Wisconsin Football: Sorry Not Sorry About National Ranking

Sorry not sorry about where Wisconsin football sits in the national college football polls.

After a listless performance against Illinois, particularly on offense, Badger detractors got some new ammunition.  To those folks all I can be bothered to muster is a “sorry not sorry.”

The Badgers are one of a handful of undefeated teams in college football.  So sorry not sorry that they’re worthy of a high ranking.

Wisconsin muddled its way to a comfortable enough win over Illinois on Saturday.  But it didn’t win over many new believers in the process.

Wisconsin Badgers Football

No matter, because Wisconsin sits at #4 in both the Associated Press (AP) and Coaches Poll.  The Badgers moved up one spot in each poll after Penn State and TCU fell from the ranks of the unbeaten.

The Badgers are narrowly (two ranking points) ahead of Notre Dame in the AP Poll.  They’re 76 points behind big riser #3 The Ohio State (+3) in the AP Poll.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin is comfortably ahead of #5 Clemson in the Coaches Poll.  But just eight points behind the #3 Buckeyes in the Coaches Poll.

Interestingly, AP voters love Notre Dame vaulting the Irish up four spots to #5.  However, the Coaches Poll electorate is less sanguine, placing the golden domers just #8.  Independent Notre Dame still has road games left with #9 Miami and #20 Stanford.

At the moment the top spots are #1 Alabama and #2 Georgia who are destined to meet in the SEC Championship game.  Meanwhile, Wisconsin and The Ohio State are on track to meet in the Big Ten finale.  So those could be elimination games potentially giving room for Notre Dame should it finish the season with just the lone loss (by one point) to Georgia.

As for Wisconsin, Michigan is the only ranked team on the 2017 schedule. The Wolverines are not ranked in the AP Poll and are #24 in the Coaches Poll.  But in a down year, the SEC road isn’t as difficult as you might expect for Alabama and Georgia.

The Bulldogs won on the road against Notre Dame.  Alabama’s best win is probably Florida State and you tell me how that one’s aged.  Of course both the Tide and Bulldogs are great teams.  But lets not kid ourselves and pretend that Wisconsin’s on an island with an underwhelming slate.

There are five undefeated teams in college football.  Wisconsin is one of them.  You can only beat whose on the schedule.  Lost in the dismal offense, is how consistently impenetrable the defense plays each week.

I get that Wisconsin’s recent results against Purdue and Illinois aren’t inspiring.  But dropping an undefeated team for not covering the spread seems like a punitive polling approach.

Next: Garrett Groshek Will Be Key

No question the Badgers will plummet if it loses.  I’d even accept Notre Dame ahead of the Badgers right now.  But putting them much farther down the ranks would not square with final results.