Wisconsin escaped Illinois with a 25-21 win last Saturday to improve to 5-2 on the 2023 season and 3-1 in Big Ten play. A win is a win, but it wasn’t necessarily the biggest confidence-infusing performance with Ohio State traveling to Madison this weekend.
ESPN SP+’s metric wasn’t impressed with the Badgers despite the win. Wisconsin fell three spots to No. 28 in the metric, with the No. 56 offense and No. 13 defense.
Related: Wisconsin is atop the Big Ten West thanks to the refs in Iowa City
Ohio State, meanwhile, sits at No. 4 overall with the No. 16 offense and No. 5 defense. This weekend’s matchup is a mismatch, to say the least.
UPDATED SP+ RANKINGS
* No. 1's the same, but 2-10 all shuffled around
* Welp, here comes Bama
* And LSU
* That's not gonna cut it, UW
* Temple: plummeting
* SEC = still the High Floor conference
* Résumé SP+ top 5: Mich, Ohio St, FSU, OU, UWhttps://t.co/8Xl0ypw4U6— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) October 22, 2023
In positive news, Wisconsin remains the highest-ranked team in the Big Ten West. Iowa is next at No. 37, then Minnesota at No. 59, Nebraska at No. 61 and Illinois at No. 62.
A win on Saturday for the Badgers would go a long way towards cementing their status atop the division.