Badger of Honor
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Wisconsin Football: Grading the difficulty of the Badgers’ 2017 schedule

By Trevor Jossart

Oct 1, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Wilton Speight (3) drops back to pass in the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium. Michigan won 14-7. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines quarterback Wilton Speight (3) drops back to pass in the second half against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium. Michigan won 14-7. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Saturday, November 18: vs. Michigan

Difficulty: 8

The Michigan Wolverines were snubbed, if you want to call it that, out of the College Football Playoff a year ago and then saw many of their top contributors leave for the NFL. In fact, Michigan edged out Alabama for the most players draft in this past week’s NFL Draft, with 11 players overall selected- two in the first round.

Fortunately for Michigan, a program like that with a head coach like Jim Harbaugh does not have to worry about going through rebuilding phases often, but more so just reloading.

The Badgers gave the Wolverines a run for their money last year in Ann Arbor, going neck and neck with the Maize and Blue and losing 14-7. If there was ever a thing as a moral victory, a seven-point loss on the road to a top five team while being a double digit underdog has got to count as that.

Oct 1, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines running back Chris Evans (12)rushes in the first quarter against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 1, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines running back Chris Evans (12)rushes in the first quarter against the Wisconsin Badgers at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

Michigan enters the 2017 season with the No. 5 overall recruiting class and will return their starting quarterback Wilton Speight as they begin their quest to get into the College Football Playoff and compete for a national title.

The Wolverines lost a lot of major contributors on defense, including Jabrill Peppers, Taco Charlton, and Jourdan Lewis to name a few. Hopefully a much more inexperienced Michigan defense, paired with an improved Badgers offense can amount to more than seven points this time around.

The good news for the Badgers is that this game will take place as the second-to-last game of the year for both teams, meaning the Wolverines could potentially be overlooking the Badgers as they will await a date with the Ohio State Buckeyes in the regular season finale the following week.

Either way Wisconsin will have their hands full, but this time they will have the benefit of being at home. As fans, we can only hope this is a night game.