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** 2017 Opponent Previews: Wisconsin (Game 6) **


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CollegeFootballNews: Is Wisconsin Finally National Title Good?

 

Stanford is close in the discussion, and Boise State has enjoyed crazy success at a smaller level, but for more than two decades, no one has been a run like Wisconsin has, but with nothing massive to show for it at the highest of high levels.

Ever since Barry Alvarez took one of the nation’s worst college football teams and turned it into a 1993 Big Ten champ and Rose Bowl winner, it’s been a remarkable era of consistent success, now going into the 25th season since turning the corner.

In that time, UW has been won six Big Ten titles, with six Rose Bowls in the 22 bowl appearances for a program that went bowling just six times before Alvarez.

Without a slew of big-star recruits, Wisconsin has created a dominant, unrelenting system and style that can’t seem to be duplicated anywhere else, with a machine that’s taken on a life of its own.

 

http://collegefootballnews.com/2017/preview-2017-is-wisconsin-the-best-program-with-no-national-title

 

2017 Wisconsin Preview: What You Need To Know

2017 Wisconsin Schedule Breakdown & Analysis

 

HuskerOnline: Spring opponent Preview - Wisconsin

 

The Wisconsin Badgers entered the spring fresh off an 11 win season and capped things off with an impressive victory over undefeated Western Michigan in the Cotton Bowl. We continue our post spring look at Nebraska's opponents by providing a full run down of the Badgers. They will come to Lincoln on Oct. 7 in a key Big Ten West showdown. HOL caught up with BadgerBlitz.com's John Veldhuis to get his take on Wisconsin coming out of the spring.

 

Overall 2017 win-loss expectation

"I think it kind of depends on how optimistic you are about the team in general. Their schedule is much more forgiving in large part, because they don't open up this year against an SEC heavyweight like LSU or Alabama, like they have over the last three years or so. You also don't have to play Ohio State or Penn State in the regular season. They do have Michigan on the schedule, but they come to Camp Randall for the first time since 2009.

 

"The Michigan game, along with the Nebraska game are probably their two make or break games as far as how far they go as what their overall win total looks like. I think they should probably get to 10 wins this season, and if they are living up to what I think they can be based on what I've seen in the spring, I could easily see an 11-win regular season.

 

"Really if they win that Nebraska game, they could be one of those teams that's angling for a spot maybe in the college football playoff when Michigan comes to town. If they win that Nebraska game in Lincoln, all sorts of doors open for them as along as they take care of the rest of their business. I think it's going to be a really interesting season for the Badgers this year. I'm really interested to see where it all goes."

 

https://nebraska.rivals.com/news/spring-opponent-review-wisconsin

 

 

SBNation: The 2017 Badgers might be the most Wisconsin football team ever

Another 10-win season and Big Ten West title, all powered by in-house strength? If Wisconsin answers a couple questions, the goal could be even higher.

 

When Alabama wins, it’s with a suffocating defense and an offense that has reacted to trends, from Bear Bryant adopting the Wishbone in the 1970s to Nick Saban tinkering with the spread in the 2010s.

When Florida State wins, it’s with the most recent version of the pro-style offense, a prolific quarterback, and a terrifying stable of receivers and defensive backs.

When Wisconsin wins, it’s with big people.

There are two steps in staking out a recruiting strategy:

  1. Figure out if you can land blue-chippers.
  2. If you can’t, figure out who you can get.
When Alvarez was named head coach at Wisconsin nearly 30 years ago, he figured out that blue-chippers were only going to be so much of an option — good luck attracting a kid to that climate when he’s got offers from everywhere else in the country — but that he could land all the strong guys he wanted if he developed the right relationships in-state. He could go out of state to find workhorse running backs and speed guys on the perimeter, and he could build a style that relied on physical play. It wouldn’t always work, but it usually would...

 

Projected 2017 record and S&P+ ranking: 10-2 (11th)

Biggest strength: The defense has ranked in the Def. S&P+ top 10 for two straight years and boasts more senior leadership than almost any unit in the country.

Biggest question mark: Is this the year the Wisconsin run game looks the part again? The Badgers have been un-Badger-like the last couple of years and must replace backs Corey Clement and Dare Ogunbowale.

Biggest 2017 game: S&P+ gives Wisconsin at least a 71 percent chance of winning in 11 of 12 games. That makes the 12th — Michigan at home (Nov. 18), 53 percent chance of winning — pretty big, yeah?

Summary: If Wisconsin maintains focus again, an 11-1 or 12-0 season is on the table for the physical Badgers. But with inexperience at quarterback and defensive coordinator, that will be easier said than done.

 

https://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2017/7/3/15905022/wisconsin-football-2017-preview-schedule-roster

 

 

More to come...

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Should be a good game. Especially since it's in Lincoln. Playing in Madison is brutal for a visiting team. Camp Randall has to be one of the toughest places to play in the nation. But in Lincoln it's a different story for us. I think we have a decent shot of beating these guys on our home turf.

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Had them on the ropes the past two years. Couldn't get a defensive stop after Jano's TD in 2015 at home. Last year in overtime, they blew the extra point. And the Huskers still blew a golden opportunity in Madison.

 

At what point do you turn the corner against them? Going into this season, I have high hopes it happens this year. Granted, a lot can happen between now and the kickoff between these teams. But if the Huskers are playing pretty good football by then, a victory over the Badgers has to happen.

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