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Wisconsin suffered a heartbreaking loss in its last visit to Michigan, keeping the Badgers winless in Ann Arbor since 1994.
That would pale in comparison to what a loss this weekend would do.
Coming off an 83-point performance, sixth-ranked Wisconsin visits the Wolverines on Saturday looking to stay in the hunt for a Big Ten title.
The Badgers (9-1, 5-1) are in a three-way tie for first place with No. 8 Ohio State and No. 11 Michigan State. If all three win out, the team ranked highest in the BCS standings would win a Rose Bowl berth.
Wisconsin, which is looking to play in its first Rose Bowl since 2000, has won five in a row, including an 83-20 rout over Indiana last Saturday. However, it's lost its last five trips to Michigan Stadium, including a 27-25 defeat in 2008 when the Wolverines rallied from a 19-point deficit against the then-ninth-ranked Badgers, who are 6-21-1 all-time in Ann Arbor.
The Badgers, though, are feeling confident after their blowout victory over the Hoosiers. Scott Tolzien passed for 181 yards and three touchdowns while Montee Ball rushed for 167 yards and another three scores.
Despite missing John Clay, its leading rusher, Wisconsin ran for 338 yards and matched the highest scoring total by a team in a Big Ten conference game since Ohio State's 83-21 win over Iowa in 1950.
Clay was expected to get limited practice time again this week. He sprained his right knee in a win over Purdue on Nov. 6.
The Badgers depth, however, makes it easy for them to keep the ball moving even without Clay. Wisconsin has three players that have rushed for over 500 yards. James White, a freshman, is second with 714 yards and 11 touchdowns this season while Ball has 528 yards and nine touchdowns.
"I don't know if we'll have that three-headed thing this week because John I think won't be at full strength, but when that situation does pop up, whether it's the next game or in the bowl game opportunity, it's something you've got to be smart about when and how you use them," coach Bret Bielema said. "I think it's hard to get three guys in rhythm all the way through, but you can definitely go a strong two and the third one comes in when he's needed."
Wisconsin's defense, which has scored points off all seven turnovers it forced the last two games, will look to continue its improvement this weekend. The Badgers had seven turnovers in their first eight games.
Michigan (7-3, 3-3), meanwhile, is trying to finish the season strong. After a triple-overtime victory over Illinois, the Wolverines defeated Purdue 27-16 last Saturday despite finishing with their second-fewest yards this season.
Denard Robinson, who ranks second in the FBS with 340.7 yards of total offense per game, passed for 176 yards, but was held to 68 rushing while finishing with two fumbles and two interceptions. However, he put the game out of reach by setting up Stephen Hopkins 3-yard touchdown run with 1:58 remaining.
Robinson averaged 160.9 yards rushing and 7.8 yards per carry over the first eight games. In the last two, however, he's rushed for a total of 130 yards while averaging 3.2 per attempt.
"There's pretty good people he's playing against, but I don't think he's hit a wall," coach Rich Rodriguez said. "I just think he had some bad moments in the last game."
Robinson will be especially important if Wisconsin comes close to duplicating its offense from last weekend. Michigan at times has struggled to stop the run, giving up 182.7 yards per game on the ground against conference opponents.
The Wolverines, who can improve their bowl game destination if they can beat Wisconsin on Saturday and Ohio State next week, believe their defense will be able to stop the Badgers - at least from another record-setting performance.
Said cornerback James Rogers, "I guarantee they're not going to score 83 points on us."
