A chronicle of Wisconsin sports programs memorably toppling No. 1 teams
JR Radcliffe
The biggest upset of the Thanksgiving season wasn't that you managed to avoid politics for the entire meal.
The Marquette men's basketball team took down No. 1-ranked Kansas in the Maui Invitational on Tuesday, one day before nearly rallying to topple No. 2 (and future No. 1) Purdue. On Saturday, it was the Wisconsin women's volleyball team taking down the No. 1 team in the country, a three-set sweep over previously undefeated Nebraska in the final week leading into the NCAA Tournament.
It's not the first time Marquette has turned the feat, but for Wisconsin volleyball in particular, this is practically standard operating procedure. Consider:
- The Badgers beat No. 1 Nebraska at the University of Wisconsin Field House in October 2022, also 3-0.
- In 2021, en route to the NCAA national championship, Wisconsin snuck past top-ranked Louisville on Dec. 16, 3-2, in the national semifinal in Columbus, Ohio.
- In 2019, Wisconsin also defeated the country's No. 1 team in the national semifinal, a 3-1 win over Baylor to advance and face Stanford in the final in Pittsburgh.
Not only that, but the Wisconsin men's hockey team defeated No. 1 Minnesota in back-to-back nights in October, helping that program return to prominence under first-year head coach Mike Hastings.
Oh, and look, the Wisconsin men's basketball team now must face No. 1 Arizona on Saturday. Could we see the latest in the string of fall wins over top-ranked teams?
Here's a look at other memorable times a Wisconsin sports team knocked off the No. 1 squad in the land:
1962: Wisconsin men's basketball 86, Ohio State 67
Ohio State had won 27 straight conference games dating to the end of the 1959-60 season, but Don Hearden scored 29 points and the Badgers dismantled the best team in the land March 3.
1962: Wisconsin football 37, Northwestern 6
It was a no-contest before a Homecoming crowd at Camp Randall Stadium, with the Wildcats scoring their only touchdown with less than 7 minutes to play. Gary Kroner caught two touchdowns and kicked a field goal for Wisconsin, and Lou Holland finished with three touchdowns for the Badgers, who would get a chance to face a second No. 1 team later that year in a Rose Bowl, a legendary 42-37 loss to USC.
1972: Milwaukee Bucks 120, Los Angeles Lakers 104
Maybe the Lakers weren't "No. 1" in the rankings sense, but they had rattled off 33 consecutive wins, a streak that has not been matched in the decades since (Miami won 27 in a row in 2012-13 to come closest in a single season). The Bucks' 20-game winning streak the year before (en route to a championship) established a gold standard that the Lakers obliterated, beginning Nov. 5, 1971. But the Bucks stopped it here, winning at the MECCA on Jan. 9, 1982.
The Lakers, buoyed by stars Jerry West, Gail Goodrich and Wilt Chamberlain, wound up losing four of six but then went on to finish 69-13 and went on to win the 1972 championship. That run included a win over the Bucks in the Western Conference finals, 4-2.
1981: Wisconsin football 21, Michigan 14
UW had lost 14 straight against Michigan, including four in a row by a combined 176-0. But John Williams took a screen pass 71 yards for a touchdown for the decisive score, Matt Vanden Boom had three interceptions and Tim Krumrie led the defense with 13 tackles in the win to kick off the season. It was even more dominant on paper, with Wisconsin owning a 439-229 edge in yards and a 23-8 edge in first downs.
2003: Marquette men's basketball 83, Kentucky 69
The virtuoso performance by Dwyane Wade (29 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) helped Marquette crush the No. 1 team in the country in the Elite 8, giving Marquette a trip to the Final Four. Robert Jackson added 24 points and 15 rebounds.
2010: Wisconsin football 31, Ohio State 18
David Gilreath returned the opening kickoff for an unforgettable start under the lights at Camp Randall Stadium, and the Badgers kept the pressure on from there, behind the running-back duo of James White and John Clay. The Badgers went on to win a share of the Big Ten and appeared in the Rose Bowl.
2011: Green Bay Packers 48, Atlanta Falcons 21
It wasn't the first or the last time the Packers defeated the top seed in the NFC playoffs, but the unforgettable Aaron Rodgers performance in Atlanta en route to a Super Bowl championship nonetheless resonates more than a decade later as an epic achievement. Other top seeds going down at the hands of Green Bay include:
- 2017: Green Bay 34, Dallas 31 in a thriller that required an unforgettable catch by Jared Cook.
- 1998: Green Bay 23, San Francisco 10 in a wet and muddy contest out west that sent the Packers to the Super Bowl XXXII.
2011: Wisconsin men's basketball 71, Ohio State 67
Jordan Taylor scored 27 points and handed out seven assists as the Badgers gave Ohio State its first loss of the season after the Buckeyes started 24-0. Mike Bruesewitz hit four of five shots off the bench and finished with 12 points, and Wisconsin improved to 19-5, although OSU won the rematch three weeks later.
2015: Wisconsin men's basketball 71, Kentucky 64
Led by Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker, Wisconsin handed Kentucky its first loss of the year in the national semifinal, a victory that landed the Badgers in the national title game against Duke. Kentucky finished the season 38-1.
2015: Milwaukee Bucks 108, Golden State Warriors 95
It wasn't a "No. 1" ranking per se, but the Warriors were the undisputed best team in the league when they won their first 24 games of the year. That streak ended Dec. 12 in Milwaukee. Golden State went on to win an NBA-record 73 games.
2017: Marquette men's basketball 74, Villanova 72
Katin Reinhardt tied the game with a three-pointer at the 1:04 mark and hit a pair of free throws with 11.6 seconds left. Villanova missed its chance to tie and the Golden Eagles capped off a 17-point comeback by topping the Wildcats. Fans stormed the court in one of the lasting images from the Bradley Center.
2017: Wisconsin men's basketball 65, Villanova 62
The Wildcats were back atop the rankings in the NCAA Tournament when Wisconsin registered an upset in the second round over the defending national champion. Nigel Hayes scored 19 points, including a massive late lay-in, while Bronson Koenig added 17 and Ethan Happ had 12 points and eight rebounds.
What did we miss? Email jradcliffe@gannett.com.