B1G 2016: The Wisconsin Badgers Breakfast Potluck

I like the breakfast idea so I’m sticking with it. I give you… The Breakfast Shot. Take a shot of Jameson and a shot of butterscotch schnapps, then chase it with a shot of orange juice, finally eat the bacon garnish. It all tastes a lot like pancakes and well, bacon as a garnish is my favorite kind of garnish. What you don't do shots at breakfast? You've just been banned from the state of Wisconsin. So what would be the garnish on Wisconsin’s season this year? The schedule is a legitimate murderer’s row, could an undefeated season result in a CFP berth? Is Wisconsin going to crater all the way to typical Iowa and go 7-5?

Townie: Undefeated? Undefeated? You must be drunk again. You lost to Northwestern last year, with a better team than you’ll field in 2016.

Here’s the thing, you have a new quarterback and you are replacing some key players on the offensive and defensive line. That’s never easy. Coach Chryst is in his second year, so that’s a positive.

But you have an ugly, B1G East-type schedule, without most of the patsies. No way do you get through MSU, OSU, UM, and Iowa without a loss. It’ll take some serious coaching (and superior play from your new quarterback) to get through that stretch 2-2.

Generously, I’ll give you wins over MSU and Iowa, with losses to Meatchicken and tOSU. That’s if your running backs play well and the offensive line is up to traditional Wiscy standards. Honestly though, you guys will know pretty quick, what the season holds. LSU isn’t Bama, but it will be a great test of your team.

Best case: 10 wins and a New Year's Day bowl game.

Worst Case: 5 wins and a dismal season.

C4B: I think "undefeated" might be a bit out of range, but I don’t think you’ll fall as far as 7-5 either unless a lot of things go wrong. Surprisingly enough, we might have a good idea of how you’ll finish by the end of September. Obviously, Akron and Georgia State shouldn’t be any kind of serious trouble, but LSU at Lambeau and Sparty in East Lansing will be two early tests of great interest to the rest of us. Go 2-0 in those games, and a ten win season or better is on the table. Split, and you’ll probably settle into the 8-9 win area. Lose both, and then the really bad scenarios start coming into play. Like Townie said, your worst case scenario is probably 5 wins, but that means many things will have gone wrong.

Al NamiasIV: An undefeated season would definitely result in a CFP berth, but that doesn’t have anything to do with the schedule; an undefeated B1G conference champion will always wind up in the CFP. The thing is Wisconsin isn’t going undefeated. I’ll eat every every burger in Dotty’s, twice, in one sitting, if the Badgers manage 10 wins (I don’t like burgers, and Dotty’s has a lot of burgers on the menu).

As it is, I’m not sold on Chryst as a head coach under the best of circumstances (what’s he done so far, as a head coach at Pitt or UW?--Narduzzi outdid his three years in one year as the Panthers’ head man), and this year is far from the best of circumstances. I look for UW to go 8-4 at best, and I’d much sooner take the under on that than the over. And if the Badgers do go 8-4, with losses to, say, MSU, UM, OSU and LSU--and thus wins over the entire B1G West including all rivals--that has to be considered a solid, if not spectacular, season.

Aaron Yorke: Wisconsin with a tough schedule? I thought you were joking until I took a look at said schedule and then… Wow, that’s actually pretty tough. Crossover games with Michigan, Michigan State, and Ohio State? And you play all three of them in a row? At least there’s a bye week in between. You’re gonna need it. The good news is that an undefeated season would indeed result in a CFP berth. The bad news is that Wisconsin isn’t going undefeated. How about almost beating LSU, getting revenge on Iowa, and streaking down the stretch to go 8-4? Sounds like a good time.

GF3: In the current structure, an undefeated season in a P5 conference is a guaranteed berth (if we’re including the CCG). Wisconsin cannot go undefeated. Is there weed in your bacon garnish? 7-5 seems like a long fall, but I definitely see 4 losses in there.

Stew: Wisconsin’s bowl streak should continue, as I assume they can live up to the lofty academic standards of UNL.

Author's note- I forgot it was Wisconsin week already. It was a long weekend. I'm sure Graham will dock my pay accordingly -Speth