Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema was not very popular among Badger fans in 2008. That will often be the case when your team avoids a losing season only because a kicker from Cal Poly missed three extra points in one game. Despite the ire from some UW backers, Bielema was able to quickly turn his program around, winning two Big Ten titles in the next three seasons and endearing himself to Wisconsin's fanbase. Now he only draws hate from the fans of opposing teams, a sign that his success has gotten under the skin of the rest of the Big Ten.

Take a look at some of the comments from fans writing into the ESPN Big Ten mailblog on the topic of the Big Ten's most hated coaches:

"As a Michigan State fan, I'm not sure if I have ever been angrier with a coach than I was at the end of last year's Big Ten Championship game. Wisconsin's punter made his Oscar-worthy dive to seal the game, I don't know if I've ever seen a coach as outwardly exuberant as Bret was in that moment. You would have thought his team just scored a touchdown on the most miraculous play in history."

"First, Bret Bielema...a totally spineless, classless jerk. Makes tacky comments about how great it is to be a Badger fan when questioned about the situations at PSU, OSU and UM. Sprints across the field like a tool to shake hands quickly with opposing coach in total disprespectful (sic) fashion."

Bielema continues to improve his program and coaching legacy at Wisconsin, and it's doubtful that other Big Ten fans will find a reason to start liking him. Bret, the haters gonna hate, so just keep winning.

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Details of Wisconsin basketball's 2012-13 non-conference schedule continue to trickle in, and the latest announcement is that the Badgers will play in the Las Vegas Invitational on the Friday and Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend. Possible opponents for Wisconsin in the four-team tournament include Creighton, Arizona State, and Arkansas. A potential matchup with Creighton is intriguing, as the Bluejays return most of their players from their NCAA tournament run this past March, including All-American forward Doug McDermott.

Wisconsin has made an effort in recent years to schedule away games in Las Vegas in both football and basketball, so this announcement comes as no large surprise. The hoops squad last played in Vegas in 2010, losing to UNLV 68-65. That game was best remembered for Mike Bruesewitz throwing an inbounds pass to a UNLV player when the Badgers were trailing by one late in the game.

This tournament also sets up two games for the Badgers to host at the Kohl Center. According to the Cornell Basketball Blog, the Big Red will be one of the two teams slated to play in Madison. I don't think I need to remind you what happened the last time the Badgers played Cornell in basketball.

The Wisconsin football team also plays away from Madison on Thanksgiving weekend, but they will be headed to a much less glamorous destination: State College, Pa. Still, there could be much at stake in the late-season matchup with Leaders Division rival Penn State.

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The day after Wisconsin's spring football game at Camp Randall, the Badgers received a commitment from in-state defensive end Chikwe Obasih. The junior at Brookfield Central HS is either a four-star or three-star recruit, depending on your preferred recruit rating service. Obasih, who received offers from Vanderbilt and Yale, will clearly bring the type of academic pedigree to Madison that the Badgers adore. He intends on entering the actuarial science and risk management majors in the School of Business.

Allen Trieu of Scout.com describes Obasih as a likely weakside end in college who just needs to add strength so he can effectively play the run: "An edge rusher who is light on his feet, Obasih has shown the athleticism and agility to make it tough for offensive linemen. He has a good spin move and his overall quickness is tough for would-be blockers. He shows good ability in pursuit and does not quit on plays."

Obasih was the second four/three-star recruit to commit to Wisconsin on Sunday, as Ohio WR Rob Wheelwright verbally committed to the Badgers earlier in the day. Scout rated Obasih the second-best Class of 2013 prospect in the state of Wisconsin. I've posted a video with some of his high school highlights at the end of this post. He is exactly the type of player Bret Bielema wants on his team- smart and talented.

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Most observers believe that the addition of quarterback Danny O'Brien will make the Wisconsin Badgers a better team next season. But at least one writer is not sold on O'Brien and thinks that this transfer will not be nearly as successful as Russell Wilson's last year. That writer is K.C. Joyner, who is the self-proclaimed "Football Scientist." In his ESPN article (Insider required), Joyner says that Wisconsin might not be the Big Ten Leaders Division favorite because of the "of the volume of issues O'Brien brings to the table." He then goes on to cite O'Brien's poor route depth metrics, questionable body language, struggles with a pass rush, and tendency to throw off his back foot as the reasons why the Badgers should not expect to win a third straight Big Ten title.

Joyner's been here before, folks. He wrote nearly the exact same article about Russell Wilson last year. And although Russell had a ridiculously good year, Joyner didn't back down, saying on Twitter two days ago that "Wilson played better than I thought he would, but he still had his share of costly gaffes." Costly gaffes?!?!?!? He had 33 touchdowns and 4 interceptions for crying out loud! I don't think Joyner watched much Wisconsin football last year.

Danny caught wind of this article and decided to respond to Joyner with a simple response: "challenge accepted."

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Jarrod Uthoff's transfer seemed harmless enough. The forward from Cedar Rapids, Iowa spent one season in Madison as a redshirt but then decided that Wisconsin wasn't were he wanted to be, for whatever reason. So what's the problem? Bo Ryan's decision to ban Uthoff from being able to play scholarship basketball at over 20 universities is becoming a public relations nightmare for the Wisconsin program.

Uthoff's restricted list of schools is as follows: the entire Big Ten, Marquette, the entire ACC, and Iowa State. The first 12 restrictions are reasonable, but the rest are questionable. Though Iowa State is a hotspot for transfers, the Badgers never play the Cyclones. And the Big Ten/ACC Challenge is a weak basis for disallowing Uthoff from heading to the ACC.

The only reason we know about this restrictions list is because Uthoff told the media about it. With it being a quiet time of year for college basketball, many of the college hoops pundits have picked up on this story and most of them think that Ryan has gone too far with the restrictions. While the media will eventually move on from the story, this situation will probably be used by other schools to recruit against Wisconsin. Bo Ryan is a very competitive man and probably didn't want to see Uthoff burn the Badgers on the court, but it seems Uthoff might end up burning Wisconsin off the court.

A few other random thoughts on the Uthoff situation:

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The decision to place Wisconsin into the Leaders Division was the most geographically nonsensical choice the Big Ten made with the new divisions. But the placement has proved fortuitous for the Badgers so far, as the other top two contenders in the division, Penn State and Ohio State, are not trending in a positive direction. Those two programs are struggling with issues that go far beyond their performance on the football field. The Buckeyes are reeling after a scandal that sent Jim Tressel and Terrelle Pryor packing, and now news has come out that Urban Meyer might be exactly who you wouldn't want to be leading your program out of turmoil.

Matt Hayes of the Sporting News wrote an article alleging that while serving as the head coach at Florida, Meyer created a culture of preferential treatment, put up with prevalent drug use, and abruptly left the program once he realized the size of the monster he created. Percy Harvin supposedly refused to run stairs for conditioning, and not coincidentally the team resorted to playing basketball the next day. There may have been a 'Circle of Trust' filled with elite players who Meyer treated preferentially. He would hide drug suspensions for his top athletes by creating fake injuries that would sideline them for a game. In the story, Meyer flatly denies most of these allegations.

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Last March, the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team season ended with a 61-54 loss to the Butler Bulldogs in the Sweet Sixteen. It's somewhat amazing the Badgers scored that many points, because there was a 9-minute long stretch where Wisconsin did not score a single point. Butler held a 29-24 lead after two Mike Bruesewitz free throws with 3:10 remaining in the first half, and that lead swelled to 42-24 when Bruesewitz finally sunk a layup with 14:03 to go in the second half. To recap, Wisconsin scored 54 points in 31 minutes and 0 in the other 9.

If the Badgers intend on making some more noise in the tournament this time around, they can't afford to get stagnant offensively. They also cannot afford to turn the shot clock into an extra defender when they hit an offensive rut. Playing at a comfortable pace -- not too fast, not too slow -- is crucial to the Badgers' offensive success, according to assistant coach Greg Gard. Going too quickly will lead to charges and turnovers, but going too slowly will lead to standing around and rushed field goal attempts to beat an expiring shot clock.

The Badgers have had their fair share of scoring droughts this season. Sometimes they lost because of one (at Michigan), they almost gave away a game because of one (at Minnesota), and sometimes they won in spite of one (at Penn State). Sadly, if they happen to you in the NCAA tournament, you usually lose.

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New Wisconsin offensive coordinator Matt Canada was recently interviewed by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg. When Canada was asked about his priorities for the Badger offense this spring, he replied: "We feel we need to find a quarterback. That's one area everybody can talk about."

Could the upcoming season be one like 2009, where Scott Tolzien came out of nowhere to earn the starting quarterback job? He led the Badgers to a 10-3 record and a Champs Sports Bowl victory over Miami. Or maybe a repeat of 2011 is in order, with former Maryland QB Danny O'Brien taking the role of Russell Wilson, a talented ACC quarterback transferring in to Madison to save the day. A worst case scenario would be a repeat of 2008, where Allan Evridge and Dustin Sherer barely squeaked the Badgers into bowl eligibility.

Canada said that Jon Budmayr and Curt Phillips are recovering from their respective injuries nicely, but really didn't go into much detail. Joe Brennan served as the backup quarterback last season, so by one school of logic he would be considered the favorite to win the starting job. Joel Stave could be considered the Tolzien-like dark horse candidate, as Stave didn't even receive a scholarship to play for Bucky. And then you've got quarterback prodigy/wunderkind Bart Houston flying in from California to play for the Badgers, but when's the last time Wisconsin handed the keys of the dump truck to a bright-eyed and bushy-tailed freshman?

It'll be a fun off-season for these guys. Vote in the poll after the jump for who you think will be the starter in 2012. May the best quarterback win.

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When it comes to the college football landscape, change is in the air. And I'm not just talking about West Virginia making the leap from the Big East to the Big 12. I'm talking about the much-maligned Bowl Championship Series finally looking into changing the way college football's champion is crowned. Big Ten conference commissioner Jim Delany has changed his stance and is now in favor of the "plus-one" playoff structure, something he was publicly against as recently as December. When it comes to fixing college football's broken football system, Delany and the other conference commissioners have pretty much all the power.

So what does Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez want Delany to hold out for when he's busy discussing playoff formats with the other commissioners? Alvarez discusses what he wants and doesn't want to see in a new playoff system in a column in the Feb. 9th Varsity online magazine:

• The Big Ten needs to protect its exclusive relationship with the Rose Bowl.
• A plus-one with semifinal games on campus sites would level the playing field. Alvarez feels SEC teams have an advantage with most bowl games occurring in their part of the country.
• He is open to anything that enhances the college football product, but doesn't want to dilute the regular season.

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Happy football signing day, Wisconsin fans. This has never been a really big day for the Badgers, as Bret Bielema runs a program that doesn't rely on elite recruiting talent. It's not easy to pinpoint one reason we don't see many five-star recruits put on a red Wisconsin hat this time of year, but I can think of a few reasons why.

Firstly, the state of Wisconsin is not a bastion of high school football talent. And Wisconsin is not like Oregon, a state in close proximity to a football recruiting hotbed in California. Secondly, Wisconsin as a football program does not have the flair that attracts the top recruits. Blame the weather, the boring Adidas uniforms, or the propensity to rely on the running game. Finally, the Badgers want a recruit who will work hard, has a good head on his shoulders, and is academically sound. That eliminates potential recruits who are otherwise extremely talented at playing football. So, Wisconsin won't have a player in the ESPNU 150 rankings unless offensive lineman Jordan Diamond picks Bucky later this week. But the Badgers did take more chances in recruiting this year, backed by Big Ten titles and Rose Bowl appearances as recruiting tools.

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As you probably are already aware, the report from the investigation of an incident involving then-senior associate athletic director John Chadima during Wisconsin's trip to the Rose Bowl were released to the public last night. Here's Adam's story on it, and here is the PDF report itself.

Prior to the release of the report, we had already heard rumblings that Chadima was drunk at a party he would throw on the bowl trip every year. But the investigation released the information that an inebriated Chadima made an unwanted sexual advance on a male student employee in the athletic department (known as "John Doe" in the report).

The good news is that this seemed to be the first incident of the sort involving Chadima, who worked in the department for 21 years. There didn't seem to be a pattern of behavior from Chadima that was going unnoticed or was covered up by the athletic department. Wisconsin athletics and the university handled the situation appropriately, not trying to sweep the incident under the rug. The recent Penn State scandal may have helped to shape Wisconsin's plan to deal with these types of things.

The bad news is the UW athletic department's policy on alcohol looks terribly inept or even nonexistent. Athletic director Barry Alvarez only "did not recommend that professional staff drink with students and employees." A mere recommendation isn't going to cut it here. When you have student employees drinking with superiors and they think they have to do what the superior says so they don't get fired (Chadima threatened to fire multiple students on the trip), that can lead to bad situations. Some of the people at the party were not of drinking age. Also, I'm sure that donors to UW Athletics were thrilled to hear that their donations funded the alcohol served at the party. While alcohol is often ubiquitous at the University of Wisconsin, the athletic department needs to be held to a higher standard.

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Wisconsin basketball started the Big Ten conference season 1-3, highlighted by two conference losses at the normally impenetrable Kohl Center. With a trip to Purdue on tap next, things really could have fallen apart for the Badgers, but they were able to start fast and hold on for a rare Mackey Arena victory. Then the Badgers eked out an ugly victory over Nebraska in a matchup of stylistically similar teams. It wasn't the prettiest two-game winning streak the Wisconsin Badgers basketball squad has ever put together, but it was one that was desperately needed.

Fortunately for the Badgers, recent losses by top Big Ten teams ensure that Wisconsin is still in the hunt. Usually, the Big Ten conference regular season winner ends up with anywhere from around 1 to 4 losses. This year is looking more and more like a 4-loss champion year as the conference has up to ten teams capable of making life miserable for their opponents. The Badgers would enjoy more of Iowa beating Michigan and Northwestern beating Michigan State.

B1G basketball blog Big Ten Powerhouse has Wisconsin ranked sixth in their latest power rankings. While it seems out of reach for the Badgers to win the conference this year, especially with trips to Columbus and East Lansing still on the horizon, there's still a great shot at continuing the "fourth place or better" conference finish Bo Ryan's teams have made such a habit of in recent years- a lot of winnable games are left on the schedule, and this team seemingly hasn't yet reached its full potential. With Packers fever dying down and the students about to return from winter break, one can only hope that we're due for six games of the Kohl Center atmosphere and dominance that has been lacking lately.

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The 2011-12 college football season ended with a whimper last night as the Crimson Tide of Alabama made the previously undefeated LSU Tigers look offensively challenged en route to a 21-0 victory in the BCS National Championship. Not many people outside of SEC country were excited about the rematch of the top two SEC squads, and unless you enjoy field goals, the game itself provided little in the way of excitement. Wisconsin had a common opponent with both squads. Alabama beat Penn State 27-11 in State College, while the Badgers obliterated the Nittany Lions 45-7 in Madison. LSU defeated Oregon 40-27 early in the season, while the Ducks held off Wisconsin in Pasadena, 45-38. However, LSU's offense only managed 273 total yards against the Ducks, not many compared to the 508 yards the Badgers had against Oregon.

Did Wisconsin have a better offense than both of the teams in the championship game? There's a solid case to be made for that. But defense wins championships, and the Badgers' defense was certainly an achilles heel at times this season. Without naming names, one defensive end who now plays for the Houston Texans would have been useful on the defensive side of the ball. Still, quarterback Russell Wilson was everything we could have hoped for when he announced his transfer. Montee Ball was a touchdown machine. Nick Toon and Jared Abbrederis made for a dynamic wideout duo. The offensive line was stout as always, and the defense was solid in most games.

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Senior wide receiver Nick Toon has had a prolific career as a Wisconsin Badger. Undaunted by the shadow of success his father Al Toon created as a wide receiver in Madison, Nick has piled up the third-most receiving yards in school history with 2,343 in his four seasons at Wisconsin. But not everything in his college career has gone perfectly.

This season, Toon leads the Badgers in many relevant receiving categories, but at times he has been overshadowed by breakout performer Jared Abbrederis, who narrowly trails Toon in those aforementioned categories. Even third-string receiver Jeff Duckworth stole much of the spotlight after his spectacular catch on fourth down to keep the Badgers alive in the Big Ten Championship. Despite the preponderance of the "TOOOOOOOOOOON" chant on Saturdays at Camp Randall, many fans see Toon as a player who is too fragile and having an attitude that doesn't quite fit with the Wisconsin Football narrative. A crucial dropped pass and a lackluster 3 receptions for 46 yards in the Rose Bowl did even less to endear Toon to the fans.

Which is why this Rose Bowl is incredibly important for Toon. It's a great stage for him to firmly establish his legacy as a Badger, on his terms. It's the last game of his career and it's a chance at redemption after last year's performance and loss. On January 2nd, I hope to see Toon end his career as one of the best receivers in Wisconsin history in style.

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Once a year, many college football fans, including myself, tend to ask the "what if we had a playoff system in college football?" question. As Wisconsin would again be present in numerous iterations of a playoff bracket following a solid regular season and Big Ten Championship victory, let's take a hypothetical look at what Wisconsin's position would be in a few postseason bracket set-ups. I decided to use the AP Poll rankings to simulate what a hypothetical playoff committee would rank teams, as I feel it is the most reasonable ranking system out there. I also used the college football simulator at WhatIfSports.com to produce the tentative winners of these games, which is just much more fun and intriguing than advancing the higher seeded team. (Note: USC will not be considered eligible for this exercise.)

FOUR TEAM CONFERENCE CHAMPION BRACKET

This setup would cause as much controversy as the BCS already does, but it's the only way Wisconsin would earn a spot in a four-team playoff this year. In this scenario, the four highest ranked conference champions would earn their way to a four-team showdown.

Monday, Jan. 2

#6 Oregon Ducks (11-2, Pac-12 Champions) at #3 Oklahoma State Cowboys (11-1, Big 12 Champions): 4 PM, Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, Okla. (Oklahoma State wins 44-34.)

#9 Wisconsin Badgers (11-2, Big Ten Champions) at #1 LSU Tigers (13-0, SEC Champions): 7:30 PM, Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, La. (Wisconsin wins 55-17.)

Monday, Jan. 9- Semifinal losers meet in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. Tentative opponents: LSU vs. Oregon. (Oregon wins 23-20.)

Wednesday, Jan. 11- Semifinal winners meet in the National Championship in New Orleans, La. Tentative opponents: Oklahoma State vs. Wisconsin. (Wisconsin wins the national championship, 34-31.)

Notes: Not an easy road for the Badgers here. LSU at their place at night would be incredibly tough task, but it would be a really fun to see how Russell and Montee match up against the Honey Badger and the rest of the staunch LSU defense. I don't know why WhatIfSports thinks we could drop 55 on the Tigers in Death Valley! (The second sim I did, to make sure it wasn't broken, had LSU winning 31-24.) A Wisconsin win means facing a tough offense in the national championship, a loss means a nice consolation appearance in the Fiesta Bowl. The predictor taunts us with a Wisconsin national championship victory. By the way, this particular playoff set-up doesn't seem sustainable.

EIGHT TEAM BRACKET

The more the merrier, right? There are many ways you can set up a eight team bracket, and here I'm going to go with a few basic rules to set this one up. There are six potential guaranteed berths: SEC champion, Big Ten champion, ACC champion, Big 12 champion, Pac-12 champion, and highest-ranked non-AQ team (not necessarily champion). Yes, the Big East is now no longer considered an AQ conference here. But there's one caveat to these guaranteed berths: the team has to finish in the top 15 of the hypothetical committee's rankings to qualify for the guaranteed berth. This year, all 6 guaranteed berths qualified, leaving 2 at-large spots. Other years, more at-large spots could be open.

Saturday, Dec. 24

#14 Clemson Tigers (10-3, ACC Champions) at #1 LSU Tigers (13-0, SEC Champions): 7 PM, Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, La. (LSU wins, 40-3.)

#9 Wisconsin Badgers (11-2, Big Ten Champions) at #2 Alabama Crimson Tide (11-1, at-large berth): 4 PM, Bryant-Denny Stadium, Tuscaloosa, Ala. (Alabama wins, 44-30.)

#8 Boise State Broncos (11-1, non-AQ qualifier) at #3 Oklahoma State Cowboys (11-1, Big 12 Champions): 1 PM, Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, Okla. (Oklahoma State wins, 45-27.)

#6 Oregon Ducks (11-2, Pac-12 Champions) at #4 Stanford Cardinal (11-1, at-large berth): 8:30 PM, Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, Calif. (Oregon wins, 38-21.)

Monday, Jan. 2: Highest remaining seed hosts lowest remaining seeds, 2nd highest remaining hosts 3rd highest remaining. Tentative: Oregon at LSU (Oregon wins, 16-9), Oklahoma State at Alabama (Oklahoma State wins, 62-27.)

Wednesday, Jan. 4: Two quarterfinal losers meet in the Orange Bowl in Miami, Fla. Tentative: Clemson vs. Boise State (Boise State wins, 66-19.)

Thursday, Jan. 5: Two quarterfinal losers meet in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, La. Tentative: Wisconsin vs. Stanford (Stanford wins, 37-20.)

Monday, Jan. 9: Semifinal losers meet in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz. Tentative: LSU vs. Alabama (Alabama wins, 52-17.)

Wednesday, Jan. 11: Semifinal winners meet in the National Championship in New Orleans, La. Tentative: Oregon vs. Oklahoma State. (Oregon wins the national championship, 52-35.)

Notes: #7 Arkansas is the team that gets screwed in this scenario. If #5 USC was playoff eligible, they'd be screwed too. #6 Oregon having to go to #4 Stanford in the first round would raise a lot of eyebrows as the Ducks beat Stanford head-to-head, but the committee looks at more than just head-to-head results when compiling their rankings, and Oregon's loss to USC hurt the Ducks' ranking. Wisconsin vs. Alabama would be another fun game, and I actually kind of like the Badgers' chance in that one. The road to a national championship would be Alabama, LSU, and Oklahoma State, so the Badgers would certainly have to earn it. Other interesting oddity is the possible clash of Boise orange and Clemson orange at the Orange Bowl.

That will do it for the first part of this what-if playoff installment. The two Rose Bowl participants both picked up hypothetical national championship victories, so congratulations to the Oregon Ducks and Wisconsin Badgers on their fake titles. In part two next week, we'll throw even more teams into the playoff mix and see what craziness ensues. See you then.

After a less than dominating performance by the Wisconsin defense in the Big Ten Championship game, not many people think that the Badgers will be able to stop Oregon's potent offensive attack in the upcoming Rose Bowl. Sporting News's Matt Hayes says "the Badgers don't have enough on defense to handle the Ducks' speed," and his colleague Steve Greenberg says "the Ducks' speed and pace will overtax the depth of a UW defense that was dominated by Michigan State in the Big Ten title game." Both writers picked the Badgers to give up around 40 points and lose by 10 or so. Similarly, the sportsbooks in Las Vegas are currently projecting a 39-33 Ducks victory in the game, not really displaying much faith in the Wisconsin defense.

The Oregon Ducks are averaging 46.2 points per game this season, a total bolstered by the crazed speed at which they run their offense. Their lowest point output of the season was against LSU with 27 (the most points LSU gave up in a game this season, ironically). They had 34 points in a win over Washington and 35 in a loss to USC. But the Ducks struggled offensively in BCS bowl games in the past two seasons, only averaging 18 points a game in two losses.

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Now that a second consecutive Rose Bowl appearance for the Wisconsin Badgers is a very real possibility, some Badger fans seem to be getting cold feet. The main concern of these people is the strength of Wisconsin's potential Rose Bowl foe, the Oregon Ducks. (This fear is well documented in a comments section such as the one on this bowl projections article.) Indeed, Chip Kelly's team can be a scary one to face- they operate at a breakneck speed on offense, try to maximize the number of possessions in a game, and attempt to spread your defense out as much as possible.

Yes, maybe facing an above-average SEC opponent like South Carolina in a New Year's Florida bowl would be an easier task for the Badgers. So should we root for them to stub their toe against Penn State this weekend? If not Saturday, how about dropping a second straight game to the Spartans in Indianapolis? Both hardly sound like palatable options to me.

Even if the Ducks were to roll in Pasadena, a Rose Bowl loss wouldn't take anything away a second straight Big Ten Championship title. And between you and me, Oregon doesn't seem that frightening this year.

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The stereotypical question asked when a team enters a tailspin in the course of a season is "can they bounce back from adversity?" But the adversity the Badgers have faced the past two games doesn't fit any of the stereotypes out there.

Two straight primetime road games against opponents more than capable of protecting their home field was enough of a challenge at the surface, but the Badgers made things even more difficult with ill-timed penalties, poor performance in nearly every special teams unit, and other self-inflicted problems that make it incredibly hard to win road games. And then there were the defensive collapses at the end of both games. A lot of players and coaches described the past two weeks as a situation they've never experienced anything like.

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Plenty of things to rant about tonight. Head on into the comments and let the venting commence. Please do your best to be respectful of your fellow posters here.

I don't know about you guys, but I really want to see the Badgers play Michigan State in the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game.

The state of Wisconsin's traditional football rivalries is in pretty bad shape. The Golden Gophers of Minnesota are nothing more than a joke of a football team right now- I'm not even sure the Badgers will bother to bring Paul Bunyan's Axe along to TCF Bank Stadium this year. Meanwhile, the Iowa Hawkeyes aren't even on the schedule right now because of the new divisional setup in the conference. Even the potential rivalry with Ohio State is on life support with the turmoil in Columbus because of rampant NCAA rule-breaking.

Enter Michigan State. The only team to beat the Wisconsin Badgers in the regular season last year. It was a 34-24 MSU victory that, despite what some Spartan fans will try to tell you, was a close game. Spartans had the ball on the one-yard line, fourth down, up 27-24, with about three minutes left in the game. They could have kicked the field goal, but perhaps were worried about a Badgers touchdown drive to win the game, so they went for the jugular. Credit them for a great play-action play call to seal the game.

The home team has won the last six games in the Spartan/Badger series. The last time Wisconsin won in East Lansing was 2002, and the last time MSU won in Madison was 2001. The two schools have a fierce basketball rivalry as well. The trash talk in East Lansing this week has run rampant, but the Badgers characteristically have refused to get involved. Michigan State fans are still angry that Wisconsin received the opportunity to play in the Rose Bowl over their team. Plenty of story-lines make this a fun matchup. It's really a shame that these two teams ended up in different divisions, because this is a game that deserves to be played annually.

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This is a scary offensive machine the Badgers have in Madison this year. Paul Chryst's offense has averaged 48.4 points per game, good for third in the nation. But how? Unlike most of the teams surrounding Wisconsin in the PPG ranking, the Badgers don't run a flashy spread option attack or air raid assault. It's still a powerful running game and a boring pro-style passing attack, always staples of the Big Ten Conference and Wisconsin Football. Even a little kid playing the NCAA Football video game on his Xbox knows the intricacies of a pro-style offense; it's not rocket science. How the hell is Wisconsin having so much success with an offense that should in theory be easy to game-plan for? Clearly, the Badgers are taking a common football strategy and executing it better than anyone else in the country.

You can't game-plan against getting manhandled up front by the Wisconsin offensive line. You can't game-plan against your defenders getting worn down and tired at the end of football games. The running threats of Montee Ball and James White are giving Russell Wilson some of the easiest coverages he's ever thrown against as a collegiate football player. In return, Wilson is opening up extra running lanes for the two backs. Russell's ever-present ability to scramble for the first down puts extra doubt in defenders' minds. And the Badger play-action is incredibly deadly. Paul Chryst's brilliant offensive mind leads to cool plays like shovel passes and tight end screens. Maybe Wisconsin has yet to play an elite defense this season, but right now, this offense sure looks like a work of gridiron art.

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As Wisconsin's players and coaches settle in for their last weekend off until December, they will get a chance to look at some of the league and national competition duke it out. Undefeated teams Illinois and Michigan head out on the road for their first away games of the season. Meanwhile, Iowa heads to Penn State and Ohio State travels to Nebraska in games that could be a death knell to the losers. The four teams I just mentioned have compiled a collective 1-2 conference record so far, with the only victory coming against Indiana. Wow.

On the national stage, the big game schedule is a little light. There's the Red River Rivalry featuring undefeated Texas and Oklahoma. Florida tries to figure out a way to crack LSU's defense in Baton Rouge. Fresno State will try to do the unthinkable and upset Boise State tonight. And Auburn heads to Arkansas in a battle of highly-ranked one loss SEC squads.

John let us know our rooting interests for the week. Now let's take a look at who has the best chance to pick up the Big Ten wins this week. Also, cast your vote for which favorite you think is most likely to be toppled tomorrow.

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Perhaps you've heard the rumblings by now: Wisconsin's schedule this season is turning out to be incredibly weak. The presumed top two teams on the Badgers' non-conference schedule have floundered. Oregon State has stumbled its way to an 0-4 start, and Northern Illinois has looked rather unimpressive on its way to a 2-3 record. Wisconsin's strength of schedule is so poor that one of the BCS computers still has Nebraska ranked ahead of the Badgers (do keep in mind these computers are forbidden to use margin of victory in their rankings). Another BCS computer has Wisconsin's strength of schedule as the 113th toughest in the country so far this season.

It's going to get worse before it gets better. The Indiana Hoosiers are the next team to arrive in Madison, and the BCS computers will probably hate the Badgers once that game is over. The two game road swing to East Lansing and Columbus at the end of the month will probably help bring the Wisconsin SOS out of the gutter, even though the ugly game the two played on Saturday prompted this NSFW and hilarious post on Every Day Should Be Saturday. Anyways, let's take a look at some rooting interests Wisconsin has right now.

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The Nebraska Cornhuskers receive their true initiation into the Big Ten Conference this Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium. Much has been made of whether or not Nebraska can adjust to the style of football played in the Big Ten. The Huskers' old conference, the Big 12, was filled with teams sporting talented quarterbacks and finesse offensive attacks. The Big Ten boasts a few teams with spread offenses as well, but power football is the name of the game here. The teams with the most success are the ones that dictate a game with staunch defense and overpowering running games.

Fortunately for Nebraska, they already have the defensive chops needed to succeed in the Big Ten. Defensive tackle Jared Crick will be a force in the middle for the Blackshirts. (Crick will play this Saturday.) Cornerback Alfonzo Dennard is a talented cover corner and will make things difficult for Big Ten quarterbacks. However, it's not clear that these Cornhusker defenders have ever faced a running game as powerful as Wisconsin's. They will need to be ready to play some physical football, or it's going to be Badgers/Buckeyes 2010 all over again.

Wisconsin's defense will also have to prepare for an efficient running game, however. Wisconsin and Nebraska are tied for second in the country for rushing touchdowns this season with 16 each.

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I had a dream the other night that Wisconsin lost to Nebraska. I'm fully convinced that Wisconsin is a better team than the Cornhuskers and should beat them on October 1st, but clearly my subconscious has other ideas. If the Badgers let Nebraska win, the Huskers will think they can waltz right into the Big Ten Conference and dominate everyone immediately. Not acceptable. Anyways, that will be a fun game at Camp Randall and a fun atmosphere in Madison. Plus, College GameDay will likely be in town which always puts the icing on the cake of a football Saturday.

Alas, we're still stuck with one final ho-hum week of non-conference play. 11 Big Ten teams are in action, and all 11 teams are favored in their respective games. The opponents include Colorado, San Diego State, and a whole bunch of meh. Nebraska's first road game will be of interest to Badgers fans, as it be worthwhile seeing how the Cornhuskers perform away from Lincoln. There could be some other good games, but only because there are a few Big Ten teams this year that are playing a very poor brand of football right now. Let's take a look at this week's uninspiring slate of matchups.

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Head coach Bret Bielema likes what he sees with the Badgers' special teams so far. He singles out Tyler Dippel and Bradie Ewing as two players he's really been impressed by.

ESPN's Big Ten blog releases its latest Heisman Watch. Russell Wilson leads the pack so far, and Montee Ball is not far behind at 4th.

Big Ten football teams are very popular, according to a recent study. Wisconsin is the 12th most popular team in the country and 4th most popular in the conference. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the country were Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State.

Co-defensive coordinator Chris Ash considers himself a Lovie Smith fan. Ash is a brave man saying something like that deep in the heart of Packer country.

Russell Wilson was named an honorable mention for the Davey O'Brien Quarterback of the Week. You should go vote for him to win the actual Davey O'Brien Award.

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NCAA Football No. 8/9 Wisconsin at Northern Illinois
	vs
2-0		1-1
Sept. 17, 2011  2:30 PM CT Soldier Field (61,500), Chicago, IL. Weather: 67 degrees, Partly cloudy, 0% chance of rain
TV: ESPN3.com (Jim Barbar, Christian Fauria) Radio: Wisconsin Radio Network (Matt Lepay, Mike Lucas)
All-time Series: Wisconsin leads 11-1 Last Meeting: Wisconsin won 28-20 Sept. 5, 2009 in Madison.

Yes, this game thread is one half late. But come on in- let's talk about the second half of the Badgers game. Wisconsin leads Northern Illinois 28-7 at halftime in Soldier Field.

As an autumnal chill falls upon Big Ten country, college football fans are looking forward to a larger abundance of meaningful football games. We're still two weeks away from the start of Big Ten conference play, but there is actually a good amount of evenly matched non-conference games on the schedule this weekend. Florida State versus Oklahoma will take the national spotlight tonight, but I think you'll find some fun Big Ten games on the schedule as well. Maybe it's because many of the Big Ten teams seem especially flaky this season, but flaky leads to exciting football (I'm looking at you, Iowa and Michigan).

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