Wisconsin football schedule: Who will hand the Badgers their first loss in 2021?
By John Buhler
The Wisconsin football schedule sets the Badgers up nicely for a run at the Big Ten title.
After a down year coinciding with COVID-19, the Wisconsin football team looks to be among the favorites to come out of the Big Ten West and get to Indianapolis this season.
Since divisional realignment, Wisconsin has regularly been the best program in the Big Ten West. While that is great and all, the Badgers have struggled to take care of business vs. whoever comes out of the Big Ten East, usually the Ohio State Buckeyes.
What could make this year different for the Badgers is how incredibly navigable their regular-season schedule is. They could go 12-0.
Even if going undefeated is possible, here is when Badgers fans can expect their first loss of 2021.
Wisconsin football schedule: When will the Badgers lose their first game?
Though three of their first four games could be challenging, Wisconsin hosts Penn State and Michigan and plays Notre Dame in Chicago at Soldier Field.
Could the Badgers drop one of these games? Yes, but they feel like the favorites to win all three right now. After that, you will be hard-pressed to find a game during the regular season they could drop.
As exciting as it would be to see the Badgers get to Indianapolis undefeated at 12-0, they will probably lose a game in Big Ten play.
Even though the game is at home, the Oct. 30 date vs. Iowa could be very challenging. They project as the two likeliest teams to get to the Big Ten Championship Game out of the West. If this game was being played at Kinnick at night, then the Hawkeyes a would be tough to beat.
Should the Badgers get to 8-0 after beating Iowa, one can argue a loss could be had at home to Northwestern on Nov. 13, as well as the regular-season finale at Minnesota on Nov. 27.
From there, a 12-0 Wisconsin team could conceivably beat anyone coming out of the Big Ten East in Indianapolis. If it’s Ohio State, maybe not. If it’s anyone else, then to the playoff Wisconsin goes.
Wisconsin is not deep enough to go 15-0 this season, but this should be a double-digit win team.
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