Wisconsin is a bit of a conundrum, and I have a feeling we may have ranked them this high due to the “ranking momentum” they had last year, finishing at #7 in last year’s AP Poll. They certainly had a solid 2006, but when you review the schedule, you realize they played…

1. Bowling Green
2. Western Illinois
3. San Diego St.
4. Michigan
5. Indiana
6. Northwestern
7. Minnesota
8. Purdue
9. Illinois
10. Penn State
11. Iowa
12. Buffalo

That’s, um, how do I put this nicely? Not the most intimidating schedule ever. Not only did they not have to play Ohio State in their Big Televen schedule, but they also found a pretty “down” Iowa and never had to face the Jekyll and Hyde squad from MSU.

Despite including football luminaries like The Citadel on the schedule I expect the 2007 schedule to be a much truer test of the Badgers. They have to play Michigan and Ohio State back-to-back, and their out-of-conference schedule, while not exactly threatening to their record, will at least require the Badgers to compete for a solid 2 and a half quarters of every game (aside from The Citadel, of course).

Offense: They get 9 starters back this year, but the two losses are notable: QB, John Stocco and All-Everything, 1st pick of the 1st round of the Cleveland Browns’ 2007 draft, Joe Thomas. Still, they almost always have an excellent offensive line, and usually the QB in Madison is only asked to manage the game, not win it. They also get back talented PJ Hill at running back.

Defense: Last year’s unit only allowed an excellent 12.1 points/game. Of course, this is one of those stats that become sort of questionable when considering the 2006 schedule. They’ve got themselves just a ton of talent on the D Line, and a lot of speed in the linebacking corps.

Special Teams: Really, really good kicking specialists, but their return teams are sort of pedestrian. Still, this year they expect to have Marcus Randle El back there returning kicks. Hrm, that last name rings a bell.

Facts:

• The Badgers were 12-1 last season but did not get into a BCS game because the BCS will only take a maximum of 2 teams from any BCS conference. Lesson Learned: Never join a conference.
• Bret Bielema almost single-handedly exposed the stupidity of the now, thankfully, eliminated rule 3-2-5e. Click the link. If you don’t know this story, you really should.
• Barry Alvarez, former ND DC during the Holtz years, is now the AD at Wisconsin after steppind down from the Head Football Coach position and hand picking Bielema as his successor.

HLS T25 Meta:

• Highest spot on a HLS Ballot: 4
• Lowest spot on a HLS Ballot: 17
• Average ranking on HLS Ballots: 11

Why Alex Trebek Loves Them:

• Bret Bielema is the 1st coach in Big Televen and 3rd coach in NCAA history to win 12 games in his first year as a head coach.

Around the Web:

• I really can’t find any good blogs. Anybody know of one? Help.

HLS Tracker 10 Forecast Technology Says:

Bielema is sort of a crank, but he’s clever, so we like his chances at continued success. The slightly tougher schedule will make for a much better measuring stick of his abilities. Still, since they start with WSU, UNLV, and Citadel, they should have ironed out a lot of wrinkles by the time they run into any potential for competition in the form of Iowa. At any rate, the 2 lines should be very solid, and the defense should provide plenty of buffer for their new QB to learn a few things before everything gets quite a bit tougher toward the end of the season.

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