Heading into the opener, Wisconsin knows very little about Western Michigan

Luke Fickell has a lot of questions about how Wisconsin's Week 1 opponent will look.

First-year head coach Lance Taylor talks to the media on Monday ahead of Western Michigan's home opener vs. St. Francis. / Bill Broderick/The Battle Creek Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

Wisconsin will open its 2024 season on Friday night against Western Michigan. There were a lot of changes for the Badgers this offseason, but their Week 1 opponent likely had more and Luke Fickell seems to still have a lot of questions.

WMU head coach Lance Taylor is heading into his second season with the program, but he was tasked with hiring three new coordinators this offseason. Walt Bell was hired to run the offense, Scott Power will control the defense, and Dan Sabock will lead the special teams.

"We know as little as we ever have known," Fickell said. "They got a new offensive coordinator, they got a new defensive coordinator, and they got a new special teams coordinator, so what do you know? Obviously, the head coach is an offensive guy, so do they stick more in what the head coach has done, or is it going to be more of Walt Bell, or are they going to be more of Louisiana Lafayette's style, where the defensive coordinator came from?"

Taylor was previously the offensive coordinator at Lousiville in 2022 before heading to Kalamazoo. Bell was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Indiana under Tom Allen for the last two seasons. Fickell mixed up his Louisiana schools, as Power comes to the program after two seasons at Louisana Tech.

"There's a lot of unknowns, even with transfers and stuff like that," Fickell said. "I think the good thing about that, is it allows us to make sure we focus on ourselves and I think that is really key and really critical, in college ball in particular, because you don't have those preseason opportunities."

The Broncos added 11 transfers this offseason, but they will have a familiar duo in the backfield. Quarterback Hayden Wolff and running back Jalen Buckley could give them a chance to make some noise in the MAC this season. Last year, Western Michigan went 4-8, which was its worst record since P.J. Fleck's first season in 2013.

While Wisconsin is favored to win by more than three touchdowns on Friday, Fickell and the Badgers are well aware of the opportunity they have to improve and grow as a team against Western Michigan, as there might be a lot of stuff they haven't seen on film.

"You get to find out your maturity of the team early on, just because you get to see how you can problem solve in week one," Fickell said. "I don't know if they come out in a four-down front or a three-down front. Studies will tell you that they're going to come out in a four-down front, last year they were 95 percent where they were before. Last year they were in 11 personnel 90 percent of the time, but who knows, maybe they come out in 10 or 12."

Fickell made sure to reiterate that college football is different than the NFL because there are no preseason opportunities. Wisconsin has not been able to match up with a different opponent since last year's bowl game on New Year's Day. The Badgers still have a lot of moving parts, but Friday night should give them an opportunity to answer a lot of questions.