Changing the Rivalry: Wisconsin Basketball vs. Ohio State

The hiring of then-Milwaukee head coach Bo Ryan yielded little fanfare outside the city of Madison.

Other than an improbable run to the Final Four in 2000, there had been few bright spots since the Badgers hung their 1947 Big Ten championship banner. Not only were there no Big Ten titles over that 54-year stretch, but Wisconsin also had four times as many losing seasons (32) as top-four finishes in the league (eight). There were just four NCAA tournament appearances, including 47 straight seasons without one.

So, when Dick Bennett abruptly retired in November 2000, he took with him some of the excitement as the Badgers stumbled to a 13-loss season and a first-round upset. Ryan and associate head coach Greg Gard didn’t wait long to change the culture.

Winning back-to-back Big Ten titles in their first two seasons, the Badgers have been dominant in winning 71.1 percent of its games during Ryan’s 14 seasons as head coach and in the last six-plus seasons under Gard (496-202 through Jan.9). UW has won eight Big Ten titles, appeared in 18 of the last 19 NCAA tournaments, and advanced to two Final Fours.

Since Ryan and Gard arrived, Wisconsin has the most Big Ten wins and the best winning percentage in the conference at 245-114 (.682) and have flipped many conference rivalries that had long been one-sided affairs.

Over the course of this Big Ten season, BadgerBlitz will examine Wisconsin’s series with the 13 other conference teams, what it was before Ryan and Gard arrived, what the series looks like now, and some memorable moments along the way.

Today, we look at Wisconsin’s series with Ohio State.

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Pre 2001-02: Ohio State led 79-54

Since 2001-02: Wisconsin leads 21-15

Ryan’s Record vs. Ohio State: 16-11 (6-5 in Columbus, 1-4 neutral)

Gard’s Record vs. Ohio State: 5-4 (2-2 in Columbus, 0-0 neutral)

Record when both teams were ranked: Ryan 6-7; Gard 0-1

When Wisconsin was ranked, Ohio State was not: Ryan 5-2; Gard 2-2

When Ohio State was ranked, Wisconsin was not: Ryan 3-1, Gard 1-0

When both teams were unranked: Ryan 2-1, Gard 2-1

After losing the first matchup between the two schools in 1905, Wisconsin won 10 consecutive matchups for the longest winning streak by either team in the series. Winning multiple games against the Buckeyes became problematic for the Badgers after that. While UW had a modest four-game win streak in the late 20s/early 30s and won six out of seven from 1951-55, there wasn’t a ton of success. Ohio State won 23 times in 27 meetings from 1956-72 and 19 out of 22 from 1982-92. One of the few wins during that first stretch was a memorable one, as UW knocked off No.1 Ohio State, 86-67, in Madison.

Although Bennett turned around the fortunes of the program during his five-year stint prior to Ryan’s arrival, the former UW coach could not figure out Ohio State. Bennett went 2-7 against the Buckeyes, losing his last five games by an average of 4.6 points.

Under Ryan: The Badgers were 5-18 against ranked Ohio State teams in their history, but Wisconsin’s 94-92 overtime victory over No.16 Ohio State in 2002 started the run, winning the final six games of the season to clinch a share of their first regular-season conference title since 1941. This started a one-sided stretch with the Badgers winning seven of Ryan’s first eight meetings, including five straight by an average of 13.4 points. When fifth-ranked UW knocked off third-ranked Ohio State in January 2007, the Badgers had won nine of the last 11 meetings.

Things were closer after that. Ohio State won the final two meetings in 2007, a 49-48 victory in Columbus that was remembered as the No.1 vs. No.2 matchup and center Brian Butch dislocating his elbow and the other in the Big Ten title game. After that season, UW and Ohio State split the next 14 meetings. During Ryan’s tenure, UW was 6-5 when ranked against Ohio State and the Buckeyes were 5-6 when ranked against the Badgers, a sign that the two teams were consistently good and consistently gave each other their best shot. While Ryan finished five games over .500, his teams were 1-4 against OSU in the Big Ten Tournament, including two losses in the title game.

Under Gard: Much like his former boss, Gard has got off to a good start in the Buckeyes series with winning five of the first seven meetings. One of those was a 61-57 victory over the fifth-ranked Buckeyes in Columbus two seasons ago. When the Badgers won later that season in Madison against them, it marked the first time UW beat the Buckeyes twice in a season since 2005. Also like Ryan, Gard's losses against Ohio State have come in spurts. Ryan lost two in a row to Ohio State three times while Gard has done it twice, including an 18-point setback earlier this year. One good omen is that UW hasn't lost three straight games to Ohio State since the late 90s.

Overall, Ryan/Gard went 4-1 against coach Jim O’Brien, 14-11 against Thad Matta, and Gard is 3-3 against Chris Holtmann.

“Those guys we played in 2006-07 played in the NBA. They were talented. Thad had it going with them for a while. That’s a great state for basketball. They had some really good teams that were well coached. That’s why the record is so even between us and them – they had talented players who bought into their system. And the system looks that much better when you have Mike Conley, Daequon Cook, David Lightly, Greg Oden, Jon Diebler, and Evan Turner playing in it.”

- Former Wisconsin assistant coach Gary Close

There’s a lot of great battles in this series and while the Badgers knocking off No.5 Ohio State at home in 2008 was memorable, that game gets overshadowed by the rematch, when No.1 UW lost at No.2 Ohio State in the final seconds on a David Lightly block, which gave the Buckeyes the Big Ten title. But in a current season that has produced some memorable individual performances, it’s hard to overlook when Jordan Taylor did to the top-ranked Buckeyes back on February 12, 2011.

Taylor scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half, rallying No.13 Wisconsin from a 15-point deficit to beat No. 1 Ohio State, 71-67. The junior sparked a 15-0 run and was the catalyst of a 30-8 run that was sheer dominance, scoring from every conceivable angle – driving into the paint, pull-up jumpers with hands in his face, and one-dribble missiles from the perimeter.

“We knew we had a run in us,” Taylor said.

In eight second-half minutes, Taylor helped Wisconsin equal its entire first-half production.

“If people don’t take that and frame it for a one-game performance, what he did right there, I don’t think they're too many players in the country has ever done, not just this year, but at any time against the number one team in the country,” Ryan said. “He just did everything.”

Ohio State had won its first 24 games of the season, including its first 11 in Big Ten play, but the Buckeyes called Taylor “undefendable” after they retreated to the visiting locker room as the students rushed the court.

“I’ve never seen him make threes back-to-back-to-back like that,” Lighty said. “He gave his team a boost, lit a fire under all of them and it was the difference in the game.”

Ohio State fans will remember this game for another reason. During the court storming, talented freshman Jared Sullinger alleged a fan spat on him. When asked his thoughts about the situation, Ryan ruffled Buckeyes fans when he said: "We have the greatest fans in America. All I know is we won the game, deal with it."

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