Badger Fearless Forecast

1st and 10 Bucky.
6/16/2018 dwm photo

Life as a Wisconsin football fan has been good since 1993 (when Barry Alvarez lead them to the Rose Bowl for the first time in 30 years and came back with a trophy) with way more good seasons than bad ones.

In fact, the Badger football team I grew up with would have celebrated a trip to a bowl game and eight victories in a year.  Around here it was a disappointment.

8 - 5 overall, 5 - 4 in the B1G conference fell short of the high expectations created by the 2017 team.

This year hopes are higher, but so are the fortunes of several other B1G teams on the schedule.  Iowa, Nebraska, and maybe Minnesota pose a threat to the Badgers.

Last year's tough year should help this year's team by giving a lot of freshmen and sophomores valuable experience.

Will they qualify for the NCAA College Football Play-off? 

Probably not.

Will they play in the B1G Championship game?  That's a tall order, but one this team has their eyes on.

Will Graham Mertz play quarterback?  Mertz, a freshman from Kansas and stand-out performer is the most heralded recruit in years.  If he is as good as advertised and adjusts to Division One football quickly, he could rise up the depth chart and see the field.  The field general who finished the season, Jack Coan, is back and leading the team in their first game tomorrow night.

If Coan remains the starter, that's good news for Wisconsin.  If Mertz sees the field, it probably bodes well for the future.

They are college students.  There are all kinds of variables and small margins that determine the difference between a win and a loss.

Which means this fearless forecast is not worth the digital paper it is printed on, but here we go!

2019 Wisconsin Football
W    @ University of South Florida - if this is a bounce-back year, this needs to be a win
W    Central Michigan - B1G teams need to win non-conference home games
W    Michigan - The Wolverines cleaned UW's clock last year, time to return the favor.
W    Northwestern - Another 2018 loss to clean up at home
W    Kent State - Michigan State comes to the Camp next week, so can't overlook the Golden Flashes
W    Michigan State - Getting to six wins and three victories over the state of Michigan is sweet.
W    @ Illinois - Good teams don't look past the team in front of them. If they don't - UW wins.
L     @ Ohio State - A win in Columbus sends a message - a good performance is important.
W    Iowa - This series seems to be won by the visitors.  Not this time.
L     @ Nebraska - The Cornhuskers are a pre-season favorite, the Badgers need this to win the west.
W    Purdue - The Boilermakers are improving, but if UW is serious this is a victory.
W    @ Minnesota - Losing last year to the Gophers for the first time in 14 years left a bad taste.

That equals 10 - 2 for the season, which won't qualify them for the college football playoff, but could send them to Indianapolis for the Conference Championship.

If they win the games they should and run the table over Michigan, Ohio State, and Nebraska, Badger Nation could be going to Indy with 12 full-motion Ws in tow.  That would be fan-tastic!