A win is a win is a win. At this time, what is the overall likelihood that the lowly Wisconsin Badgers win another game this season? They dropped what was without question the easiest game on their Big Ten schedule this year in disastrous fashion vs. the Maryland Terrapins last week. While this team could have a come to Jesus moment during the bye week, Luke Fickell is not the one to reignite it.
That being said, there is a chance that athletic director Chris McIntosh somehow gives Fickell the benefit of the doubt this season. Wisconsin had one of the hardest schedules in the Big Ten coming in, and it not getting any easier for the Badgers are their awful Terrapins defeat. Of their six remaining opponents, there is a decent possibility that six of them could be ranked at the time of their meeting.
For those who need a bit of a refresher, here is the remaining schedule for Wisconsin this season.
Date | Opponent | Location |
|---|---|---|
Sept. 27 | Bye | |
Oct. 4 | at Michigan Wolverines | Ann Arbor, MI |
Oct. 11 | Iowa Hawkeyes | Madison, WI |
Oct. 18 | Ohio State Buckeyes | Madison, WI |
Oct. 25 | at Oregon Ducks | Eugene, OR |
Nov. 1 | Bye | |
Nov. 8 | Washington Huskies | Madison, WI |
Nov. 15 | at Indiana Hoosiers | Bloomington, IN |
Nov. 22 | Illinois Fighting Illini | Madison, WI |
Nov. 29 | at Minnesota Golden Gophers | Minneapolis, MN |
Truth be told, after losing what was their easiest remaining game on the schedule last week, it is hard to visualize where Wisconsin could pick up even one conference win, much less the four required to achieve bowl eligibility with a 6-6 (4-5) mark. Right now, Iowa and Minnesota look like the worst teams left on Wisconsin's schedule. That is because the other six are buzz saws. Could they get some relief?
So in an ideal world, Wisconsin would do anything in its power to swap in any of these teams instead.
5. Michigan State Spartans
This is not meant to disparage Jonathan Smith, Aidan Chiles or anyone associated with the Michigan State Spartans football program. The reason they come in fifth here, and not one of the three teams who will not be mentioned in this exercise, has everything to do with the unproven factor in East Lansing. Michigan State was in a terrible spot after the Mel Tucker scandal. It is still not back to good.
If the Badgers had to go head-to-head with the Spartans, Michigan State would be favored every day and twice on Saturday, no matter the venue. However, this is a team that has not quite fully built up its confidence under this new regime. Year three under Smith might be the pop year for the Spartans. In truth, if it does not happen next year, it might not ever. Michigan State does not want to be Wisconsin.
Swapping in Michigan State over literally anyone on Wisconsin's schedule would be an improvement.
4. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
This might be a growing trend here, but having the Rutgers Scarlet Knights listed fourth year is not mean to be a slight on their iconic head coach Greg Schiano. Nobody knows how to win in Piscataway quite like Schiano. Even in down years for the program, the Scarlet Knights always have a strong identity built around defense and veteran leadership. Offensively, this program gets stuck in neutral.
The reason drawing Rutgers in this hypothetical would be easier than Michigan State has everything to do with the Spartans' potential offensive prowess. Trusing Jonathan Smith to figure it out with Aidan Chiles is far more likely to happen than to see Schiano drew up a phenomenal offensive play call in the dirt. If this was a low-scoring game, Wisconsin would have a chance, but not by very much.
Special teams errors and defensive backfield lapses are why Rutgers would win in most simulations.
3. Purdue Boilermakers
The Purdue Boilermakers are the first potential Big Ten opponent Wisconsin might actually have a chance at beating. This has everything to do with how Ryan Walters left the program in shambles after taking over for Jeff Brohm not that long ago. The bad news for the Badgers in this matchup is Barry Odom might run laps around Luke Fickell, especially if this game were over in West Lafayette.
If Wisconsin were to host Purdue, the Badgers might actually have a good chance in this game. It would be the ultimate litmus test game for Wisconsin. If Fickell cannot beat a rebuilding Boilermakers team in Camp Randall during Odom's first season on the job, he is never going to. So for that reason, Purdue is more likely to win a game on the road in Madison than Wisconsin would in West Lafayette.
Purdue is not a good team, but the Boilermakers are already much-improved under Odom's watch.
2. Northwestern Wildcats
Here is the first of two games where if Fickell were to lose it, he should be fired on the field like Bret Bielema at Arkansas, or on the tarmac like Lane Kiffin at USC. In time, the Northwestern Wildcats may return to relative glory under a new regime. Unfortunately, David Braun has been sold a bill of goods while Ryan Field gets renovated. The program is in awful shape years after the Pat Fitzgerald scandal.
Northwestern is one of only two or three Big Ten teams who has a chance to be worse than Wisconsin this year, barring some major changes coming out of the bye for the Badgers. All signs point to them potentially hiring a new head coach once they re-open their renovated football cathedral. For now, Northwestern is the Big Ten's most remote outpost, outside of its biggest city...
If Northwestern was on Wisconsin's schedule, the Badgers' odds of going bowling would skyrocket.
1. UCLA Bruins
The sissy blue shirts vs. the saddest "Jump Around" of all time. UCLA might not win a game this season. The Bruins are 0-3 on the season and have already fired one of their own in DeShaun Foster before they even played a league game this year. The Pac-12 newcomer who had a shot to become West Coast Wisconsin is doing far too good of an impression we ever expected. They both are horrid!
The funniest part in all this is somebody is winning a game on Saturday in a glorified high school stadium situated on the Banks of Lake Michigan in Evanston between the Bruins and Northwestern. Wisconsin should be able to beat both of those teams. The problem is they are not going to play each other this year. UCLA might want to hire Tony White right now, but the Bruins will have to wait a while.
UCLA could be seven games worse than what most people expected they would be this season.