| 1996 Wisconsin Badgers football | |
Copper Bowl Champions | |
|---|---|
Copper Bowl, W 38–10 vs. Utah | |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| 1996 record | 8–5 (3–5 Big Ten) |
| Head coach | Barry Alvarez (7th season) |
| Home stadium | Camp Randall Stadium (Capacity: 76,129) |
Seasons | |
| 1996 Big Ten football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #2/2 Ohio State § | 7 | – | 1 | 11 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #15/16 Northwestern § | 7 | – | 1 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #7/7 Penn State | 6 | – | 2 | 11 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #18/18 Iowa | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #20/20 Michigan | 5 | – | 3 | 8 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 5 | – | 3 | 6 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 3 | – | 5 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 2 | – | 6 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 1 | – | 7 | 4 | – | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 1 | – | 7 | 3 | – | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 1 | – | 7 | 2 | – | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| § – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll / Coaches' Poll | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 1996 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin during the 1996 NCAA Division I-A football season.
Regular season[]
Schedule and results[]
| Date | Time | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 7* | 11:30 AM | Eastern Michigan | Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI | ESPN2 | W 24–3 | 74,279 | ||
| September 14* | 9:00 PM | at UNLV | Sam Boyd Stadium • Whitney, NV | W 52–17 | 40,091 | |||
| September 21* | 11:30 AM | Stanford | Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI | ESPN2 | W 14–0 | 77,894 | ||
| September 28 | 2:30 PM | #3 Penn State | Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI | ABC | L 20–23 | 79,607 | ||
| October 12 | 2:30 PM | at #2 Ohio State | Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH | ABC | L 14–17 | 94,215 | ||
| October 19† | 11:30 AM | #14 Northwestern | Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI | ESPN | L 30–34 | 79,576 | ||
| October 26 | 11:30 AM | at Michigan State | Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI | ESPN2 | L 13–30 | 69,217 | ||
| November 2 | 11:30 AM | Purdue | Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI | ESPN | W 33–25 | 78,330 | ||
| November 9 | 11:20 AM | Minnesota | Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI (Paul Bunyan's Axe) | ESPN+ | W 45–28 | 78,006 | ||
| November 16 | 11:30 AM | at Iowa | Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA | ESPN | L 0–31 | 66,570 | ||
| November 23 | 1:00 PM | at Illinois | Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL | W 35–15 | 37,814 | |||
| November 30* | 11:00 PM | at Hawaii | Aloha Stadium • Honolulu, HI | W 59–10 | 26,819 | |||
| December 27* | 8:00 PM | vs. Utah | Arizona Stadium • Tucson, AZ (Copper Bowl) | ESPN | W 38–10 | 42,122 | ||
| *Non-Conference Game. †Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Central Time. | ||||||||
Season Summary[]
Wisconsin started off quickly in 1996, winning their first three games against Eastern Michigan, UNLV, and Stanford. However, the Badgers then encountered far stiffer opposition against Penn State, Ohio State, Northwestern, and Michigan State. In the Northwestern game, Wisconsin RB Ron Dayne stunningly fumbled with just under a minute remaining. Northwestern recovered and scored the winning touchdown, sealing Wisconsin's third consecutive loss. The Badgers lost their fourth straight game the next week, falling 30–13 to Michigan State.
The Badgers snapped their four-game losing streak with consecutive wins against Purdue and rival Minnesota, before suffering a humiliating 31–0 loss at the hands of Hayden Fry's Iowa Hawkeyes. After falling to 5–5, the Badgers would win the final games on their regular season slate by beating Illinois and Hawaii, earning a bid to the Copper Bowl. The Badgers defeated the Utah Utes 38–10 in the 1996 Copper Bowl.
Wisconsin RB Ron Dayne ran for over 2,000 yards and 21 touchdowns in the 1996 season, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Honors in the process.
Regular starters[]
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Team players selected in the 1997 NFL Draft[]
| Player | Position | Round | Overall Selection | NFL Team |
| Jerry Wunsch | Guard | 2 | 37 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| Pete Monty | Linebacker | 4 | 103 | New York Giants |
| Tarek Saleh | Linebacker | 4 | 122 | Carolina Panthers |
References[]
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