The Wisconsin Badgers are emerging from their bye week with the real conference season right in front of them.
Despite an early loss to Washington State in Week 2, Wisconsin is 1-0 in the Big Ten courtesy of their victory over Purdue before the bye. As the bye ends and Homecoming Week arrives, all ambitions are still on the table for Wisconsin, including a trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship in December.
However, despite being a month in, there’s still a lot we don’t know about this team in Luke Fickell’s first year. Let’s dive into the rest of the Big Ten schedule divided into tiers of difficulty, importance or both.
Tier 1 (Elite Opponent): Ohio State, Week 9
The Buckeyes, one of college football’s preeminent programs, get their own tier here.
Ohio State has owned the Badgers recently. They have won nine of the last 10 meetings, including a 52-21 drubbing in Columbus last year. Wisconsin does not have other Big Ten powers like Michigan or Penn State on the schedule, so this is the game of the year for the Badgers. They will be hosting OSU at Camp Randall Stadium for the first time since 2016.
Ohio State is 4-0 and ranked No. 4 in the country as of Week 6, coming off a critical road win against Notre Dame. Put simply, this game will be Fickell’s first litmus test of where the program is against elite competition.
Tier 2 (Rivalry): @ Minnesota Golden Gophers, Week 13
Minnesota couldn’t be ranked ahead of Ohio State in this list. But this rivalry game won’t be any easier than it normally is despite the Golden Gophers struggles so far this year.
The Badgers have failed to retain Paul Bunyan’s Axe the past two years. Wisconsin will have to travel to Minnesota this year, and looking at the schedule, this is still one of the most difficult games left on the Badgers’ calendar.
This is in spite of the fact Minnesota is off to a 3-2 start with a blowout loss to North Carolina and a defeat to lowly Northwestern. The Gophers are still a quality program and return quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, who threw for 319 yards and two touchdowns against Wisconsin last year.
Tier 3 (Competitive Big Ten Opponents): vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights, vs. Iowa Hawkeyes
Coincidentally the next two opponents on the schedule, these two games will tell us a lot about Wisconsin.
Rutgers, once a moribund program, is competitive once again under coach Greg Schiano. Rutgers is 4-1 with the one loss coming to No. 2 Michigan. The Scarlet Knights, to date, have only allowed 12.8 points per game, although they’ve only played two Big Ten games.
Following Rutgers is the Iowa Hawkeyes, who defeated Wisconsin 24-10 in Iowa City last year. The Hawkeyes, who are also 4-1, always boast a stout defense but don’t always match with a dynamic offense. Quarterback Cade McNamara was carted off in their victory over Michigan State, and former Badger Deacon Hill may be suiting up at Camp Randall in a couple weeks.
The Hawkeyes and Scarlet Knights won’t blow anyone away, but they are quality conference opponents that will test the Badgers.
Tier 4 (Struggling Conference Foes), @ Illinois, @ Indiana, vs. Northwestern, vs. Nebraska
This big tier illustrates that, besides Ohio State, Wisconsin has a manageable schedule ahead.
Everyone in this tier is currently 2-3. Illinois is coming off a 44-19 loss to Purdue and doesn’t have running back Chase Brown, who ran over the Badgers with 129 yards last season. Indiana needed four overtimes to beat the MAC Conference’s Akron and just lost 44-17 to Maryland.
Nebraska and Northwestern are both in transition in their first seasons with new head coaches. Nebraska is already using backup quarterback Heinrich Haarberg, who threw for only 199 yards in a 45-7 loss to Michigan. Northwestern is coming off a 1-11 season last year and is still emerging from a turbulent hazing scandal that saw long-time coach Pat Fitzgerald get fired late in the summer.
There are no “gimmes” in the Big Ten, but if Wisconsin has a successful season, they will need to win all of these games.
