Top 10 again

The Badgers quietly moved into the AP top 10 after beating Marshall last week, and moved up to #8 after beating Fresno State. It really wasn't all that unexpected, given that we started ranked in the top 15 and the frequency with which highly-ranked teams lose in college football nowadays.

But consider this: that's three years in a row now that we've cracked the top 10, and four of the last five.

So here's my question: can Wisconsin be called a perennial top 10 team? Probably not, because in only one of those seasons has UW finished in the top 10, this season pending. But it's still pretty cool to get there on a regular basis.

By my count, Wisconsin has reached the AP top 10 in 20 seasons in its history, with nine of those seasons coming since 1993. From 1958 through 1963 the Badgers reached that part of the rankings four times, and ascended to #11 and #13 in the other two seasons (that's Ron Vander Kelen, quarterback of the 1962 Rose Bowl team, above). That could arguably be the best run in school history.

Overall, including this week Wisconsin has been ranked in the top 10 in 111 weekly polls, with 48 of those coming in the last 15 seasons. It should be noted that modern day polls appear to be published more frequently than they did in the '50s and '60s. Here is the breakdown:

Season Weeks in top 10
1942 8
1947 1
1951 5
1952 4
1953 1
1954 9
1955 2
1958 9
1959 10
1962 7
1963 7
1993 4
1994 3
1998 9
1999 10
2000 4
2004 6
2006 4
2007 6
2008 2

Trivia question: what is the only season since 1993 in which Wisconsin hasn't cracked the AP top 25?