ESPN B1G Blog: Way-too-early Big Ten Power Rankings

[Danny Bateman]

Heh, so Leonhard is in the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame? Not to rain on your parade, but here is another esteemed Wisconsin Athletics HoF inductee:

LINK

I honestly had no idea Tommy Boy's dad was a Badger.

 

[badgers007]

I don't think Wisconsin will have the offense to be #3 in the B1G. They lost too much of their offensive line. They're gonna have two RS freshmen and a sophomore on their O-line. Just sayin..

To me, it's all about their defense. It's been elite the last few years. But now that they've lost Aranda and Wilcox back to back (and promoted a position coach to DC)I'm curious to see if there's drop off.

Its all about their front 7 to me. Gives them the right to be early favorites.

The do lose a sneaky bit of talent on offense. Ramczyk- An all American, Clement, Ogunbowale- Who killed us last year and was the type of back that gave us fits. Do return Fumagalli and Hornibrook(Not really scared of him though.)

Yeah, that's the thing. The Badgers lose a ton of talent on offense--pretty much their whole O-line. And on D, which was their strength last year, they have a new coordinator. Okay, sure we have a new DC as well. But for us it's an upgrade. For Wisconsin it's an unknown: First time DC who has exactly one year of position coaching under his belt. One year!

Wisconsin beat us by 6 points last October up in Camp Randall. This year it will be different. I think we'll beat them when they come to Lincoln. I'd put NU at the #3 spot in that Power Ranking, with Wisconsin just behind us. /jmho

• What do you mean Wisconsin loses their whole OL? Ryan Ramcyzk is an All-American and a hit to the OL, but the other four are back.
• Wisconsin's defense has been a Top-25 mainstay for almost an entire decade and it has been an elite unit for the last four seasons. Hell, a previously-fired DC parlayed this position into a Pac-12 HC job in a calendar year!
• I do not think there is any doubt that Wisconsin has the best LB unit, again, in the B1G. Opposition forgets that Chris Orr went down the first play in 2016 and Jack Cichy, playing as well as any LB in the country, tore his pectoral and was out of the year, too. Cichy, having experience playing OLB, and combining him with T.J. Edwards, Chris Orr, and Garret Dooley, is a scary, scary front-seven. Wisconsin returns eight defensively.
• Returning 15 starters from an 11-win team, Wisconsin currently does not play second-fiddle to anyone in the B1G West.

 

[NUance]

I don't think Wisconsin will have the offense to be #3 in the B1G. They lost too much of their offensive line. They're gonna have two RS freshmen and a sophomore on their O-line. Just sayin..

To me, it's all about their defense. It's been elite the last few years. But now that they've lost Aranda and Wilcox back to back (and promoted a position coach to DC)I'm curious to see if there's drop off.

Its all about their front 7 to me. Gives them the right to be early favorites.

The do lose a sneaky bit of talent on offense. Ramczyk- An all American, Clement, Ogunbowale- Who killed us last year and was the type of back that gave us fits. Do return Fumagalli and Hornibrook(Not really scared of him though.)

Yeah, that's the thing. The Badgers lose a ton of talent on offense--pretty much their whole O-line. And on D, which was their strength last year, they have a new coordinator. Okay, sure we have a new DC as well. But for us it's an upgrade. For Wisconsin it's an unknown: First time DC who has exactly one year of position coaching under his belt. One year!

Wisconsin beat us by 6 points last October up in Camp Randall. This year it will be different. I think we'll beat them when they come to Lincoln. I'd put NU at the #3 spot in that Power Ranking, with Wisconsin just behind us. /jmho

• What do you mean Wisconsin loses their whole OL? Ryan Ramcyzk is an All-American and a hit to the OL, but the other four are back.
• Wisconsin's defense has been a Top-25 mainstay for almost an entire decade and it has been an elite unit for the last four seasons. Hell, a previously-fired DC parlayed this position into a Pac-12 HC job in a calendar year!
• I do not think there is any doubt that Wisconsin has the best LB unit, again, in the B1G. Opposition forgets that Chris Orr went down the first play in 2016 and Jack Cichy, playing as well as any LB in the country, tore his pectoral and was out of the year, too. Cichy, having experience playing OLB, and combining him with T.J. Edwards, Chris Orr, and Garret Dooley, is a scary, scary front-seven. Wisconsin returns eight defensively.
• Returning 15 starters from an 11-win team, Wisconsin currently does not play second-fiddle to anyone in the B1G West.

+1. Keep reading. Read post #19.

 

[NoLongerN]

^^^^ Good stuff. Additionally, what Wisconsin brings in system, attitude and swagger just far surpasses talent and our past tradition, as I see it.

I look for Wisconsin to be able to "reload" and bring their intangibles and be a tough, gritty, blue collar team ... and continue to win and be in most games. They will do this with 3* players and lower.

 

[Making Chimichangas]

And imagine, Wisconsin:

* Plugs players in and never misses a beat

* Signs "F" rated recruiting classes according some of the recruiting "experts" who post here, and yet

* They still manage to beat Nebraska like drum every single year.

Until Nebraska puts on their big boy pants and starts matching or exceeding Wisconsin's physicality, we're always going to lose to them. And they'll remain ranked ahead of us in Big 10 Power Standings, despite us having average recruiting class ranking some 20 spots ahead of them.