“They better get season tickets right now because, before long, they probably won’t be able to.”

Barry Alvarez’s statement during his introductory 1990 press conference announcing him as the head football coach of the University of Wisconsin was viewed as either bold visionary or complete buffoonery. After all, UW was coming off five consecutive losing seasons, was a combined 6-27 in the three seasons under previous head coach Don Morton and was a program that had its fans giving away tickets to the 1989 season opener against No.3 Miami (spoiler, UW lost 51-3).

Many fans likely thought Alvarez was in over his head when the Badgers went 1-10 his first season, but the groundwork was being laid that season for what has been – for the most part – 30 years of success.

Starting with Alvarez’s 16 seasons (1990-2005) and extending to Bret Bielema’s seven years (‘06-‘12), Gary Andersen’s brief tenure (‘13-‘14) and, now, Paul Chryst (‘15-present), Wisconsin has been one of the more successful programs in the Big Ten. The program has won six conference championships, been to seven Rose Bowls and won 15 bowl games. Most importantly, the Badgers have either swung momentum in Big Ten series, completely dominating conference teams or closed the gap against some of the league’s heavyweights.

To understand how impressive Wisconsin’s run of success has been in the Big Ten, BadgerBlitz will examine UW’s series against 11 Big Ten opponents, looking at where it was and how it has evolved over four different Badgers coaches (Note: for this exercise, we are not including UW’s conference games against Maryland and Rutgers. The Badgers are 3-0 against each school and have outscored them a combined 137-71 in those six games).

In the last feature of the series, we examine UW’s series against the Purdue Boilermakers.

RELATED: Illinois | Indiana | Iowa | Michigan | Michigan State | Minnesota | Nebraska | Northwestern | Ohio State | Penn State |

The Badgers won eight and tied another three in the first 13 meetings between the programs, allowing them to overcome lean decades in the ‘30s (2-6-2), ‘60s (2-3) and ‘70s (3-5-1). Each team won their first meeting as a ranked team (No.7 UW won 13-0 on the road in ’42 and No.4 Purdue returned the favor a year in Madison, 32-0) and UW won the only two games when both schools were ranked (9-0 in ’55 and 31-6 in ’58). The ‘50s were a dominant era for UW in the series, as the Badgers went 7-1-1 with all their victories being by at least nine points.

Purdue wasn’t great under head coach Jim Colletto, as the Boilermakers had five losing seasons in his six years at the helm and never won more than five games. However, Colletto went 2-3-1 against the Badgers, making the transition to Joe Tiller. Wisconsin and Alvarez had its hands full with Tiller, who made Purdue into a top Big Ten team and had the Boilers ranked in five consecutive matchups (’99-’04). Wisconsin wasn’t too shabby either, as the Badgers were a ranked team in six of Alvarez’s last seven meetings against Purdue (4-3).

When Bielema was given the keys to the car, the former defensive coordinator stepped on the gas. Not only did Bielema’s Badgers go 5-0 against the Boilermakers, but Wisconsin also outscored them, on average, by 29.6 points.

Andersen came into the Big Ten the same time as Darrell Hazell took the helm at Purdue for the ousted Danny Hope. Andersen’s two teams – ranked No.24 and No.25 in the country – had little trouble beating the Boilermakers by a combined score of 77-24.

The winning has continued with Chryst at the helm, but the margin for error has shrunk with Jeff Brohm starting a turnaround with the Boilers program. After winning the first two games in the Hazell/Gerad Parker era by 46 points, UW needed a late defensive stand to win 17-9 in 2017, had to go to triple overtime to win at Ross-Ade Stadium in 2018 and managed a little separation last year with a big second half to win 49-24.

Sitting at 6-0 after knocking off No.18 Oho State in Columbus, Wisconsin – ranked in the top 10 for the first time in four years – faced its toughest challenge in a night matchup at No.5 Purdue in front of a national television audience. The Badgers proved that they were legit.

With less than three minutes to play and Wisconsin trailing Purdue by three points, Badgers cornerback

Scott Starks returned a fumble by Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton 40 yards for a touchdown to lift Wisconsin to a 20-17 win.

Clinging to a 17-14 lead, Orton lunged for a first down on a naked bootleg, only to have Starks hit Orton low and safety Robert Brooks hit him high, forcing the fumble. Starks scooped up the loose ball and sprinted to the end zone with 2:36 to play, capping a stunning comeback.

“If the ball would've been bouncing around, I probably would have just covered it," Starks said. "But it was just sitting there. I saw the perfect opportunity there."

The play was reviewed, and replays showed the ball was out before Orton's arm hit the ground.

“I've been in this racket for a long time," Alvarez said. "And I've never been part of a game like this.”

Orton tried to recover on the ensuing series, driving the Boilermakers to the Wisconsin 25. But Ben Jones' 42-yard field goal was wide right, and the Badgers ran out the clock.

“We had a chance at the end, we just blew it,” Orton said.

Orton scored from 6 yards out with 8 minutes to play -- the first scoring run allowed by the Badgers this season -- to give Purdue a 17-7 lead. But that kicked off a scoring binge in a game that started as a defensive slugfest.

Badgers sophomore quarterback John Stocco calmly led a 73-yard drive and hit Booker Stanley for a 7-yard TD that pulled Wisconsin within 17-14.

After playing so well for the first three quarters, the Purdue defense let this one slip away. Kyle Smith had a chance to seal the win, but he dropped a potential interception that hit him right between the numbers. Five plays later, Stocco found Stanley for the score.

“There were plays there to be made,” Tiller said. “The defense had a chance to make a play to stop the drive and they didn't. The offense had a chance to make a play to keep a drive going, and they didn't. The kicking game had a chance to make a play and they didn't. When you don't make plays, you don't beat a team like Wisconsin.”

Fittingly, it was Wisconsin's defense that did come through. The Boilermakers came into the game averaging more than 500 yards and 41.8 points a game, but the Badgers’ defense – leading the nation in scoring defense with 6.5 points per game – did the trick by forcing three turnovers on Orton.

“A lot of guys don't do that, a lot of guys just jump on the ball," Alvarez said of Starks' big play. "His awareness was unbelievable.”

That game was a watershed moment for the Boilermakers. Thinking national championship and a Heisman Trophy for Orton, Purdue lost its next four games and finished 7-5. In the 15 seasons since, Purdue has had more head coaches than winning seasons (6-4) and has yet to beat Wisconsin (14 and counting).

Purdue looks like they are on to something with Brohm calling the shots, but how long will the Boilermakers be able to keep him? They dodged a bullet after the 2018 season when Brohm – a former Louisville quarterback – turned down the opportunity to coach his alma mater and took a pay raise to stay with Purdue. The Boilermakers are still a work in progress but, unlike some Big Ten West schools, are starting to inch closer to Wisconsin’s place at the top of the division standings.

Wisconsin’s overall record vs Purdue pre-Alvarez: 31-24-7

Wisconsin’s record vs. the Boilermakers since 1990: 19-5-1

The Alvarez Years: 7-5-1

The Bielema Years: 5-0

The Andersen Years: 2-0

The Chryst Years: 5-0