Upon being anointed as Barry Alvarez?s successor in 2005, Bret Bielema set the bar high for his goals as the University of Wisconsin?s football coach.
“I think college football today, yeah, there (are) a lot of different teams that rise up year-to-year, but Wisconsin has stayed on top for a long period of time and it?s doing the right things consistently that will be able to make this program continue,” Bielema said at the time. “I hope to take it to a higher level as well.”
For the first time in his five seasons in Madison, Bielema has the Badgers in position to achieve that subjective and lofty status, though national title hopes are remote at best.