Big Ten season halfway finished: How have the Badgers fared?
By Jim Oxley
Jim Oxley photograph
Season so far
Following a non-conference schedule that went largely as expected for the Badgers (losing a tough season-opener to LSU before blowing out Western Illinois and Bowling Green, and doing enough to take down South Florida) Wisconsin headed into the Big Ten schedule looking to prove itself as a contender for the conference title.
Unfortunately for Wisconsin, they immediately hit a road block, losing the conference-opener at Northwestern, 20-14.
Despite a 259-yard performance from Melvin Gordon, Wisconsin struggled in the rain and turned the ball over multiple times on the way to the loss.
The Badgers quickly turned things around, reeling off three straight wins.
Melvin Gordon takes off down the field against USF. Jim Oxley photograph
First, Wisconsin took down Illinois at home, 38-28, although the score doesn’t truly reflect Wisconsin’s dominance.
The Badgers then welcomed the Maryland Terrapins and Rutgers Scarlet Knights to the Big Ten with a pair of routs, 52-7 and 37-0, respectively.
Wisconsin now sits at 6-2 overall, and is in a three-way tie for second in the Big Ten West with a 3-1 conference record (tied with Iowa and Minnesota). Nebraska has an extra conference matchup under its belt, and holds the top spot with in the west a 4-1 conference record.
Wisconsin’s play of late has put it back in the AP poll, taking the final spot at #25.