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Former Wisconsin Badger is honorable mention in ranking of Top 25 college football head coaches of 2000s

The Athletic ranked the Top 25 college football head coaches of the 2000s, and a former leader of the Wisconsin Badgers made it as an honorable mention.
Lorin Cox|
Nov 17, 2012; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Bret Bielema motions to his team as they play the Ohio State Buckeyes at Camp Randall Stadium. Ohio State defeated Wisconsin in overtime 21-14.
Nov 17, 2012; Madison, WI, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Bret Bielema motions to his team as they play the Ohio State Buckeyes at Camp Randall Stadium. Ohio State defeated Wisconsin in overtime 21-14. | Mary Langenfeld-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

The Wisconsin Badgers haven't had any all-time greats at head coach since Barry Alvarez, but their consistent run over the last few decades deserves some amount of recognition.

None of their coaches made it into The Athletic's ranking of the Top 25 college football head coaches, but one of them earned a spot as an honorable mention.

Bret Bielema is getting a lot of praise for the work he's done turning around the Illinois program right now, but his credit on this list is more for his 68–24 as Wisconsin head coach.

He led the Badgers to nine or more wins in five of his seven seasons running the show, culminating in three-straight trips to the Rose Bowl before he left for Arkansas.

Bielema's time with the Razorbacks was a bit more of a disappointment, but he has repaired some of his reputation with a 10-win season for the Illini.

No one is going to mistake him for a Top 10 coach with the likes of Nick Saban and Kirby Smart, but his success at multiple stops at least earned him some small recognition of jobs well done.

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Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

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