<p>When it comes to campus vibe, beauty and environment and quality of college town, Michigan/Ann Arbor and Wisconsin/Madison are at the top of the heap. Some prefer Ann Arbor because it is quainter and more collegiate, while others prefer Madison because it is livelier and larger. You cannot go wrong either way. In my opinion, they are both among the very best college towns in the world. </p>
<p>When it comes to Football, Wisconsin has been more consistant this past decade. While Michigan’s better seasons this past decade have arguably been better than Wisconsin’s, our 3-9 and 5-7 seasons in 2008 and 2009 were truly atrocious. Michigan has also played Wisconsin 6 times in the past decade and has won 4 of those meetings, including a couple of wins by 20+ points in 2009 (45-24 in Madison) and 2010 (48-28 in Ann Arbor). However, Wisconsin has not had worse than a 7-6 season in the past decade. Overall, I think Wisconsin’s consistency trumps Michigan’s better seasons. I give the slight edge to Wisconsin in the last decade, but it is truly negligible. However, in the last two years, Michigan has the edge over Wisconsin, and the recruiting edge is clearly on Michigan’s corner.</p>
<p>In Basketball, Wisconsin has been stronger in the past decade. Michigan was a non-entity from 2003 until 2010. However, in 2011 and 2012, Michigan has been slightly stronger than Wisconsin and recruiting again favors Michigan in the long term.</p>
<p>Bottom line, choosing Wisconsin over Michigan if one so wishes is perfectly reasonable. Few universities can match Wisconsin all around, especially when you factor in cost of attendance.</p>