Wisconsin has 4 First Team All-Americans?

[royboy]

well, at least in the pre-season; 2 OL plus Jonathan Taylor at RB and TJ Edwards at LB

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...lege-football-2018-preseason-all-america-team

maybe it's just me, but I'm skeptical of the Badgers

 

[Cletus11]

why, Wiscy has taken a leap in performance the last few years under Christ. They are a good team. They have a great history of high end Olineman. And their LB play recently has been really good.

 

[78SweetRevenge]

well, at least in the pre-season; 2 OL plus Jonathan Taylor at RB and TJ Edwards at LB

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...lege-football-2018-preseason-all-america-team

maybe it's just me, but I'm skeptical of the Badgers

They may not be a legit top 5 team but they're very, very good/great

 

[Raffycorn]

I think Wisconsin is a very good team (top 10-15) that will likely make the B1G championship again.

I don’t think they’re better than Penn State or Ohio State, and they might not be better than Michigan, either.

 

[GregInPitt]

why, Wiscy has taken a leap in performance the last few years under Christ. They are a good team. They have a great history of high end Olineman. And their LB play recently has been really good.

Yep, but maybe their OLinemen get the benefit of the doubt for national recognition due to Wisky's history..... It's possible, but we won't know until the games are played.

 

[doublehaul]

Schedule is probably going to be a big factor. They have to play Iowa, Northwestern, Michigan and Penn State, on the road, something I'm not sure the're used to, being in the West. A real trap game could be an improving Purdue team they play after the PSU game win or lose.
They have a great OL as usual, but their QB better step it up a notch against some pretty good defensive teams.

 

[Connorpozlee]

Wisconsin would be somewhere in the 3-5 range in the Big10 east standings.

 

[tboyer]

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...lege-football-2018-preseason-all-america-team
maybe it's just me, but I'm skeptical of the Badgers

This should be their best team in a while, but you know what the outcome will be. They'll win the West and then lose the B1G to whoever wins the East. There is just no competition for them in that division right now. Someday if Nebraska football ever revives.....

 

[NittPicker]

This should be their best team in a while, but you know what the outcome will be. They'll win the West and then lose the B1G to whoever wins the East. There is just no competition for them in that division right now. Someday if Nebraska football ever revives.....

Wisconsin is certainly the favorite in the west but I'm not counting out Iowa. The tone will be set on Sept. 22 when they play in Iowa City. That early season game could very well decide the division race. As noted above, the Badgers also play @PSU and @Michigan. OTOH, Iowa plays @PSU but avoids OSU, UM and MSU. As an aside, Nebraska pissed off the schedule maker this year. They're @Michigan, @Wisconsin, @OSU and @Iowa but at least MSU is a home game for them.

 

[78SweetRevenge]

Wisconsin would be somewhere in the 3-5 range in the Big10 east standings.

Disagree--if they were in the east they'd be in the mix with us and Ohio State for 1-3 with the Michigan schools at 4-5
You guys are underestimating Wisconsin IMO. They may not be better than us but they deserve their accolades right now

 

[Connorpozlee]

Disagree--if they were in the east they'd be in the mix with us and Ohio State for 1-3 with the Michigan schools at 4-5
You guys are underestimating Wisconsin IMO. They may not be better than us but they deserve their accolades right now

So, if they’re not better than us (and OSU) then they are somewhere 3-5. A lot of college football ranking are based on where people think teams will end up record-wise, not necessarily how good they are.
For the record, I agree with you that are a very good program right now. No shame in being lumped in with the Michigan and Michigan States of the world.

 

[BBrown]

why, Wiscy has taken a leap in performance the last few years under Christ. They are a good team. They have a great history of high end Olineman. And their LB play recently has been really good.

Agree. IMO Wiscy has always been (for the most part) a QB and WR away from a NC.

 

[Cletus11]

Yep, but maybe their OLinemen get the benefit of the doubt for national recognition due to Wisky's history..... It's possible, but we won't know until the games are played.

their Olineman have done pretty well in the NFL and their Olines have always been really good in college. so don't understand what you are saying. Wiscy churns out good olineman, they will have another very good Oline this year. If anything, i would argue more with Taylor the RB being in there as Wiscy RB's are more of a product of a great Oline and blocking tight ends.

 

[78SweetRevenge]

So, if they’re not better than us (and OSU) then they are somewhere 3-5. A lot of college football ranking are based on where people think teams will end up record-wise, not necessarily how good they are.
For the record, I agree with you that are a very good program right now. No shame in being lumped in with the Michigan and Michigan States of the world.

Who said they aren't better than us and Ohio State? They're absolutely in that discussion. Reading shouldn't be that difficult for you

 

[GregInPitt]

their Olineman have done pretty well in the NFL and their Olines have always been really good in college. so don't understand what you are saying. Wiscy churns out good olineman, they will have another very good Oline this year. If anything, i would argue more with Taylor the RB being in there as Wiscy RB's are more of a product of a great Oline and blocking tight ends.

Just commenting that past performance is not necessarily 100 percent correlated with future performance of different players. To get 40% of the AA team OL is pretty rare, and given that there are many talented and experienced Olinemen in college football Wisky getting 2 players on the team may have been influenced by performance of past players.......

Just like the likelihood that Bates may have gotten very little consideration. Is Bates not as good as the Wisky players? Who knows for sure. But given that PSU's Olines have been weak recently the voters may not be likely to vote for a PSU Olinemen.

Some would refer to this as politics.....

 

[Connorpozlee]

Who said they aren't better than us and Ohio State? They're absolutely in that discussion. Reading shouldn't be that difficult for you

You said “they may not be better than us” insinuating that you do not believe they are better than us. Should have been more clear with what you wrote.

 

[anon_1eeb2b426hv3y]

well, at least in the pre-season; 2 OL plus Jonathan Taylor at RB and TJ Edwards at LB

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...lege-football-2018-preseason-all-america-team

maybe it's just me, but I'm skeptical of the Badgers

Pre-season All Americans.

Will matter more if they’re named when the season is over.

 

[78SweetRevenge]

You said “they may not be better than us” insinuating that you do not believe they are better than us. Should have been more clear with what you wrote.

Does the word "may" confuse you?
We may not be better than them either
Also, even if that confused you I said "better" not on par with us.
The top 3 Big Ten teams are us, Ohio State and Wisconsin--any order is fine
Now Michigan, Michigan State or some surprise team (maybe Northwestern or Iowa) could shock everyone but there's tiers. Wisconsin is definitely not in a lower tier than we are

 

[brupsu]

their Olineman have done pretty well in the NFL and their Olines have always been really good in college. so don't understand what you are saying. Wiscy churns out good olineman, they will have another very good Oline this year. If anything, i would argue more with Taylor the RB being in there as Wiscy RB's are more of a product of a great Oline and blocking tight ends.

Wisconsin is certainly the favorite in the west but I'm not counting out Iowa. The tone will be set on Sept. 22 when they play in Iowa City. That early season game could very well decide the division race. As noted above, the Badgers also play @PSU and @Michigan. OTOH, Iowa plays @PSU but avoids OSU, UM and MSU. As an aside, Nebraska pissed off the schedule maker this year. They're @Michigan, @Wisconsin, @OSU and @Iowa but at least MSU is a home game for them.

Iowa has the easier schedule and has wisky at home.Last year Iowa lost to wisky 38-14 and it was not close stat wise.Remember 2016 Psu killed Iowa at the beav and even though Psu dominated them last year they managed to keep it close and almost won.Can they do that against the badgers?I think they can but I still pick the Badgers in the west because Iowa will drop some games they are favored in.Both of them will lose at the beav.

 

[78SweetRevenge]

Iowa has the easier schedule and has wisky at home.Last year Iowa lost to wisky 38-14 and it was not close stat wise.Remember 2016 we killed Iowa at the beav and even though we dominated them last year they managed to keep it close and almost won.Can they do that against the badgers?I think they can but I still pick the Badgers in the west because Iowa will drop some games they are favored in.Both of them will lose at the beav.

Northwestern is still a bigger threat to Wisconsin than Iowa IMO even though their schedule is much more difficult with Michigan & Michigan State back to back weeks

 

[Howie'81]

well, at least in the pre-season; 2 OL plus Jonathan Taylor at RB and TJ Edwards at LB

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...lege-football-2018-preseason-all-america-team

maybe it's just me, but I'm skeptical of the Badgers

I'm going to predict that Wisconsin loses 3 games. Still might be good enough to win the West. We will beat them. Michigan will probably beat them. And Iowa, Purdue, or NW will beat them.

 

[lobo lion]

well, at least in the pre-season; 2 OL plus Jonathan Taylor at RB and TJ Edwards at LB

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...lege-football-2018-preseason-all-america-team

maybe it's just me, but I'm skeptical of the Badgers

Other than the fact that they are Wiscy and not a more traditional power, there is no reason to be skeptical. They bring back a lot, especially on offense, from a team that was among the very best in the country last year. They went 13-1, beat Miami, and played OSU tougher than we did. Fear the badger!

 

[Connorpozlee]

Does the word "may" confuse you?
We may not be better than them either
Also, even if that confused you I said "better" not on par with us.
The top 3 Big Ten teams are us, Ohio State and Wisconsin--any order is fine
Now Michigan, Michigan State or some surprise team (maybe Northwestern or Iowa) could shock everyone but there's tiers. Wisconsin is definitely not in a lower tier than we are

You must be a lot of fun at parties.
You tell twenty people that “x may not be better than y, but...” and twenty people are going to understand that you are saying that y is better than x.

 

[Howie'81]

Other than the fact that they are Wiscy and not a more traditional power, there is no reason to be skeptical. They bring back a lot, especially on offense, from a team that was among the very best in the country last year. They went 13-1, beat Miami, and played OSU tougher than we did. Fear the badger!

lobo, I say this respectfully because you are a terrific poster, but you really think Wisky played OSU tougher than we did? We played them in the "shoe" and had 18 point leads twice and lost it late, only to go down by 1 point. 1 play the other way and we win. I saw most of the B1G Championship game and Wisky didn't play OSU nearly as tough as we did. Just my view on it.

 

[djr4rebs]

played OSU tougher than we did. Fear the badger!

I'm not sure what part of 27-21 correlates to being played tougher than 39-38, but Im curious.

 

[SUPERTODD]

If people are going to waste time arguing with, and quoting him, it really blunts the effectiveness of the “ignore” feature.

 

[BBrown]

If people are going to waste time arguing with, and quoting him, it really blunts the effectiveness of the “ignore” feature.

I know exactly who you are talking about.
When other board members said MK was back I had my doubts...not anymore.

 

[Howie'81]

I'm not sure what part of 27-21 correlates to being played tougher than 39-38, but Im curious.

Plus that was on a neutral field. We played in the "shoe."

 

[Howie'81]

I know exactly who you are talking about.
When other board members said MK was back I had my doubts...not anymore.

I don't think he's mk. Many battles personally with mk and though he was pedantic and wrong about some things, I always thought he was reasonably intelligent and a good debater. Arrogant as all hell though. I don't think 78 is as good a debater as mk was.

 

[lobo lion]

I'm not sure what part of 27-21 correlates to being played tougher than 39-38, but Im curious.

Watch the games if you need to. I trust you realize that the score is often less than a good indicator of the relative strengths of the two teams. Or just check the stats. It's clear that, everywhere but the scoreboard, Wiscy played OSU tighter than we did.

 

[Howie'81]

Watch the games if you need to. I trust you realize that the score is often less than a good indicator of the relative strengths of the two teams. Or just check the stats. It's clear that, everywhere but the scoreboard, Wiscy played OSU tighter than we did.

lobo, the stats are deceiving in the PSU game vs OSU. Very deceiving. First, we had a kick returned for a TD. No offensive possesion there and no offensive stats. We also had a pick which set up a short field as I recall. Scored a TD, but not a lot of offensive stats there. Add 100 yards for the kickoff return or 75 if you like assuming we might usually start at the 25 or so. Add the int return yards too. Stats don't tell the story of that game unless you look at ALL the stats. You can't be selective.

 

[BBrown]

Watch the games if you need to. I trust you realize that the score is often less than a good indicator of the relative strengths of the two teams. Or just check the stats. It's clear that, everywhere but the scoreboard, Wiscy played OSU tighter than we did.

Appreciate your post but "Stats" would be about the last thing I'd use to determine if a game was close or not. Its helpful but can also be entirely misleading.
Its more a "fantasy" football thing. JMO.

 

[artsandletters]

why, Wiscy has taken a leap in performance the last few years under Jesus Christ. They are a good team. They have a great history of high end Olineman. And their LB play recently has been really good.

FIFY
He’s Spanish on his mother’s side.

 

[Raffycorn]

Watch the games if you need to. I trust you realize that the score is often less than a good indicator of the relative strengths of the two teams. Or just check the stats. It's clear that, everywhere but the scoreboard, Wiscy played OSU tighter than we did.

Wisconsin looked outgunned from the jump against a more talented Ohio State team, and it felt like a matter of time before OSU eventually put them away. Penn State went man-to-man talent-wise against OSU on the road, and Ohio State needed their redshirt senior quarterback to literally play the best game of his life to squeak out a win.

 

[Cletus11]

Just commenting that past performance is not necessarily 100 percent correlated with future performance of different players. To get 40% of the AA team OL is pretty rare, and given that there are many talented and experienced Olinemen in college football Wisky getting 2 players on the team may have been influenced by performance of past players.......

Just like the likelihood that Bates may have gotten very little consideration. Is Bates not as good as the Wisky players? Who knows for sure. But given that PSU's Olines have been weak recently the voters may not be likely to vote for a PSU Olinemen.

Some would refer to this as politics.....

Bates was injured the last few games of last year and who know's what shape he will be in coming back. And I like Bates, but in no way is he even in a conversation for All american honors based on last year's performance. He played well when healthy, but nowhere near all american level. Politics isn't taking two Olineman who played at a high level and then projecting them as pre-season all americans at a program that is known for developing Olineman.

 

[lobo lion]

lobo, the stats are deceiving in the PSU game vs OSU. Very deceiving. First, we had a kick returned for a TD. No offensive possesion there and no offensive stats. We also had a pick which set up a short field as I recall. Scored a TD, but not a lot of offensive stats there. Add 100 yards for the kickoff return or 75 if you like assuming we might usually start at the 25 or so. Add the int return yards too. Stats don't tell the story of that game unless you look at ALL the stats. You can't be selective.

I understand what you're saying, Howie, and I'm not being selective. Look at any data regarding that game. It all suggests that we couldn't move the ball consistently against OSU. One kickoff return for a TD and two drives of less than 25 yards for TDs. Now, that's all part of the game, and we made it a hell of a game. Hell, we could have easily won.

But my point was simply that Wiscy, over the course of the entire game against OSU, performed slightly better than we did. They put up slightly better yardage (298 to 283), and they gave up significantly fewer yards (449 to 529). And this was simply in response to a poster who suggested that there is good reason to be skeptical about Wiscy. I disagree, and I point to their game against OSU (and their entire season) as a barometer to gauge just how good they were last year.

 

[Howie'81]

I understand what you're saying, Howie, and I'm not being selective. Look at any data regarding that game. It all suggests that we couldn't move the ball consistently against OSU. One kickoff return for a TD and two drives of less than 25 yards for TDs. Now, that's all part of the game, and we made it a hell of a game. Hell, we could have easily won.

But my point was simply that Wiscy, over the course of the entire game against OSU, performed slightly better than we did. They put up slightly better yardage (298 to 283), and they gave up significantly fewer yards (449 to 529). And this was simply in response to a poster who suggested that there is good reason to be skeptical about Wiscy. I disagree, and I point to their game against OSU (and their entire season) as a barometer to gauge just how good they were last year.

Look, I think Wisky's good. My only point is that it's tough to say Wisky played OSU tougher. And don't forget, we played them in the shoe. Wisky had them in Indianapolis on a neutral field. If PSU makes 1 more play in that game, and there were a number of places that could have happened, PSU wins the game. In a way, it was a perfect storm for OSU to end up a point better in the end.

 

[lobo lion]

Wisconsin looked outgunned from the jump against a more talented Ohio State team, and it felt like a matter of time before OSU eventually put them away. Penn State went man-to-man talent-wise against OSU on the road, and Ohio State needed their redshirt senior quarterback to literally play the best game of his life to squeak out a win.

They ran all over us, plain and simple. It doesn't mean you're less of a fan to acknowledge that point. You can't sugarcoat 27 first downs and 529 yards. Yes, Barrett played a near-perfect fourth quarter, but even in the first half they moved the ball well against us.

 

[SR108]

r's team.

well, at least in the pre-season; 2 OL plus Jonathan Taylor at RB and TJ Edwards at LB

http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...lege-football-2018-preseason-all-america-team

maybe it's just me, but I'm skeptical of the Badgers

I am glad the Badgers are getting the hype. I like flying under the radar. IMO, PSU and it's team leaders have good reason to still have a chip on their shoulder. Still a lot of skepticism out there regarding the team and Trace this year. No Saquon, what will they do? Blah, blah blah.

 

[djr4rebs]

Tough would indicate that a team had a hard time.

At no point did I feel like Wisconsin was a threat to best OSU. It was a game of cat and mouse and once Hornibrook threw the INT inside the red zone, the door closed.

The Buckeyes trailed us by 18 at two points. It was late in the 4th quarter before they took the lead. They might have racked up some yards, but trust this: they did not sigh in relief until they harassed Trace on our last possession.

Now if you want to say Wisconsin played stouter defensively, I will hand you that gladly.

Tougher game? Uh no!