaloes didn't really storm back, as much as the Sooners gave back, but they did score 20 unanswered points to turn a 24-7 second half deficit into a 27-24 win.

Now Bradford and Oklahoma are left to consider why they were so serviceable.

Beyond just Oklahoma's second half problem or even the difficulties any team anywhere has faced this season is the underlying question — isn't a 73-10 win the same as a 17-13 win? And why doesn't Wisconsin get credit for being greedy (winning)?

It's one thing to question how good UW can be if its defense can't make big plays, force turnovers or stop any sort of designed play to the outside, but its quite another to think that since this team isn't winning by 45 like Oklahoma or Florida was, it should be overlooked.

Last year the team got no respect because it played and won against a weak compilation of teams. This year, the team isn't winning by enough points against better competition.

Only two schools (USC and Texas) since 2004 have won more games than Wisconsin. Under Bielema, the Badgers are 17-1. Yet the revealing facts don't seem to impress anyone in the polls.

"I think out of the teams in the top 10, we're the most disrespected just because we don't go out there and blow every team out," said tight end Travis Beckum, reiterating the lack of love for a mundane school like Wisconsin.

Aside from Week 1 when it moved up from No. 7 to No. 5 after Texas failed to impress and Michigan lost to Appalachian State, Wisconsin dropped in the polls every week (between Week 3 and 4 they remained No. 9 but received fewer votes) up until this past upset special poll.

Even now, however, its 1,271 votes are the fewest given to the fifth-ranked team in the country all season. On top of that, Wisconsin is a mere 68 points ahead of No. 6 South Florida.

The Bulls are coming off of an unimpressive win at home over the West Virginia Mountaineers. If you want to talk about domination, WVU controlled the clock for 34:38, had 167 more yards and scored just as many offensive touchdowns, but its turnovers, many of which were mental mistakes, gave the ballgame to USF.

West Virginia, with its backup quarterback in, had the ball, down only eight points, near the end of the game. How is what South Florida did impressive enough to push it all the way to No. 6 in the rankings, close to Wisconsin who won against a pretty good team in Michigan State? It doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

While close games don't go unnoticed by pollsters, Wisconsin is one of the few teams talked about as "not being deserving of its ranking."

"We're winning, and we're going down in the polls," Beckum said. "They don't really give us credit, and that's something I've noticed since our first game."

The only way to change voters' mindset, according to Beckum, is to win by 100.

But then, just as we all witnessed last Saturday, maybe that mindset will take all the fun out of games. Then the Badgers may be enticed into playing the role of giver rather than taker, just like Oklahoma, and find themselves on the losing end.

So expect Bielema to stick to the game plan with or without his socks.

Wins stack up, no matter how close the final score.

Kevin Hagstrom is a senior double majoring in economics and journalism. He can be reached for comment at [email protected].