Wisconsin Football Preview, Bowl Week
Congratulations, Badgers, you made a New Year's Six Bowl. Outside of winning another game (which is always motivation) you earned the right for having nothing to play for. In other words, this game is against a team that has nothing to lose and everything to gain, so what does that mean for the Wisconsin Badgers? It means that we have little to gain and everything to lose.
The Western Michigan Broncos are the sixth team this season that the Badgers will be playing that has no losses at the time, but none have come later than the sixth week of the season (Ohio State) except this one. Western Michigan is the undefeated MAC (Mid-American Conference) champions, at 13-0, and have beaten two Big Ten teams in that process, Northwestern and Illinois. Coached by PJ Fleck, the Broncos have done everything that is required by them this season to make a New Year's Six Bowl, and can only hope that this will build momentum for them for next season.
As for Wisconsin, most fans are just praying that we don't lose and lose badly to this team and get set on a tailspin in the wrong direction. Wisconsin did a lot right this season, with wins over LSU, Michigan State, Iowa and Nebraska en route to a conference title game, where they had a lead greater than 20 points in the second quarter and blew the game to lose to Penn State. Now, the Badgers have to play a "Group of Five" opponent that is looking to take yet another monster step forward. A loss to a team like this is like losing to Davidson in the basketball tournament, or a Butler, or a Cinderella. Butler's now a great program, where the teams they beat on the way haven't gained any ground or have stepped back. The same applies here.
As far as the game itself is concerned, the Badgers have to be the favorites heading into the game despite having more losses and coming off of that disgusting second half performance. That was the first time that Wisconsin allowed more than 23 points in regulation, and Western Michigan's offense is not as good as Penn State's. Meanwhile, Western Michigan's 16th ranked offense never scored less than 22 points in their season, and that game was at Northwestern. Their second lowest was in the conference title game against Ohio (29), and then everything was 34 and above. The Badgers will have their work cut out for them, but it's nothing they haven't done before.
On the other side of the ball, Western Michigan has a top 25 defense, but they haven't really played the best teams offensively. True, it will be similar for the 88th ranked Wisconsin offense, but it is an offense that has improved and still has more talent than any team Western Michigan has faced. I believe the Badgers have the edge on both sides of the ball, and they will just need to execute for an ENTIRE game to win on January 2nd. It won't be that easy, and it will probably be close, but the Badgers should win. Final score: Wisconsin 28, Western Michigan 21.
TOP 3 NFL PROSPECTS
Wisconsin: OT Ryan Ramczyk (#30, Junior), RB Corey Clement (#99), OLB Vince Biegel (#121)
Western Michigan: WR Corey Davis (#23), OT Taylor Moton (#83), DE Keion Adams (#265)
