History Bill respond to a post on the freebie that sent me to the record books to see how often we played multiple Top 10 teams.
Here is what I found - thought it might spark talk here too:
In the Media Guide, 1937 is the first year "rankings" of teams is shown.
During the 80 seasons since then, we have played 2 or more Top 10 teams in 25 seasons, and played 3 of them in 7 seasons.
Crimmins and Corso each had 6 seasons where they played 2 or more.
Here are the seasons each coach played 2 or more:
McMillin:
1943 - played No. 6, then No. 3
Smith:
1948 - 1/1
1951 - 4/1
Crimmins:
1953 - 7/7/2
1955 - 4/7
1956 - 2/7/10
1958 - 5/3/8
1961 - 2/1/3
1962 - 10/1
Dickens - none
Pont:
1965 - 1/1
1966 - 2/10
1967 - 3/1
1972 - 4/4
Corso:
1973 - 1/4
1974 - 1/3
1975 - 6/7/1
1976 - 8/1/8
1979 - 8/10/9
1981 - 2/8
Wyche - none
Mallory:
1991 - 7/4/10
1995 - 10/2
Cameron - none
DiNardo:- none
Hep/Lynch:
2006 - 1/2
Lynch;
2007 - NOTE - this was the only reported year we played ZERO Top 20 teams!
2009 - 9/7
2010 - 2/6
Wilson:
2016 - 2/3
Added info:
IF Wisconsin holds their ranking until we play them, it would make this easily our toughest schedule ever.
IF Wisconsin holds their record, it means we will play 3 top 10's (2/4/Wisconsin) and 2 more Top 20's (18/17). We have played 5 top 20's in several seasons, but NEVER did that include 3 Top 5's!:
1950 - 17/12/11/12/13
1951 - 14/17/4/10/1
1960 - 4/18/13/5/13
1978 - 13/15/12/19/18
1999 - 2/17/15/20/19
2016 - 17/2/10/3/19
Even if you add in teams ranked 21-25, you don't get harder seasons - Dinardo was the only guy who had 6 Top 25 games - 2003 (22/11/25/8/24/16).
So...
we appear to be playing our hardest schedule ever, with a new HC, a whole new Offensive staff, a new redshirt freshman QB, a freshman starting RB, injuries galore, etc.
Punishment, meet glutton.
Here is what I found - thought it might spark talk here too:
In the Media Guide, 1937 is the first year "rankings" of teams is shown.
During the 80 seasons since then, we have played 2 or more Top 10 teams in 25 seasons, and played 3 of them in 7 seasons.
Crimmins and Corso each had 6 seasons where they played 2 or more.
Here are the seasons each coach played 2 or more:
McMillin:
1943 - played No. 6, then No. 3
Smith:
1948 - 1/1
1951 - 4/1
Crimmins:
1953 - 7/7/2
1955 - 4/7
1956 - 2/7/10
1958 - 5/3/8
1961 - 2/1/3
1962 - 10/1
Dickens - none
Pont:
1965 - 1/1
1966 - 2/10
1967 - 3/1
1972 - 4/4
Corso:
1973 - 1/4
1974 - 1/3
1975 - 6/7/1
1976 - 8/1/8
1979 - 8/10/9
1981 - 2/8
Wyche - none
Mallory:
1991 - 7/4/10
1995 - 10/2
Cameron - none
DiNardo:- none
Hep/Lynch:
2006 - 1/2
Lynch;
2007 - NOTE - this was the only reported year we played ZERO Top 20 teams!
2009 - 9/7
2010 - 2/6
Wilson:
2016 - 2/3
Added info:
IF Wisconsin holds their ranking until we play them, it would make this easily our toughest schedule ever.
IF Wisconsin holds their record, it means we will play 3 top 10's (2/4/Wisconsin) and 2 more Top 20's (18/17). We have played 5 top 20's in several seasons, but NEVER did that include 3 Top 5's!:
1950 - 17/12/11/12/13
1951 - 14/17/4/10/1
1960 - 4/18/13/5/13
1978 - 13/15/12/19/18
1999 - 2/17/15/20/19
2016 - 17/2/10/3/19
Even if you add in teams ranked 21-25, you don't get harder seasons - Dinardo was the only guy who had 6 Top 25 games - 2003 (22/11/25/8/24/16).
So...
we appear to be playing our hardest schedule ever, with a new HC, a whole new Offensive staff, a new redshirt freshman QB, a freshman starting RB, injuries galore, etc.
Punishment, meet glutton.
