More Poll Love For The Badgers » Brats & Beer

August 18, 2007
posted under: Badgers football, polls

A couple weeks ago the first pre-season coaches poll from ESPN/USA TODAY ranked the Wisconsin football team #7 in the country, and today the AP writers gave a little more love to the Badgers with another top 10 ranking. The first AP poll, which has USC #1 of course, agreed that UW is seventh best in the country.

If Wisconsin wants to be a position to finally play in one of the BCS bowl games, this seems like the year to make it happen. Normally it’s tough for a team, even a good one, to break out of the mold the pre-season polls cast for them, so starting out in the top 10 is a good first step towards cracking that top five or six positions. Of course, winning the Big 10 would help a lot too, and with both Ohio State and Michigan on the schedule this year the Badgers can go a long way towards silencing the doubters and the haters.

It’s a lot of pressure, though, for coach Beilema and his young team; one false move, especially early in the season, and they’ll get dropped out of the top 10 like a hot rock. But I like their chances to get off to a good start against Washington State, UNLV, and The Citadel. The conference schedule starts with the Iowa Schumcks at home in Madison, which means another notch in the win column, followed by Michigan State and Illinois.

Everyone seems convinced Penn State will be good this year, but the Nittany Lions have struggled to be consistent the past few years so coach Beilema should be 2-0 over Joe Pa come the middle of October. The next real test for the Badgers comes in November with a road trip against Ohio State, a team that’s just ripe for a beating this year, and then the big showdown against the Wolverines in Madison. That should be a great game and Wisconsin should be running on all cylinders by then.

Am I then predicting that Bucky is going to win a Big 10 title this year? I hate pre-season predictions, but I am saying that it is entirely possible. They have PJ Hill coming back and in better physical shape, Tyler Donovan should be more than an adequate replacement for John Stocco under center, and the defense looks to be just as good, if not a little better, as last year.

Oh, and lest I forget to mention, the season ends with a game against Minnesota at the Humpty Dome, and we all remember how their last meeting there ended:

Go Badgers!