MADISON, WIS. – In a recent interview with the UW Colony, midfielder
Charlie Crockford was asked what game he was looking forward to playing most this season. Crockford's answer was quick,
"Indiana, my dad played there."
It's a game that Charlie and his brother/teammate, Nate, have been anticipating for a long time.
"Charlie and I were both excited to go play in Bloomington because of our family ties and knowing a lot of people within their program," Nate said.
Prior to this season, Nate and Charlie had played out west for the UCLA Bruins, where an October, 2022 game against Rutgers was their only battle against a Big Ten foe.
A transfer to Wisconsin for the 2023 season gave Nate and Charlie their chance to play the conference rival, in a matchup that'll take place this Friday in Bloomington.
"At UCLA we didn't think much of the matchup because of the whole Big Ten move, and we didn't know if they would be on the schedule," Nate explained.
"We would have been excited to play them at UCLA, but are even more excited to play them as Badgers."
Of course, it's only fitting that the twins' father, Brian, also played with his own brother, Jim. At Indiana. The brothers played most of their careers independent from each other, Jim from 1986-90, and Brian from 1990-93, making them teammates for the 1990 season. Jim was a part of the 1988 Hoosiers squad that won the national championship.
"This is great," Jim exclaimed in anticipation for the upcoming matchup.
"We were Crockfords long before we were Hoosiers!"
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Hoosier Jim Crockford makes the tackle                                                #15, Brian Crockford
Wisconsin has only beaten Indiana five times in program history. Two of those instances occurred during Brian's time with the team. The first came in 1991, when Wisconsin was one of the Hoosiers' three losses in a season where IU would go on to the NCAA tournament semifinals.
The second was an even more devastating blow. Brian's 1993 senior campaign saw the Hoosier's go 16-1-1 in the regular season, sweeping their conference opponents. Their success guided them to the second round of the NCAA tournament, where they faced Wisconsin, an opponent they beat 5-1 in the regular season. Wisconsin, however, rebounded this time around, shutting out Indiana on their home field in a 1-0 victory. It was Brian's last ever game as a Hoosier.
"It's somewhat ironic that my dad's career ended against Wisconsin and now he gets to see us play for the Badgers against his former team," Nate said.
To this day, Brian's 1993 Hoosier team is the only one to ever lose to Wisconsin at home. The Badger's have gone 0-24-3 in all other games in Bloomington.
The two teams' upcoming matchup though is shaping up to be an even bout. Both teams have similar records (UW: 3-2-1, IU: 2-2-1), and both teams have been ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Poll this season, with Indiana currently ranked No. 23.
In a recent interview about their sibling and teammate relationship, Charlie talked about his father's side of the family being in attendance for the game.
"It'll be really fun to share the same field that my dad played on."
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"Obviously it's a great program, so it should be a great game, and it's definitely more personal for us seeing that both our uncle and dad played for IU," Nate added.
Brian, who has his foot in both camps, made his rooting interests clear.
"Always going to be a Hoosier football and basketball fan, and when not playing my sons, Hoosier soccer will always be tops. But on this night, blood rules!"
Wisconsin and Indiana's match takes place Friday, Sept. 15, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. CT. The game can be streamed on the B1G+ app, and the bigtenplus.com website.
