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Tom Oates: Badgers must reload on defense to remain among college football elite

The University of Wisconsin football team sports a 45-10 record since the start of the 2014 season, trailing only Alabama (51-5), Clemson (50-6) and Ohio State (49-6) in victories and winning percentage among FBS programs during that time.

The common denominator among the four teams?

Simple. It’s defense.

With several notable exceptions, Oklahoma most prominent among them, the teams that consistently occupy the seats of power in college football play great defense. For evidence, look no further than the College Football Playoff.

Alabama ranks first nationally in total defense and scoring defense. Georgia, which beat Oklahoma in the semifinals and meets Alabama for the championship Monday night, is sixth in total defense and fifth in scoring defense.