College football upset alert, Week 12: Ohio State, USC among 5 teams in danger of losing

College football upset alert No. 3: Wisconsin Badgers

Rank: 10 | Opponent: at 19 Northwestern | Time: Saturday, Nov. 21, 3:30 p.m. ET

After a two-week layoff due to COVID-19, suffice it to say that the Wisconsin Badgers didn’t look like they missed a beat. Granted, Michigan might just be an outright disaster for the 2020 season but Paul Chryst‘s team looked the part of a top-10 squad as they thoroughly handled the Wolverines to move to 2-0 on the season.

Quietly lurking right now in the Big Ten, however, are the Northwestern Wildcats. A team that was an unmitigated disaster in their own right on offense last season has an answer at quarterback now with Peyton Ramsey, which has allowed them to get off to a 4-0 start behind the steady play on that side of the ball in addition to a trademark stalwart defense.

The simple truth about Wisconsin right now is that we haven’t seen all that much from them, even if their two games have been blowout victories. Illinois is arguably the worst team in the conference in their current state and Michigan, again, is not in a good spot. With Graham Mertz only having two college starts under his belt, it’s warranted to wonder about the Badgers’ ceiling.

On the road this week, that should be put to the test as Northwestern has the blueprint to upset Wisconsin. The Wildcats are going to play smart offense that looks to minimize mistakes and an attacking defense that looks to get Mertz uncomfortable. If they succeed in that, they have the potential to weather the Badgers down and prove to be the actual contender in the Big Ten West.