Wisconsin’s 24-17 overtime win over Nebraska last night improved the team to 6-5 on the season and 4-4 in Big Ten play. While the Iowa Hawkeyes finished the job atop the Big Ten West earlier in the day, Saturday was a success for the Badgers as the program will go bowling for the 22nd consecutive season.
There are Saturdays where the program trends in the wrong direction. Then there are Saturdays where clear steps forward are taken. Yesterday felt like the latter, which is a credit to Luke Fickell and his team for battling back after a disastrous start to the contest.
ESPN’s SP+ agrees. The win moved the Badgers up to No. 31 in the nation, up from No. 38 after last week.
Wisconsin’s company is a bit funny, especially if you consider where these teams were at the start of the season:
No. 27 Miami, No. 28 Iowa, No. 29 Troy, No. 30 USC, No. 32 TCU. There’s Wisconsin and Iowa, and then a combination of Miami, USC and TCU — all teams with sky-high expectations entering the season.
The last time Wisconsin was in a conversation with USC it was during the Caleb Williams saga, yet ESPN SP+ sees them as comparable teams this year.
Either way, Wisconsin is trending in the right direction after last night’s win.
UPDATED SP+ RANKINGS
* Ohio State at Michigan (-6.1)
* JSU and UNLV: skyrocketing
* Wake, Baylor, Ariz St, Utah and Purdue: TIMMMBERRRRRR
* Vols tumbling, too
* CUSA > AAC???
* Resume SP+ top 5: Mich, UGA, Ohio St, FSU, Oregonhttps://t.co/Lc03N79fJp— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) November 19, 2023