Wisconsin Badgers were one of the most impressive teams over the first weekend in college football. There is no question about that one. They looked great in their dominating win against South Florida. Badgers made subtle moves through the Top 25 inching towards 17. That’s fine. Usually, those polls aren’t as reactive as other things on the Internet. Chris Vannini of The Athletic ranked Wisconsin eleventh in his top 130 after their performance last week. But the big surprise was ESPN’s Bill Connnelly ranking Wisconsin at number five in the country according to his SP+ rankings. That is eye-popping and should put everyone on notice.

Full week 2 SP+ rankings coming shortly, but…

New SP+ top 10:
1. Bama (+36.6)
2. Clemson (+31.3)
3. LSU (+29.8)
4. UGA (+27.3)
5. Wisconsin (+22.8)
6. Penn State (+22.7)
7. Ohio State (+22.0)
8. Oklahoma (+21.5)
9. Texas A&M (+21.4)
10. Washington (+21.1)

— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) September 3, 2019

Some of you might wonder what SP+ Rankings mean or why this is important. Connelly does a good job explaining how he measures this comparative to other polls. Many smart people in college football look at these as a way to determine if a team is good, bad or great. Wisconsin might fall in that great category. Connelly admits that this has some to do with his preseason thoughts, but you cannot look and see the Badgers ahead of every other Big Ten team and not be impressed. They can be a force this season, and it appears that the metrics are behind them.

The Michigan game will be fascinating to me. If Wisconsin beats the Wolverines again at Camp Randall, a place they’ve won four straight against Michigan, Wisconsin suddenly becomes a team that puts everyone on notice. They lose, no matter how close, it is to be expected. These rankings will still have meaning though. Wisconsin plays Ohio State later in the year in a much harder game. If they beat the Buckeyes and only have that Michigan loss, they’re still in control of their own destiny. In two weeks, I expect Michigan will probably be a two or three-point favorite heading into their game against Bucky.

If you’re trying not to get too excited about the Badgers, my advice would be to go for it. This team is worth it.

Charlie.