MADISON, Wis. -- It's true that one loss in college football no longer automatically eliminates a school from the national title picture. But, generally speaking, programs that falter require weeks -- if not months -- of work to rise back into such a discussion. Rarely does a team earn what amounts to an immediate mulligan in defeat.
Wisconsin, however, happens to represent one of those cases. Two Saturdays ago, the Badgers entered the Big House ranked No. 8 in the country, played lights-out defense and lost by a respectable 14-7 margin against No. 4 Michigan.