Tag: 2024 preview

Wisconsin omitted from ESPN’s ‘top 25 offenses for 2024 and beyond’

Do you think Wisconsin’s offense is in for a resurgent 2024 season?

Wisconsin football was not included in ESPN’s recently released ‘power ranking of college football’s top 25 offenses in 2024 and beyond.’

Ohio State unsurprisingly led the list, as it is primed for another huge 2024 with top-end talent across the unit. Other Big Ten teams included are Oregon at No. 4, USC at No. 6, Michigan at No. 10, Penn State at No. 14 and Washington at No. 25.

Related: Post-spring Big Ten football 2024 power rankings, starting quarterback rankings

Wisconsin missing the ranking is a surprise with the program’s offense set for a resurgent 2024 season. It may not reach the top-end levels of Ohio State, Georgia and Oregon, but Luke Fickell has reshaped the personnel as the unit enters year two under OC Phil Longo.

The negative public sentiment surrounding Wisconsin is likely due to the last four years of offensive stagnation, especially toward the end of the Paul Chryst era. Fickell and Longo’s debut season also fell short of unreachably-high expectations. It isn’t an entire surprise that the national audience doesn’t believe in the unit.

But ESPN’s ranking has programs including Kansas, Western Kentucky, Memphis and Louisville ranked in the 20-25 range. Wisconsin’s offense should surpass each of those programs by the end of 2024, and be well-positioned entering 2025 and beyond.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

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Wisconsin starting RT one of PFF’s ’10 offensive tackles to know ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft’

Wisconsin has a highly-touted starting tackle entering 2024:

Wisconsin right tackle Riley Mahlman was named an ‘offensive tackle to know ahead of the 2025 NFL draft’ by ProFootballFocus on Monday.

Mahlman was one of 10 players included, along with LSU’s Will Campbell, Texas’ Kelvin Banks Jr., Arizona’s Jonah Savaiinaea, LSU’s Emery Jones, Oregon’s Ajani Cornelius, Clemson’s Blake Miller, West Virginia’s Wyatt Milum, Oregon’s Josh Conerly Jr. and Georgia’s Ernest Greene III.

Related: Post-spring Big Ten football 2024 power rankings, starting quarterback rankings

The veteran is set to again be Wisconsin’s starting right tackle in 2024. He started all 13 games at the position in 2023 and six in 2022 — though that number would have also been 13 had it not been for an early-season injury.

Mahlman’s 78.1 PFF last season was the highest for any Wisconsin lineman and the 5th-highest in the Big Ten. He enters 2024 primed for his best collegiate season and as one of the conference’s best tackles.

While the play of Wisconsin’s offensive line has been up and down since 2019, Mahlman has been arguably its best performer over that time. His play, at the least, has not been a part of what is now a multi-year struggle for the position.

Another offseason to prepare for Phil Longo’s offense should pay dividends for Mahlman and the rest of the line. Early struggles adjusting to the new pace and approach are understandable, though year two should be when we see those issues ironed out.

As we inch closer to the season and to 2025 NFL draft discussion, here is what PFF thinks of the Wisconsin starter:

After missing nearly half of his redshirt freshman season with an injury, Mahlman took a major leap as a redshirt sophomore. In 2023, the right tackle was the sixth-most valuable offensive tackle in the country according to our wins above average metric. Mahlman’s 78.1 PFF grade was a top-15 mark among Power Five tackles as was his 73.1 run-blocking grade. He was also among the 20 best Power Five offensive tackles in pressure rate allowed (3%).

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

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Wisconsin football could see a seven-year streak end in 2024

Wisconsin football could see a seven-year streak end in 2024

Wisconsin football is on the outside of nearly every post-spring way-too-early top 25 ranking ahead of the 2024 season. The program is coming off consecutive 7-6 campaigns and is beginning to lose the reputation for consistent winning its held for more than two decades.

There was a good reason behind that reputation. Wisconsin has not had a losing season since going 5-7 in 2001 and is on a 23-year bowl streak. But one of Wisconsin’s recent streaks is in jeopardy entering 2024: The program has been ranked in every preseason AP Poll since 2017.

Related: Post-spring Big Ten football 2024 power rankings, starting quarterback rankings

It was No. 9 entering 2017, No. 4 entering 2018, No. 19 in 2019, No. 12 in 2020 and 2021, No. 18 in 2022 and No. 19 in 2023.

Wisconsin’s streak ranks among the longest in the nation, behind only Ohio State, Oklahoma, Georgia, Alabama and Clemson. Wisconsin lacks the College Football Playoff success of those powerhouses, but it has maintained a similar level of consistency.

Given the 2024 team’s lack of inclusion in way-too-early top 25 rankings, it looks like that consistency will take a step backward for the time being.

Luke Fickell and his staff are working to return the program to where it was under Paul Chryst from 2016-2019. That stretch included three double-digit-win seasons and three Big Ten Championship appearances. Its outlook in the new-look Big Ten Conference is a big question mark, but a return to a double-digit-win baseline would make the hire a resounding success.

2022 and 2023 produced enough regression for the streak of preseason AP Top 25 rankings to end. Badgers fans hope a resurgent 2024 season is the start of a new decade-long streak.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion.

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Would Wisconsin football be favored against Deion Sanders’ Colorado team in 2024?

Would Wisconsin football be favored against Deion Sanders’ Colorado team in 2024?

Colorado football is trending online right now as head coach Deion Sanders and star quarterback Shedeur Sanders exchange blows on X with a former Colorado defensive back. It sounds ridiculous, but that’s often the case surrounding a Sanders-led program.

There is no true Wisconsin connection to this situation or to the Buffaloes in 2024. But Colorado is sure to be circled on every team’s schedule after the offseason headlines and online trash talk. One problem: Sanders’ team doesn’t have the talent to compete with the sport’s top teams. The other problem: the Badgers don’t play them this year, so we’ll never know how the teams would compare.

Related: Top candidates to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft

The closest thing we can do here is begin to handicap what a potential matchup would look like. Thanks to ESPN’s Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings, we have a general system to project what the possible Las Vegas point spread would be.

Wisconsin: 11.0 rating (No. 25 overall), 24.8 offense (No. 78), 13.8 defense (No. 7)

Colorado: -2.6 rating (No. 66 overall), 31.3 offense (No. 39), 33.9 defense (No. 107)

The projected point spread on a neutral field between these two teams in 2024 would be Wisconsin -13.5. That’s a two-touchdown difference, even with Wisconsin far from it’s normal dominance.

There isn’t much of a message here, aside from pointing out how Colorado projects entering a season. The headlines are all made in April, May and June. But when the season begins, it will likely be another year of struggles for Sanders’ team.

It finished 4-8 (1-8 Pac 12) last season after the 3-0 start. Things don’t get easier in 2024 with games against a resurgent Nebraska, Kansas State, Arizona, Kansas, Utah and Oklahoma State.

For more 2024 season preview work, we’ve already ranked all 18 programs in the Big Ten, ranked the 18 starting quarterbacks, ranked all 18 head coaches, predicted each Big Ten team’s 2024 record, looked at the early College Football Playoff tiers, made bold predictions for the season and checked in on the Las Vegas win totals for each team in the conference.

Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

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Pre-spring bold predictions for the 2024 Big Ten football season

What are your bold predictions of Wisconsin’s 2024 season?

Welcome to March, the time when spring practice begins and focus is officially turned toward the upcoming season.

This edition of looking ahead includes trying to understand what the sport will look like. The Big Ten now includes 18 teams, the College Football Playoff has expanded to 12 teams and Wisconsin’s place among both is unknown.

Related: Wisconsin football’s biggest questions entering spring practice

Will the Badgers ascend to the space currently occupied by Penn State? Will the program become a Playoff regular as the field continues to expand? Head coach Luke Fickell has questions to answer entering year two of his tenure in Madison.

Looking ahead to the season, we’ve already ranked all 18 programs in the Big Ten, ranked the 18 starting quarterbacks, ranked all 18 head coaches, predicted each Big Ten team’s 2024 record, looked at the early College Football Playoff tiers and checked in on the Las Vegas win totals for each team in the conference.

Now, here are our pre-spring bold predictions for the 2024 Big Ten football season:

Wisconsin’s latest ‘Dudes of the Week’ has a notable addition

Aaron Witt breakout season incoming?

Wisconsin strength coach Brady Collins released the program’s latest ‘Dudes of the Week’ on Saturday, this offseason’s fifth edition of the honor.

Included on the list: transfer OLB Leon Lowery, S Kamo’i Latu, transfer LB John Pius, DB Max Lofy, TE Mike Cerniglia, C Jake Renfro, RB Gideon Ituka, transfer WR Tyrell Henry, TE Riley Nowakowski, QB Nick Evers, DB Amare Snowden and veteran OLB Aaron Witt.

Related: Big Ten starting quarterback rankings for 2024

We are focusing on the last addition: Aaron Witt — a talented outside linebacker who has played in just two games since Wisconsin’s Duke’s Mayo Bowl win over Wake Forest in December 2020.

The veteran defender’s only action came in the Badgers’ last two games of the 2023 season. He recorded just one tackle against LSU in Wisconsin’s narrow ReliaQuest Bowl loss.

For those who remember the Duke’s Mayo Bowl well, all we need is a hint that Witt may be healthy and effective entering the season. Because when he’s seen the field, this has happened:

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Are the 2024 Wisconsin Badgers faster than they were in 2023?

The Luke Fickell era at Wisconsin included an initiative to share more content and insights on social media, and use alternative media as

The start of the Luke Fickell era at Wisconsin included an initiative to share more content and insights on social media, and use alternative media as a tool to increase interest and discussion around the team.

From mid-January to when spring practice begins in March, these insights mostly come from the weight room and the team’s work with strength coach Brady Collins.

One other initiative is team speed.

As Fickell works to transition the program into its new era, a heavy emphasis has been placed on increasing the team’s speed and athleticism. The step forward is necessary for what offensive coordinator Phil Longo wants to do with his unit, and the same said for Mike Tressel on defense.

Related: Big Ten starting quarterback rankings for 2024

Wisconsin releases updated top speed numbers almost weekly during this winter conditioning period. WOZN’s Zach Heilprin compared this year’s updated numbers with those from one year ago.

There were 21 players above 20 miles per hour on last week’s list — led by wide receivers Quincy Burroughs and Will Pauling at 22.14 and 21.70 miles per hour respectively.

The same list from February 20, 2023? Only five players above 20 miles per hour.

This is not a scientific look nor a projection of on-field success. But the college football offseason is for reading the tea leaves and trying to use any piece of information to gain insight. So, I think it’s safe to say Wisconsin will be a faster team in 2024 than it was in 2023.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Wisconsin football one of Josh Pate’s ‘mystery teams’ entering 2024

Wisconsin football one of Josh Pate’s ‘mystery teams’ entering 2024

CBSSports’ Josh Pate labeled Wisconsin one of his ‘mystery teams’ entering 2024 on his podcast Sunday night.

The Badgers were included along with Texas A&M, Arizona and Syracuse — all three programs with new head coaches entering 2024 (Mike Elko, Jedd Fisch and Fran Brown respectively). The Badgers have more stability than the other programs but also have a high bar which the 2023 results fell well short of.

Related: Which Big Ten football team has the toughest conference schedule in 2024?

“Wisconsin is a big mystery team in 2024,” Pate said on his show. “They were 7-6 last year, it was a lot of internal transition, first-year staff going from Paul Chryst to Luke Fickell, that’s understandable. Their key offensive numbers were not good enough. They were in the 60s and 70s in terms of national rankings of key offensive metrics…So now they’ve brought in Tyler Van Dyke at quarterback, they’re 20th in returning production, they return 70% of a top-40 defense. It’s year two under Luke Fickell…I feel very, very comfortable in betting on a program in year two under that guy and under his staff.”

Wisconsin’s season can certainly go one of a few ways. The gauntlet schedule may lead to struggles and a poor record, or that schedule could become a stellar resume if the Badgers pick off big wins.

Either way, it should tell us a lot about what the future holds under Fickell and his staff.

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Contact/Follow @TheBadgersWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Wisconsin Badgers news, notes, and opinion. Follow Ben Kenney on X.

Wisconsin football omitted from ESPN’s way-too-early top 25

Is Wisconsin a top-25 team entering 2024?

Wisconsin football is not a top-25 team entering the 2024 season, according to ESPN’s recent ranking.

The Badgers are fresh off back-to-back 7-6 seasons and are without a 10-win season since 2019. Head coach Luke Fickell was hired to turn that trend around, though it may be a slower build than some thought.

Not only does Wisconsin no longer get the benefit of playing in the Big Ten West, but the Badgers face a gauntlet schedule in 2024 and have a projected win total of only 6.5.

Related: Way-too-early record predictions for every Big Ten football team in 2024 

Wisconsin has not entered a football season unranked since 2016, when the program went from unranked to finishing No. 5 in the nation. The last time before that was 2009. In short: the Badgers, traditionally, are always ranked entering the season.

Nearly 200 days still separate us from Wisconsin’s first game of the season. But where things stand at the moment, the industry does not view the Badgers as a top-25 team.

Related: Where Wisconsin football stands in 2024 transfer portal team class rankings

Looking ahead to Wisconsin’s 2024 football schedule

Wisconsin’s 2024 football schedule is a gauntlet:

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: