College Football Playoff: Wisconsin Badgers legit contenders?

College football playoff berths are not made in June, but it is fun to discuss this early who could be contenders and who could be pretenders. Coming off a victory in the Cotton Bowl and an 11-3 record, are the Wisconsin Badgers legit contenders for the college football playoff in 2017?

Wisconsin flirted with a college football playoff berth last year. They started 2016 by taking down LSU and then Michigan State on the road a few weeks later. Two close losses to Ohio State at home and Michigan on the road could have derailed this team. But they battled back to win at Iowa and then at home against Nebraska to launch them into November.

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Late in the season saw Wisconsin getting some attention to sneak into the college football playoff. That came to a screeching halt when they blew a big lead in the Big Ten championship game to fall to Penn State before defeating Western Michigan in the Cotton Bowl.

But that was last year. We’re fast approaching the 2017 season. So are the Badgers contenders or pretenders? Let’s take a look at their out of conference and Big Ten schedules to get a glimpse into the answer to this question.

NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:

This is a little more interesting than some may believe. They should get past Utah State to open the season relatively easily. They then face Florida Atlantic and new head coach Lane Kiffin. Who knows what kind of wild card that may bring, but the Badgers should get past that one easily as well.

The interesting game is when they travel to Provo, UT to take on BYU. The Cougars, who went 9-4 last season, play very well at home. It will be a great test for Wisconsin before they head into their bye and begin Big Ten play.

A loss to BYU might not spell the end of Wisconsin’s playoff hopes, but they would have to play perfect in the conference season. Go perfect in non-conference and they set themselves up nicely with plenty of confidence into the bye before the conference schedule.

BIG TEN SCHEDULE:

Unlike last year, this year’s conference schedule looks to be more favorable. After what will most-likely be a hard-fought battle at home with Northwestern and on the road with Nebraska, the Badgers get a little relief. Two home games with Purdue and Maryland, followed by two road tilts with Illinois and Indiana in the middle of the season should give Wisconsin plenty of momentum down the stretch.

Iowa and Michigan at home, the battle for the axe at Minnesota round out Wisconsin’s Big Ten schedule.

Easy? Not by any means, nothing in the Big Ten is. But it is compared to the gauntlet they ran through last year. The first two games will provide an early season test, but the four that follow should provide a nice relief. Wisconsin’s last three games-Iowa, Michigan, at Minnesota-could give the Badgers fits.

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I don’t forsee Wisconsin going undefeated this season. If they come out of the season with just one loss to Nebraska on the road or Michigan at home and I think they still have an outside shot on the playoff. A loss to any other team, or even two losses on the season, and Wisconsin’s chances go down to slim-to-none.