Mission Get Attention Worked Perfectly for Wisconsin Against Indiana

Wisconsin turned heads on Saturday putting up 83 points against Indiana at Camp Randall Stadium. The 83 points was the most a Division I team had scored all season, and it was more than the basketball team had scored in all but three of its games last year. Minnesota coach Tim Brewster had called Wisconsin coach Bret Bielama out earlier in the year for running up the score but this time Indiana coach Bill Lynch did not outwardly object. Maybe it’s because he understood why Bielama did it. Maybe it’s because he doesn’t feel like teams need mercy.

Normally I can’t stand seeing teams run up the score against opponents, but I know exactly why Wisconsin did it and it makes sense. They were ranked 6th in the AP Poll, 5th in the USA Today poll, and 7th in the BCS. They honestly feel like a forgotten team in the BCS race, and they’re not even a glamorous team in their conference — Ohio State is. But with the 83-20 win over Indiana, they grabbed everyone’s attention and made a statement: we can do whatever we want on the field, including scoring touchdowns on 10 of 12 possessions and field goals on the other two.

Wisconsin had a purpose on Saturday and that was to gain attention. It just so happens Indiana was the victim. The BCS computers don’t really factor score and margin of victory into their computations, but human voters and BCS bowl officials had to have noticed the 83 points the Badgers threw up. How could you not?

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Morry Gash