It's fairly well known at this point that Wisconsin football will endure one of the toughest schedules in the country. With teams like Oregon, Michigan, Ohio State and Alabama all on the docket, the Badgers will likely be underdogs in over half of their games this season. Other teams seem to still be treating Wisconsin as a huge hurdle, though, and Alabama's Kalen DeBoer hinted at SEC Media Days that they won't be taking the Badgers lightly.
"I know there's a lot of pros when it comes to strength of schedule," said DeBoer. "I'm all for that. You look at our schedule this year, again, that was built out years back as well, but we're playing Florida State, Wisconsin, one away, one at home. We're all about playing as many high-end games that you can possibly play."
Does Alabama actually consider Wisconsin a legitimate threat?
While Wisconsin will probably enter the matchup with Alabama as double-digit underdogs, DeBoer isn't taking any chances against the 'high-end' Badgers. And true, neither Florida State or Wisconsin are the same teams as a few years ago, but with the playoff margins so slim, any little slip could derail an entire season. However, DeBoer may have some ulterior motives for pumping up the Badgers to the media.
With Wisconsin's over/under sitting at 5.5 games, DeBoer is probably hoping the Badgers can eek out a few more wins (except over the Tide) so he can proudly display his strength of schedule to the committee. Unless Wisconsin can make a bowl game, a win against a team with a losing record won't do much to help Alabama's playoff dreams. The Badgers will take on the Tide on September 13th in Tuscaloosa.