By establishing a recruiting wall surrounding the state of Wisconsin, the Badgers have participated in a post-season bowl game for 18 consecutive seasons.

There's no doubt the task is easier said that done, but it will be a necessity for Karl Dorrell, who was hired to take over at Colorado in February of 2020. In many ways, the Buffaloes, who have just one winning season since 2006, resemble the pre-Barry Alvarez Badgers.

"It’s not exactly a well-kept secret that for much of Colorado’s time in the Pac-12, the Buffs have had a hard time keeping top in-state prep prospects home," Justin Guerriero, Editor at CUSportsNation, told BadgerBlitz.com. "The reason for that is twofold. Most importantly is that CU, frankly, does not have any winning tradition to sell to kids. For the top high schoolers graduating in 2019, 2020, 2021 and beyond, the Buffs have been a cellar-dweller team for the vast majority of their lives. We are far removed from the 2016 Buffaloes team that won the Pac-12 South.

"The Buffaloes have had three different head coaches since November of 2018. Thus, it’s been a real challenge for CU to keep the blue chippers home. Colorado does have a verbal commitment from tight end Erik Olsen, a four-star player and No. 5 2021 prospect in the state. But there are far more instances of, at best, swings and misses. And, perhaps more bluntly, cases of top in-state guys not really thinking twice about Colorado."

So why does this matter for Wisconsin? Paul Chryst and his staff, led by assistant coaches Jim Leonhard and Bobby April, have been much more active in Colorado over the last two recruiting cycles.

UW signed three-star cornerback Max Lofy in the 2020 class and earned a commitment from Cherry Creek senior Al Ashford last Friday. No points are awarded for finishing second place in recruiting, but the Badgers, according to sources, were runners up for four-star tight ends Gunnar Helm (Texas) and Terrance Ferguson (Oregon) in the 2021 class.

Wisconsin certainly isn't the first school school to notice the talent inside a state where the Buffaloes are bordering on irrelevant. Rather, UW is the latest program to mine the Centennial State for athletes at multiple positions. Since 2010, CU has signed just four in-state players who ranked in the top four or higher in their respective recruiting classes, according to Rivals.com.

"Part 2 to that equation is the presence of out-of-state programs that, for the last few years, have upped their presence in Colorado," Guerriero said. "Take recent Badgers' commit Al Ashford, for example. Colorado was his first Power 5/Pac-12 offer. But before long, Washington State, Oregon State and Arizona came knocking. Pac-12 competition can be intense. Nebraska has long been a poacher of Colorado prep talent. Ohio State, Notre Dame — the list goes on in terms of prominent out-of-state programs that have a regular presence in the state of Colorado.

"Until the Buffs start winning six games a year, at least; until bowl games become a regularity as opposed to the once-every-10-years occurrence, Colorado will fight an uphill battle with landing in-state, blue-chip talent. That’s the bottom line. You’ve got to prove to these kids that they can win in Boulder. Colorado has a beautiful campus and Boulder sells itself. But what’s lacking is a winning tradition."

Assistant coach Mickey Turner actually got the ball rolling for Wisconsin when he discovered Deron Harrell in the 2016 recruiting class. UW was the first school to offer Harrell, who passed for 1,347 yards and 17 touchdowns on offense and had three interceptions and 18 tackles on defense as a senior. Harrell, who accepted a greyshirt opportunity and is currently preparing for his redshirt junior season in Madison, played a role in landing Ashford.

"I guess Wisconsin had a spot open up for a cornerback, and a kid from our program, Deron Harrell, he kind of put the word in their coach’s ear about two kids, Al Ashford and Myles Purchase," Korey Askew, an assistant coach at Cherry Creek, told BadgerBlitz.com. "So that was a big help to get it started and Coach Leonhard was in touch with both kids this week."

On the recruiting front, Colorado will likely never be as important for Wisconsin in comparison to Florida, Ohio, Illinois and Georgia, among others states. But the talent level in the Buffalos' backyard should keep the Badgers coming back, year after year.

Four-star running back Gavin Sawchuk has already been offered in the 2022 class, though UW hasn't been mentioned as one of his top schools early on. Grant Page (Boulder), George Fitzpatrick (Greenwood Village) and Jade Arroyo (Highland Ranch) are also on UW's recruiting radar in the junior cycle.

In the meantime, Dorrell may want to place a call to Alvarez for some in-state advice.

"It’s unfortunate," Askew, who grew up inside the state and played at Northern Colorado, said. "We have to hold our schools more accountable for recruiting our kids. Every year kids decide to go play somewhere else. Your home-grown, best talent cannot get outside the state. And it’s not just Wisconsin scooping our kids, it’s schools that we’re going to play every other year. Now three kids from Colorado are on the roster at Wisconsin. Something is wrong there."