College football: 25 biggest what-ifs of the 2010s

College football: 2010s biggest what-ifs: 14. Wisconsin gets their date with destiny

Wisconsin was having themselves a magical run.

The 2011 college football season saw them reel off six straight victories in blowout fashion to start the year. Not only were they dominating, but they were doing so against great competition. Even Nebraska, ranked number 8 in the country at the time, were little to no match for Wisconsin, losing by 31 points.

Heading into their showdown against Michigan State, much of the same was expected. That is, until they flipped the script.

Tied at 31 apiece with only a few seconds left in regulation, Michigan State quarterback, Kirk Cousins, flung the ball down the field and simply hoped that someone on his team came down with the ball. Luckily for him, that’s exactly what happened. The question from there becomes a simple one, what would’ve happened if Wisconsin pulled out the win?

Shortly after picking up the first loss of the season, Wisconsin lost again, this time against Ohio State. They would close out the year with a loss against Oregon as well.

The first loss for Wisconsin demoralized them and they were unable to stop the bleeding. Before then, Wisconsin was firmly in the drivers for a trip to the BCS National Title game as they ranked as high as number 4 in the country.

If that perfectly thrown ball by Cousins simply fell short, there’s a good chance that Wisconsin would’ve kept their winning train rolling and quite possibly, would’ve sealed a trip to the biggest game of the year.