1998 Wisconsin Badgers football team
The 1998 Wisconsin Badgers football team represented the University of Wisconsin during the 1998 NCAA Division I-A football season.
Wisconsin finished the regular season 10-1 overall and were co-champions of the Big Ten Conference for the first time since 1993. They were awarded the berth in the 1999 Rose Bowl due to Big Ten Conference tie-breaking rules, at the time, which gave the Rose Bowl invitation to the tied team which had gone the longest period of time without an invitation: Michigan had been in the 1998 Rose Bowl, Ohio State had been in the 1997 Rose Bowl, while Wisconsin's last Rose Bowl was 1994.
The circumstances of this selection, the fact that Ohio State was the higher-ranked team, combined with the fact that the opponent was ranked #2 and headed to the national title game before a season-ending loss, led to ridicule in the national media: most notably, Craig James' declaration that Wisconsin was "the worst team to ever play in the Rose Bowl." Wisconsin went on to defeat #6 UCLA 38-31 in the 1999 Rose Bowl. Afterward, Badger coach Barry Alvarez fired back, "Well, I know we're at least the second worst."
Schedule
Roster
Regular starters
| Position | Player |
| Quarterback | Mike Samuel |
| Running Back | Ron Dayne |
| Fullback | Cecil Martin |
| Wide Receiver | Chris Chambers |
| Wide Receiver | Ahmad Merritt |
| Tight End | Dague Retzlaff/Eric Grams |
| Left Tackle | Chris McIntosh |
| Left Guard | Bill Ferrario |
| Center | Casey Rabach |
| Right Guard | Dave Costa |
| Right Tackle | Aaron Gibson |
| Position | Player |
| Defensive End | Tom Burke |
| Defensive Tackle | Ross Kolodziej |
| Nose Guard | Eric Mahlik |
| Defensive End | John Favret |
| Outside Linebacker | Bob Adamov |
| Inside Linebacker | Donnel Thompson |
| Outside Linebacker | Chris Ghidorzi |
| Cornerback | Mike Echols |
| Free Safety | Jason Doering |
| Strong Safety | Leonard Taylor |
| Cornerback | Jamar Fletcher |
Game summaries
UCLA (Rose Bowl)
Individual awards and honors
- Tom Burke: All-America, Bill Willis Trophy, Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, All-Big Ten
- Aaron Gibson: All-America, All-Big Ten
- Ron Dayne: All-America, 1999 Rose Bowl player of the Game, All-Big Ten
- Matt Davenport: All-Big Ten
- Kevin Stemke: All-Big Ten
- Jamar Fletcher: All-Big Ten
- Casey Rabach: All-Big Ten
- Chris McIntosh:All-Big Ten
- Barry Alvarez: Big Ten Coach of the Year
[1999 NFL Draft]