New college football rankings give fresh look at challenging Wisconsin schedule
How good is the Big Ten going to be in 2024 and how lucky are the Badgers that they don't have Michigan or Ohio State on the schedule? The answer to the second part of the question is very lucky, while the first part of the question can be answered in part by looking at the new college football rankings from Pro Football Focus.
Georgia and Texas are the top-two teams in the outlet's rankings, but then comes a flurry of Big Ten teams: Michigan (3), Ohio State (4), Oregon (6), Penn State (8), Washington (9), Iowa (18) and USC (23).
Sandwiched between Ohio State and Oregon is Wisconsin's Week 3 opponent, Alabama, at No. 5.
The Badgers are No. 30, followed by Maryland (36), UCLA (42), Minnesota (47), Illinois (49), Nebraska (53), Purdue (59), Michigan State (61), Rutgers (62), Northwestern (64) and Indiana (87).
Wisconsin's schedule when pairing opponents with their rank on the PFF list shows that the Badgers have five games against top-25 teams.
Opponent | PFF rank |
|---|---|
Western Michigan | 112 |
South Dakota | N/A |
Alabama | 5 |
USC | 23 |
Purdue | 59 |
Rutgers | 62 |
Northwestern | 64 |
Penn State | 8 |
Iowa | 18 |
Oregon | 6 |
Nebraska | 53 |
Minnesota | 47 |
The hardest stretches look to be the back-to-back against 'Bama and USC and then three straight very difficult games against Penn State, Iowa and Oregon.
JOE NELSON