Ranking the toughest remaining games on Wisconsin’s 2023 schedule
The Wisconsin Badgers are off to a disappointing 1-1 start to Luke Fickell’s first season as head coach.
Last week’s loss at Washington State felt like a measuring stick game. Had the Badgers won convincingly, the preseason hype would’ve all been warranted and we’d be looking at this team as the clear favorite in the Big Ten West.
Related: Big Ten power rankings after Week 2: A bad week for Wisconsin
The loss pumps the brakes on those expectations. It showed this team still needs improvement before a trip to Indianapolis in mid-December is considered.
The good news: the Badgers are 0-0 in Big Ten play and still have the entire season ahead of them.
As conference play nears, here is our ranking of the toughest games left on their 2023 schedule:
vs Georgia Southern (September 16)
ESPN Matchup Predictor: 83.2% Wisconsin wins
SP+ Ranking: No. 83
2023 Record: 2-0
This weekend shouldn’t be much of a challenge for the Badgers. Georgia Southern can score, but its defense is among the nation’s worst. I don’t see a scenario out there where Wisconsin loses this game.
vs Northwestern (November 11)
ESPN Matchup Predictor: 73.9% Wisconsin wins
SP+ Ranking: No. 81
2023 Record: 1-1
Good news for Northwestern: the Wildcats beat UNLV last weekend. The bad news: there’s a real chance the team won’t win another game this season.
This matchup is ranked above Georgia Southern because of the slopfest that usually ensues when these two teams take the field. But I’d bet on it not happening this year. Wisconsin is the much better team.
vs Rutgers (October 7)
ESPN Matchup Predictor: 72.3% Wisconsin wins
SP+ Ranking: No. 59
2023 Record: 2-0
Rutgers is an interesting test case for early-season opinions. Does the team look much better because it is better? Or is that the case because it played Northwestern and Temple, two of the worst teams in the country. I’d bet on a mix of the two.
Regardless, this is always a game Wisconsin wins.
at Indiana (November 4)
ESPN Matchup Predictor: 64.3% Wisconsin wins
SP+ Ranking: No. 79
2023 Record: 1-1
Rutgers is a better team than Indiana, but the game is in Madison. Here, Wisconsin will travel to Bloomington to face the Hoosiers. Not to say it’s an overly intimidating road environment, but any road game in-conference requires a little more focus.
vs Nebraska (November 18)
ESPN Matchup Predictor: 78% Wisconsin wins
SP+ Ranking: No. 72
2023 Record: 0-2
At halftime of the Minnesota game, I thought Nebraska was going to be pretty good. Then Jeff Sims happened…
The Cornhuskers QB turned the football over seven times in a six-quarter span from the second half of the Minnesota game through the loss at Colorado. The rest of the team may be feisty, yet the quarterback position looks like a real problem.
It may be a year or two for Matt Rhule at Nebraska before the team is bowl-eligible.
at Purdue (September 22)
ESPN Matchup Predictor: 60.9% Wisconsin wins
SP+ Ranking: No. 61
2023 Record: 1-1
Purdue has not looked good through two weeks. New head coach Ryan Walters appears to have an offense with transfer QB Hudson Card, but the defense could be a year away.
The danger of this matchup comes with the timeslot. It’s a Friday night game on the road in a sneaky-tough place to play. But the Badgers haven’t lost to the Boilermakers since 2003, and I expect that trend to continue.
at Illinois (October 21)
ESPN Matchup Predictor: 57% Wisconsin wins
SP+ Ranking: No. 52
2023 Record: 1-1
This game is tough due to the physical nature of Bret Bielema’s Illinois team, but also due to it falling after the Iowa game and before Ohio State. It’s an extremely tough spot on the road sandwiched between the two biggest games of the season.
Luckily for the Badgers, the 2023 Illini don’t look like the 2022 group. A narrow Week 1 win vs Toledo was followed by a blowout loss to Kansas. The losses of DC Ryan Walters and top players Sydney Brown, Chase Brown and Devon Witherspoon are having a real impact.
at Minnesota (November 25)
ESPN Matchup Predictor: 53.6% Wisconsin wins
SP+ Ranking: No. 42
2023 Record: 2-0
Wisconsin has lost the last two to the Gophers and three of the last five. Regardless of how good each team is entering the final week, a trip to Minneapolis makes this game one of the more challenging on the schedule.
vs Iowa (October 14)
ESPN Matchup Predictor: 53.7% Wisconsin wins
SP+ Ranking: No. 32
2023 Record: 2-0
The Hawkeyes’ offense may still be quite poor. But it’s impossible for it to be worse than it was last season.
Iowa is the second-best overall team remaining on the schedule and although this game is at home for the Badgers, it presents a really tough matchup for Luke Fickell’s new program.
vs Ohio State (October 28)
ESPN Matchup Predictor: 13.8% Wisconsin wins
SP+ Ranking: No. 2
2023 Record: 2-0
Not much needs to be said here. The Buckeyes are one of the nation’s best teams and should be a national title contender if QB Kyle McCord can round into form as the season continues.
Wisconsin will look to feed off the big-game environment at Camp Randall. But a win here would be asking a lot of a team that still appears to need big improvements on both sides of the ball.
