The new era of Big Ten football is here and with it comes gauntlet schedules for everybody in the conference.
That is especially the case for the 2024 Wisconsin Badgers. The program hosts a perennial powerhouse in out-of-conference play before facing at least three legitimate contenders in the conference slate.
For season ticket holders in Madison, Wisconsin, this new schedule means more intrigue and better environments on gameday. For Badgers fans across the country, however, it also likely means 2-3 more losses per year. That is, of course, unless Luke Fickell raises Wisconsin to the tier that Michigan and Ohio State currently inhabit.
The 2024 season is a critical one for that purpose. The Badgers are off a disappointing 7-6 2023 campaign and need tangible momentum in Fickell’s second year. As noted, it needs to be done against one of the tougher schedules in the nation: