In an article today Kevin McGuire of Athlon Sports listed three reasons why the Wisconsin Badgers will make the College Football Playoff in 2020 and three reasons why they will not.
Here’s what he came up with:
Three reasons why they will
No. 1: The Badgers are the most reliable team in the Big Ten West
Wisconsin has been the gold model of consistency in the Big Ten West Division since the conference moved to this division format. Wisconsin’s six appearances in the Big Ten Championship Game leads the conference (one ahead of Ohio State), including four appearances as West champion in the last six seasons. Wisconsin will have a decent chance to get to this year’s conference title game without a loss on its schedule this fall if the current schedule remains unchanged. If Wisconsin maneuvers its schedule without a loss heading to the Big Ten Championship Game, then the Badgers will force their way into the playoff conversation.
No. 2: Experienced defense is one of the Big Ten’s best
Wisconsin has developed a pretty solid reputation for having one of the best defenses in the Big Ten, and that trend will continue with one of the most experienced defenses in 2020. Wisconsin returns nine starters on the defensive side of the ball, including linebacker Jack Sanborn and free safety Eric Burrell. Outside of Minnesota, Wisconsin won’t face too many offenses known for lighting up the scoreboard either.
No. 3: Key division games in Madison
Unless the Big Ten completely scraps this year’s conference schedule and starts fresh, Wisconsin gets some good games at home in Camp Randal Stadium. The biggest of those games will likely be the rivalry game with Minnesota, which will actually be played in October instead of the regular-season finale. Wisconsin also gets Illinois at home in a revenge situation after being upset by the Illini last season.
My take: The Badgers are the most reliable team in the division and have the division’s best defense, that much I agree with. But at No. 3 I wouldn’t include the fact that their key games are at home as the likely fan-less atmosphere will be far different from what Badger fans and players are used to–or in simple terms home field advantage may not be much of a thing this season.
What I would replace No. 3 with would be the improvement in their schedule from having to face Appalachian State, Michigan, Notre Dame and Minnesota in four consecutive contests to now only having two real challenges on their slate–Minnesota and Michigan–that are not likely to be played in back-to-back weeks. In total, Paul Chryst’s team now has an easier path to a Big Ten Championship matchup against Ohio State or Penn State–a game they need to win if they want to make the playoff, conference-only regular season or not.
Next…three reasons why they will not make the College Football Playoff