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Last year was a very unusual one for the Wisconsin football team as it cycled through three head coaches – including new head coach Luke Fickell. What to expect from his Badgers this year under Fickell? They are favored on the college football odds to win the Big Ten West – this is the last year for divisions in the Big Ten.

Wisconsin Badgers 2023 College Football Season Betting Guide | MyBookie College Betting Preview

Wisconsin Badgers | Big Ten Conference during the 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season
School: University of Wisconsin–Madison
Home field: Camp Randall Stadium | 80,321

Wisconsin Odds to Win Championship:: +7000
Odds to win Big Ten West: +120
Odds to win Big Ten: +650
Regular-season win total: 8.5

Wisconsin had been a bedrock of success since Paul Chryst took over ahead of the 2015 season but in a stunner the Badgers fired Chryst following a 34-10 home loss to Illinois last year dropped UW to 2-3. That was a bad loss against an Illini team coached by former Badgers coach Bret Bielema. Wisconsin also fell 52-21 to Ohio State on Sept. 24, one of its worst losses in recent memory, and lost 17-14 at home against Washington State on Sept. 10 as a heavy favorite. Chryst, who was born in Madison, finished 67-26 in seven-plus seasons at Wisconsin, his alma mater.

Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, a former star UW player, took over on an interim basis and led the team to a 4-3 record but in a minor surprise didn’t get the full-time job even though the players wanted him to. UW boosters couldn’t turn down the chance to hire Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell – that’s a grand slam hire. Leonhard probably would have gotten the job if Fickell didn’t say yes.

Fickell went 57-18 with two AAC titles and a College Football Playoff appearance at Cincinnati. He has deep Big Ten ties as a former Ohio State player and long-time Buckeyes assistant coach, even serving as the team’s interim leader in the wake of Jim Tressel’s dismissal in 2011. He continued as Urban Meyer’s defensive coordinator from 2012-16 until he was hired by Cincinnati. Fickell did officially get credit for Wisconsin’s 24-17 upset of Oklahoma State in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. Fickell was on the sideline but all the decisions were left to Leonhard. He left the program after the game.

Who will be the starting QB in Year 1 for Fickell? The Badgers needed a new quarterback with Graham Mertz off to Florida, and they got a slew of them through the transfer portal. Fickell brought in Nick Evers (Oklahoma), Braedyn Locke (Mississippi State), and likely starter Tanner Mordecai (SMU).

Mordecai threw for 7,152 yards and 72 touchdowns in an SMU uniform while leading the program to a 15-10 record under coaches Sonny Dykes and Rhett Lashlee. Mordecai started his career as a blue-chip recruit at Oklahoma under Lincoln Riley but transferred to SMU after losing the starting quarterback job to Spencer Rattler in 2020.

Per usual, UW will have one of the nation’s top running backs and top offensive lines. Last year, Braelon Allen led the Badgers and ranked 4th in the Big Ten with 1,242 rushing yards and was named second-team all-Big Ten. He rushed for at least 100 yards in 7 games.

New play-caller Phil Longo should open up the offense from his Air Raid roots, but this unit still goes through Allen and that offensive line. The Badgers lost two major contributors on the O-line: guard-tackle Tyler Beach, their most experienced lineman (58 games, 30 starts); and center Joe Tippmann. Cincinnati transfer Jake Renfro was targeted to replace Tippmann. But he was injured early in the spring, forcing Tanor Bortolini to slide over from guard.

The defense returns eight starters and should be one of the best in the Big Ten. New play-caller Mike Tressel will blend Leonhard’s schemes with the 3-3-5 defense Tressel and Fickell used to great effect at Cincinnati. Inside linebacker Maema Njongmeta returns after leading the team in tackles (95).

In the last 11 years, Wisconsin has finished eighth or better in defensive SP+ nationally five times and has only once ranked lower than 24th. Meanwhile, at Cincinnati Fickell’s Bearcats finished between 10th and 28th for five straight years.

Wisconsin is a 23-point favorite for its season opener at home vs. MAC school Buffalo, which is coming off a 7-6 season in the MAC that included a Camellia Bowl win against Georgia Southern, Wisconsin’s Week 3 opponent. UW will win that as well as Week 2 at Washington State and Week 3 vs. Georgia Southern. In the Big Ten, the Badgers avoid Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State from the East Division but do host Ohio State on Oct. 28. The regular-season finale at Minnesota may determine the West Division champion.

Wisconsin Badgers 2023 Season Prediction

Over 8.5 wins (9-3), Big Ten West champion

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