Party like it’s 2004! For the first time since Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction coined the term “wardrobe malfunction” and changed the country forever, Wisconsin football is 7-0. Granted, the best opponent Bucky has faced so far is a Purdue squad that just lost to Big Ten cellar-dweller Rutgers, but No. 5 in the nation feels pretty good.
On Saturday morning the Badgers will visit Memorial Stadium in Champaign to face the University of Illinois. It’s the Fighting Illini’s homecoming. Usually homecoming involves scheduling an opponent you expect to beat, and beat convincingly — see “Maryland at Wisconsin” or “Rutgers at Michigan” — so 27-point favorite Wisconsin makes for an interesting choice. Maybe Lovie Smith has some tricks up his sleeve. Wait, Lovie Smith?
Let’s take a peek at our neighbors to the south before the 11 a.m. kickoff on ESPN.
Lovie is in the Air
Finding out Lovie Smith is the coach of the University of Illinois football team is like running into your high school teacher at their second job at Starbucks. A former Wisconsin linebackers coach (1987) and once considered among the best coaches in the NFL, Smith’s career took a nosedive after an up-and-down nine-year run with the Chicago Bears. Before becoming a collegiate head coach, he briefly led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014, which anyone could have told him was a bad idea. Come on Lovie, why did you do it?! It’s the Bucs!
Clout College
In 2009, the Chicago Tribune began publishing a series of reports accusing the University of Illinois of accepting students with subpar applications due to their political connections. Approximately 800 students over five years were found to be on the “clout list.” This was huge news, mainly because most people were unaware you could submit an application to Illinois that would be considered subpar.
In Memoriam
This season the Fighting Illini have dedicated their season to distinguished alum and deceased pornographer Hugh Hefner. Well, not officially, or unofficially, but I feel that it’s a safe assumption that it’s been discussed at halftime. After all, isn’t Hugh Hefner what “locker-room talk” is all about?
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