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2012 Wisconsin

8–⁠6 (4–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Bret Bielema, then Barry Alvarez (interim, bowl game).

Schedule and results

Wisconsin in 2012, game by game: won vs. Northern Iowa 26–21; lost at Oregon State 7–10; won vs. Utah State 16–14; won vs. UTEP 37–26; lost at No. 22 Nebraska 27–30; won vs. Illinois 31–14; won at Purdue 38–14; won vs. Minnesota 38–13; lost vs. Michigan State 13–16; won at Indiana 62–14; lost vs. No. 6 Ohio State 14–21; lost at Penn State 21–24; won vs. No. 14 Nebraska 70–31; lost vs. No. 8 Stanford 14–20+48−7Won 26–21 vs. Northern Iowa+5Northern IowaLost 7–10 at Oregon State-3Oregon StateWon 16–14 vs. Utah State+2Utah StateWon 37–26 vs. UTEP+11UTEPLost 27–30 at No. 22 Nebraska-3No. 22 NebraskaWon 31–14 vs. Illinois+17IllinoisWon 38–14 at Purdue+24PurdueWon 38–13 vs. Minnesota+25MinnesotaLost 13–16 vs. Michigan State-3Michigan StateWon 62–14 at Indiana+48IndianaLost 14–21 vs. No. 6 Ohio State-7No. 6 Ohio StateLost 21–24 at Penn State-3Penn StateWon 70–31 vs. No. 14 Nebraska+39No. 14 NebraskaLost 14–20 vs. No. 8 Stanford-6No. 8 Stanford
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsNorthern IowaW 26–⁠2183%
Sep 8atOregon StateL 7–⁠1069%
Sep 15vsUtah StateW 16–⁠1474%
Sep 22vsUTEPW 37–⁠2684%
Sep 29at22NebraskaL 27–⁠3047%
Oct 6vsIllinoisW 31–⁠1482%
Oct 13atPurdueW 38–⁠1464%
Oct 20vsMinnesotaW 38–⁠1383%
Oct 27vsMichigan StateL 13–⁠1669%
Nov 10atIndianaW 62–⁠1474%
Nov 17vs6Ohio StateL 14–⁠2155%
Nov 24atPenn StateL 21–⁠2446%
Dec 1vs14NebraskaBig Ten Championship GameW 70–⁠3143%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs8StanfordRose BowlL 14–⁠2039%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Stanford 20–⁠14 in the Rose Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 15th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 12
  2. Wk 2: 13

Big Ten champions4–⁠4 in the conference, won the Big Ten Championship Game

Doak Walker AwardMontee Ball, RB

Consensus All-AmericanMontee Ball, RB

Record
8–⁠6
Conference
4–⁠4 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 12
Points
414–⁠268
Coach
Bret Bielema, then Barry Alvarez (interim, bowl game)
Elo
1681 +16 this season
SP+ rating
14.5 No. 25 of 124; offense No. 49, defense No. 12, special teams No. 96
SRS
10.5 No. 23 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 65
Offensive coordinator
Matt Canada
Defensive coordinators
Chris Ash and Charlie Partridge
Captains
Montee Ball, Chris Borland, Travis Frederick, Shelton Johnson, Mike Taylor and Ricky Wagner
Most valuable player
Jared Abbrederis and Montee Ball
Offense
Pro-style
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense89th of 124
  • Defense32nd of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted69th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted29th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0339%0.9689th of 124
Defense0.0236%0.9232nd of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.06 off
0.03 def		41% off
37% def		—69th off
29th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.2own 322% allowed
Defense-0.1own 262% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsJoel Stave QB1,104 yds
Passing touchdownsJoel Stave QB6 TD
Rushing yardsMontee Ball RB1,830 yds
Rushing touchdownsMontee Ball RB22 TD
Receiving yardsJared Abbrederis WR837 yds
Receiving touchdownsJared Abbrederis WR5 TD
InterceptionsDevin Smith DB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Dan Voltz OG★★★★No. 98
Vince Biegel OLB★★★★No. 150
Bart Houston PRO★★★★No. 212
Vonte Jackson RB★★★★No. 272
Jake Meador OT★★★No. 719

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.920
Running backs23.00.844
Receivers13.00.834
Offensive line33.30.888
Defensive line13.00.855
Linebackers14.00.939
Defensive backs23.00.829
Athletes and specialists22.00.735
Whole class133.10.848

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2013

The 2013 draft
Rd 1Travis Frederick CDallas Cowboys
Rd 2Montee Ball RBDenver Broncos
Rd 5Ricky Wagner OTBaltimore Ravens

Roster 115

The 2012 roster

115 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 27 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

7 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2012 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2012 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠012–⁠03
Nebraska7–⁠110–⁠425
Penn State6–⁠28–⁠4
Michigan6–⁠28–⁠524
Northwestern5–⁠310–⁠317
Wisconsin4–⁠48–⁠6
Michigan State3–⁠57–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠56–⁠7
Minnesota2–⁠66–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠64–⁠8
Iowa2–⁠64–⁠8
Illinois0–⁠82–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.