badgers007

With early playing time sounding like a factor, I wouldn't doubt if Bryce Benhart ends up at Nebraska or Michigan. Wisconsin may not offer the luxury of immediate snaps. They're known for RS OL and all of their starters this year, for example, took RS as Freshmen. No doubt the Badgers would love this kid, but should Benhart choose elsewhere, Wisconsin still has three four-stars and one five-star, currently, committed in 2019 and 2020.

Committed to Wisconsin on 9/8. Wisconsin has two nice pieces to build around in 2020 between Trey Wedig and Jack Nelson.

Danny Davis cleared to return vs. BYU. Big news for the passing game. Doubt you'll ever see Quintez Cephus back in a Wisconsin uniform, though. He's set to stand trial.

Wisconsin has been doing what it can to improve it's OOC schedule this decade and beyond. It's not perfect, but an improvement. LSU in 2014 and 2016 Alabama in 2015 BYU in 2017 and 2018 BYU was coming off six 10+ win seasons in seven years when this series was scheduled. Notre Dame in 2020 and 2021 Washington State in 2022 and 2023 Virginia Tech in 2024 and 2025 Pitt in 2026 and 2027 UCLA in 2029 and 2030

Dontye Carriere-Williams (DCW) has left the Wisconsin program. Started five games last year when Wisconsin went to the 2-4-5. DCW was a presumed starter at CB all off-season until Fall Camp when it was announced that he would be running with the second-team and that showed on the Week 1 depth chart. This had always been a possibility, and concern, because Jim Leonhard told the media that he needed to see consistency and hard work from his secondary. Unfortunately, it was clear who he was alluding to because it was a near-exact quote he had about DCW last Fall Camp. In addition, Evan Flood said DCW had issues with other coaches, not named Leonhard or Paul Chryst, and it was clear that those relationships would not be repaired. One of his teammates tweeted out a photo a couple weeks ago with a caption saying, "If you're afraid of competition, this isn't the place for you..." One wonders if this was in reference to DCW, too. In any case, this was best for all parties. DCW was unhappy about his role and didn't want to be in Madison. The last thing an inexperienced, talented group of CBs need is a disgruntled teammate.

Think Wisconsin can begin to make plans of going through this season without Quintez Cephus. Though Cephus made a strong statement, on Twitter, proclaiming his innocence, a three-month initial investigation has led to formal sexual assault charges. Per UW policy, he will be automatically-suspended. Innocent or not, I'd be shocked if this is resolved before end of season. From a football perspective, Cephus is Wisconsin's best receiver, but Wisconsin already went through a half-season without him in 2017 and knocked-off a couple Top 15 opponents + Iowa during that time. WR is a deep position in Madison with Danny Davis, A.J. Taylor and Kendric Pryor all playing key roles last season. Although Cephus is a player that elevates this unit from good-to-great, this is still a capable, Top 10 team --- just don't think it's as good as their No. 4 AP ranking suggests. No. 6 or No. 7 seems fair.

Sure, but that wasn't the implication of the post I quoted.

How can playing @Michigan and @Penn State be perceived as weak?

Why would any Wisconsin fan be sad about that? Consecutive Top-10 finishes, 34-7 (22-4) record, three NY6 wins, and 10 NFL Draft picks. Seems pretty OK and only going up.

Don't think much points to Wisconsin going anywhere. Under Paul Chryst, only Ohio State's speed has caused issue for Wisconsin. Don't think Nebraska is there.

Don't know how Nebraska and Northwestern fare @ Iowa, but Wisconsin has won its last four in Kinnick. Of course, Wisconsin was ranked No. 10, No. 13, No. 16, and No. 24 for those wins and weren't, necessarily, National Championship contenders. That seems to be Iowa's calling when a Top-5 team comes into Kinnick.

Think it can go a number of ways, but Ohio State deserves some benefit of the doubt without Urban Meyer. They ran through the B1G for much of the century. Jim Tressel finished outside the Top-5 just three times as head coach, one of those times still being in the Top-10.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/wisconsins-admission-standards-pushed-gary-andersen-to-oregon-st/

I see this, or something similar, said quite a bit without much substance to the claim. In what ways has Barry Alvarez ‘meddled and micromanaged’ Paul Chryst?

The top NFL prospect on Wisconsin’s OL, David Edwards, played QB in HS and came to school as a TE.

No decision has been made, obviously, but Kyle said a family source informed him that Wisconsin leads.

"Starters" is relative when it comes to the Wisconsin defense, especially along the front seven. Wisconsin does so much shuffling that these kids have no shortage of meaningful game experience. Couple quick examples: Andrew Van Ginkel did not start a single game in 2017, but he was the Badgers' best OLB by the end of the season. Many opposing fans are so used to hearing about the Wisconsin 3-4 that they don't realize that Jim Leonhard used a 2-4-5 base in a number of games. This allowed Dontye Carriere-Williams, the No. 3 CB, to start five games last season. He is not counted in these "starters" numbers. Since Dave Aranda came to Wisconsin 2013, and he has been one of three DCs in that time, Wisconsin has not finished outside of the top seven in Total Defense. This may be the year that streak ends, but Wisconsin has shown the ability to put together a good defense + has the luxury of an experienced offense that is as good as any controlling the clock.

Six Wisconsin LBs have been drafted in the last five NFL Draft classes, which dates back to 2013.

Forgot Leon Jacobs (2018). He played OLB at Wisconsin, so that'll make seven. Since Wisconsin moved to the 3-4 in 2013, six Wisconsin LBs have been drafted.

A bit unfair, in my opinion. Whether it be an Offensive Coordinator or Head Coach, Paul Chryst has been dynamite at Wisconsin. As OC, Chryst helped orchestrate two of the great Wisconsin offenses in 2010 (averaged over 40 points/game for first time in school history) and 2011 (improved upon that previous number and set another school record in points/game). Seven seasons in that role, Wisconsin led the Big Ten in passing efficiency (148.1). As HC, Wisconsin has won 83% of its games, including three consecutive bowl victories over ranked opponents, two of which were NY6 games. People forget that Chryst was Wisconsin-made. He grew up in Madison/Platteville and went to college in Madison, too. Though he did not play under Barry Alvarez, Chryst fully-grasps the foundation that has made Wisconsin successful. His predecessor, Gary Andersen, was deviating away from this by: (1) alienating in-state HS coaches, (2) not utilizing a, traditionally, strong walk-on program, and (3) recruiting players that could not academically qualify (Mohamed Barry and Jordan Stevenson are immediate names that Nebraska fans are familiar with). Think No. 8 is too low on your list.

Ah, mind is not working how I thought it would this morning. Makes sense.

Odd that Athlon decided to include predicted bowl results. Lol.

Despite that No. 63 ranked schedule, advanced rankings (i.e. Sagarin had them at No. 7) looked at Wisconsin as a very, very good team. Winning 13 games isn't easy.

There is a difference between citation and arrest. These kids are cited for underage alcohol consumption and kicked out of the game.

Camping at Iowa State this coming Saturday and will be at Wisconsin camps on the 15th and 24th.