The Wisconsin Badgers need wins like the crops need the rain or humans need oxygen. After a five-win season followed by a four-win season, things are dire in Madison. Luke Fickell truly can't survive another disappointing season. So when he reads the ESPN Analytics game-by-game prediction of the Badgers' season, he will take it. As will Wisconsin Badger fans.
While ESPN Analytics doesn't give an exact prediction of a win or loss, it gives a prediction for each game based on the percentage of likelihood of winning. If Wisconsin wins every game in which they are the favorites (have the higher percentage), then the Badgers will finish with an 8-5 record. That alone will make a Badger fan smile; it's double the amount of wins Wisconsin had last season. But how they go about winning is also nice, especially that final game.
ESPN's game-by-game prediction of the Wisconsin Badgers schedule:
Week 1 - Wisconsin vs. Notre Dame: 93% win probability for Notre Dame
Week 2 - Wisconsin vs. Western Illinois: 99% win probability for Wisconsin
Week 3 - Wisconsin vs. Eastern Michigan: 94.7% win probability for Wisconsin
Week 4 - Wisconsin at Penn State: 80.3% win probability for Penn State
Week 5 - Wisconsin vs. Michigan State: 69.3% win probability for Wisconsin
Week 6 - Wisconsin at UCLA: 55.8% win probability for Wisconsin
Week 7 - Wisconsin vs. USC: 76.8% win probability for USC
Week 8 - Wisconsin vs. Iowa: 72.2% win probability for Iowa
Week 9 - Wisconsin vs. Rutgers: 70% win probability for Wisconsin
Week 10 - Wisconsin at Maryland: 53.8% win probability for Wisconsin
Week 11 - Wisconsin at Purdue: 61.3% win probability for Wisconsin
Week 12 - Wisconsin vs. Minnesota: 68.4% win probability for Wisconsin
Each week, these probabilities will change as teams start their schedule. Other variables may also change the probabilities. So each week, it will be interesting to open up the win probabilities as projected by ESPN.
For now, though, this has Wisconsin winning against Western Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA, Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue, and Minnesota. With a four-game win streak to end the season, and taking back the axe.
Related: Wisconsin fans have waited 2 seasons to see the Badgers disappear from this list
The losses would come against Notre Dame, Penn State, USC, and Iowa. No surprises from that list, and all of those would be teams most fans would expect to lose against. Can Wisconsin take down a Penn State team with a new head coach? Or Iowa at home? Maybe. You also never know if USC is going to live up to its talent level. However, eight wins would be a huge improvement and put the Badgers toward the top of the Big Ten, but not quite in the playoff hunt.
It would also be a sure bowl game for the Badgers and most likely a good one, a desirable one that fans would actually want to travel to. There's still a lot that has to happen, and college football is very unpredictable, but an eight-win season would be huge for the program.
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