Talking to coach Fickell now…. Geeze I hate that name. Sorry…but really Fickell?? I hate his name….is that bad of me?? Ugh…..but when the Badgers win it all I won’t hate his name so much. Go Badgers Go. He’s wearing a Hunt or be hunted shirt.
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Thanks for the report
I’ve been following the Badgers camp podcast with Zach Heilprin and Jesse Temple. Lots of good content and player updates. If you don’t follow I’d recommend doing so.
In general, Van Dyke has looked pretty decent at QB. So have the receivers and RBs. Defensively, they should be a lot better. The linebacker group in particular has been impressive. The defensive backfield is also pretty loaded.
I think one area of concern are it would seem our OL is still having some issues with good or athletic pass rushers.
The other thing I’ve been hearing is run defense at times has been suspect.
Now, they have a fantastic RB room with a ton of quality depth. So that might have something to do with it. They’ve also added a few decent LBs and pass rushers and it would seem those guys are stepping up.
It is going to be interesting to see if Bucky can step and be better this year. Their schedule is pretty tough with Bama coming to town (I hate Fox big noon for this game being so early), then the week after heading to USC. Then later in the year they have PSU at home, @Iowa, home to Oregon, and then at what could be a much improved Nebraska team.
I do think Fickell is making nice progress but its going to be tough this year.
The thing with the schedule is I think Alabama in a transition year and an early season game can help Wisconsin. Plus it’s in Madison.
I also wonder about Oregon and their switch to the Big Ten. Might they have some adjustments to make as well?
Honestly I’m not worried at all about USC.
@Tschmack posted:The thing with the schedule is I think Alabama in a transition year and an early season game can help Wisconsin. Plus it’s in Madison.
I also wonder about Oregon and their switch to the Big Ten. Might they have some adjustments to make as well?
Honestly I’m not worried at all about USC.
Alabama may be in a transition year, but even in a down year look at the talent they have on the team. The game being in Wisconsin does help, but I think it means they'll lose something like 30-10 instead of 45-3 if it were a road game. There's always a chance, but the talent difference is like what we watched this weekend when the Packers sat their best 31 players and the Broncos went with their starters.
Just from the 2024 recruiting class Alabama has 5 five-star and 14 four-star recruits. In the 2023 class, they brought in another 5 five-star and 20 four-star guys. In 2022, it was 3 and 19. I didn't look how many guys transferred out, but that's 13 five-star and 43 four-star guys in the last 3 classes. Overall, their entire first and second units are composed of 4 and 5 star guys and half their starters are probably 5-star recruits.
The Badgers have recruited 0 5-star and 10 4-star recruits in the last three recruiting classes.
Alabama is in a transition year, but the talent differential is immense. Not all 5-stars turn out good (Logan Brown, for example), but the hit rate is very high with them. And these guys aren't just good college players, the 5-stars end up being guys that play in Pro Bowls in the NFL. Alabama has averaged roughly 4-5 first round NFL draft picks per year for the better part of the last decade. Maybe in a few years, the recruiting will fade once the Saban effect wears off, but don't bet on it. For now, there is still a lot of leftovers from the Saban era, and it's not like DeBoer is a stiff (he was the NCAA coach of the year at Washington).
@Tschmack posted:The thing with the schedule is I think Alabama in a transition year and an early season game can help Wisconsin. Plus it’s in Madison.
I also wonder about Oregon and their switch to the Big Ten. Might they have some adjustments to make as well?
Honestly I’m not worried at all about USC.
I do think that UW could have a punchers chance against Bama because as you said its in Madison and Bama is starting out on a transition year. And we get them the week before they play Georgia so maybe they will overlook UW. But, IMHO at the end of the day the talent disparity will be the difference.
I do think Oregon will have some adjustments to make going to the Big Ten but they are a crazy talented team that also has a pretty decent schedule. They get OSU and Washington at home but also have to go to Michigan and who knows what UM will look like by then.
I’m not expecting them to beat Alabama. Despite UW upgrading their roster there’s still a big difference in talent. However, if Wisconsin can play a “clean” game (little to no mistakes or turnovers) and they get an easy score or two I give them a chance.
