Trying to keep it normal after unexpected tragedy, Bielema preps for bama

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The first time Bielema faced a No. 1 team as a head coach, he treated it like a special occasion. "We threw two fake punts," Bielema says of the 2007 matchup between Wisconsin and Ohio State. The Buckeyes entered the game atop the polls and 9–0. They left 10–0. Bielema's Badgers trailed only by a touchdown late in the fourth, but the dam broke and the Buckeyes rolled to a 38–17 win.

Sitting in his office earlier this week with another No. 1 team on the docket, Bielema thinks back to that loss. He had assumed he needed to pull out every stop to topple the Big Ten's big shot. That desperation rubbed off on his players, too. "You're not going to win that game," Bielema says. Ten-plus seasons as a head coach have taught him that even if you're coaching David, you can't make Goliath even bigger than he already is. That's why Wisconsin prepared for Ohio State in 2010 the way the Badgers had prepared for Minnesota the week earlier. And when the No. 1 Buckeyes came to Camp Randall Stadium, the Badgers beat them 31–18 in Bielema's fourth crack at Ohio State.

Saturday, Bielema will get his fourth crack at Alabama. He has spent the entire week preaching that his players must prepare as they did for TCU or for Alcorn State. The only way to beat the Crimson Tide, Bielema surmises, is to become the type of team that prepares as if it's facing the nation's top-ranked team every week.

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While at the restaurant, Bret Bielema's phone buzzed. He looked down. It was Marty Ragnow, the mother of Hogs' center Frank Ragnow. He pressed Ignore, figuring she would leave a message if the matter was important enough. Less than a minute later, Bielema's phone buzzed again. Marty Ragnow. He figured it had to be urgent, so he answered. On the other end of the call, Marty said Frank's father Jon had just died of a heart attack. Could Bret find Frank and be with him when Marty delivered the news?

Bielema immediately called Arkansas offensive tackle Dan Skipper, one of Ragnow's best friends on the team. Skipper's fiancée is close to Ragnow's girlfriend. Bielema kept trying to build a support system as quickly as he could. He dialed Arkansas quarterback Austin Allen and told him to round up the rest of Ragnow's best friends on the team. They would all meet at Bielema's office. Bielema then called Ragnow and told him he needed to see him in his office. While Bret waited outside the building, Jen unlocked her husband's office and ushered the other players inside. They sat on the leather couches and waited to hug their teammate.

Ragnow rode up to the football complex on his scooter, smiling. Bielema ushered the 319-pound junior into the building and dialed a number. "Two things," Bielema remembers telling Ragnow. "First, I love you. Second, here's your mom."

Bielema's voice cracks when he reaches that part of the story. He choked up Monday discussing it at his weekly press conference even though he'd spent the previous two hours trying to convince his body to leave the tears inside.

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