The Wisconsin Badgers football team was voted as one of the top dark horse programs to win the Big Ten in The Athletic’s weekly newsletter this past week.
They sent out a survey asking what under-the-radar Big Ten team could win the conference, excluding its main favorites (Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State).
Related: Big Ten football championship betting odds, preview, best bet, sleepers for 2024 season
Of the 1,216 responses, Wisconsin was the third-most selected team to be a dark horse in the Big Ten this season. The Badgers got 14.3 percent of the vote while only Nebraska (21.4 percent) and Iowa (17.7 percent) came in with a higher amount of responses.
Wisconsin is entering the program’s second season under head coach Luke Fickell and the staff he brought with him to Madison, coming off of a 7-6 campaign in 2023.
How does College Football 25 feel different, plus who is the Big Ten's dark horse?
— The Athletic CFB (@TheAthleticCFB) May 30, 2024
The Badgers will have an uphill battle to competing in the Big Ten this season considering their difficult schedule, that includes a non-conference matchup at home with Alabama in September, but Fickell has led a team to the College Football Playoff before (Cincinnati, 2021).