Wisconsin Badgers will be playing a different schedule than the one back in July. This will feature only eight games and be played straight through. No week off to catch your breath. It will be Badgers football from October 24th until December 19th. By the middle of December, Badgers might be contending again for a Big Ten Championship and seeing if they can finally figure out how to beat Ohio State. The hype around Wisconsin is very real this year. The defense figures to be special, and another year of Jack Coan slinging the ball could lead to some big things. Here are some quick takes on the new schedule.

10/24: vs. Illinois – Badgers get their revenge from last year as they welcome the Fightin’ Illini to Camp Randall. That has been a place where Badgers have ruled versus Illinois. Expectations for Illinois are a mid-tier Big Ten team. They have some talent, but Wisconsin should win handily.

10/31: at Nebraska – Currently, there is a conspiracy that Nebraska was given a raw deal with their schedule thanks to all their complaining. Who knows if that’s true. Badgers have owned the Cornhuskers since they’ve arrived in the Big Ten. This is probably the best Nebraska team in a long time though.

11/7: vs. Purdue – We’ll see if Purdue can convince Rondale Moore to return. If they can, this becomes a different game. Moore is an electric factory. Even without Moore, Purdue brings a lot back from last year, and they’re going to challenge Wisconsin. This will not be an easy one.

11/14: at Michigan – Last year, Wisconsin demolished Michigan in maybe their most impressive win of the year. Michigan will be out for revenge this year at their home stadium. Wolverines are adding some new pieces to both sides of the ball, but by week four, they should all be in place. They’re very high on Joe Milton, the quarterback for the Wolverines.

11/21: at Northwestern – This is easily the toughest game of the year. You probably want to tell me to fuck off but hear me out. This place has demons for Wisconsin first of all. Second, this is a letdown lookahead sandwich game with Michigan the week prior and Minnesota the week ahead. Don’t be surprised if this goes down to the wire.

11/28: vs. Minnesota – The battle for the Big Ten West will likely take place this week. Minnesota does bring a good amount back from last year’s “Big Ten Champion” team, but they lost their offensive coordinator plus if they cannot convince Rashad Bateman back, they’ll be lacking at receiver too. This should be a barnburner, although, that never seems to be the case with these teams.

12/5: vs. Indiana – While the Hoosiers have some talent, they have a brutal eight-game schedule with Penn State, Ohio State, Michigan State all featured. They travel to the last two which isn’t fun either. By this time, Indiana might be ready to pack it in.

12/12: at Iowa – Badgers and Hawkeyes always play close games. That is a fact that no one can dispute. In the cold December weather, this is a Big Ten fan’s wet dream. Iowa is retooling a lot of their roster, so, it would have been better to play them early versus late.

12/19: Big Ten Champions Week – Not sure how the Big Ten is going to play eight games in a weekend but I’m here for it. Expect this to be against Ohio State or Penn State.

Charlie.