MADISON – As Paul Chryst was preparing for his second season as Wisconsin’s head coach in the summer of 2016, many of the questions he and his players faced involved a schedule that appeared treacherous.
UW, coming off a 10-3 season but unranked, was set to face five teams ranked in the top 15 of the coaches poll.
The players on that team insisted the schedule provided opportunities and offered reasons for optimism rather than cause for trepidation.
UW opened that season by stunning No. 5 LSU at Lambeau Field and finished the season with an 11-3 mark after defeating No. 12 and previously unbeaten Western Michigan in the Cotton Bowl.
With the Big Ten expanding to 18 teams and the playoff field expanding to 12 teams this season, can Luke Fickell help his second UW team make a similar run?
Luke Fickell’s players have heard for months that their 2024 schedule should be daunting
UW’s 2024 schedule – at least on paper – provides myriad chances for the Badgers to make an impactful statement.
Alabama visits Camp Randall Stadium on Sept. 14. UW opens Big Ten play two weeks later at USC, hosts Penn State on Oct. 26 and Oregon on Nov. 16.
“We’ve been hearing about it all offseason from everybody,” cornerback Ricardo Hallman said. “We know it is a tough schedule but we’re not making it bigger than what it is.”
The 2016 team got the most out of two quarterbacks (Alex Hornibrook and Bart Houston), a solid tailback rotation led by Corey Clement (1,375 yards, 15 touchdowns) and a stellar defense that featured playmakers on the line, at linebacker and in the secondary.
That defense ranked No. 4 nationally in points allowed (15.6 per game) and finished third in rushing defense (98.8 yards per game) and seventh in total defense (301.4 ypg).
UW also led all then-Power Five teams in interceptions (22).
That team also had the advantage of playing in the West Division. UW finished 7-2 in the league, with a pair of seven-point losses to No. 4 Michigan and No. 2 Ohio State, before falling by seven points to No. 8 Penn State in the Big Ten title game.
Fickell’s second UW team will have to finish in the top two of an 18-team league, without divisions, to reach the Big Ten title game and will need to play significantly better on both sides of the ball than the 2023 crew did.
Phil Longo’s offense never got untracked in 2023 and UW averaged just 23.5 points per game. That was the No. 91 mark in the nation and UW’s worst mark since the 2004 season (20.4).
Mike Tressel’s defense finished No. 20 nationally in points allowed (20.2 per game) but struggled early in losses to Washington State, Indiana and Northwestern and couldn’t get any key stops late in the loss to LSU in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
Luke Fickell’s second Cincinnati team was dramatically better than his first unit
Fickell enters his 10th full season as a head coach with a 71-31 record. His worst season came in 2017, his first leading the Cincinnati program.
Fickell took over a program that had cratered under Tommy Tuberville in 2016. The Bearcats finished 1-7 in the American Athletic Conference and 4-8 overall.
Under Fickell in 2017, Cincinnati finished just 2-6 in the AAC East Division and 4-8 overall.
That set the stage for a remarkable turnaround in Year 2.
Cincinnati swept its four nonconference foes – UCLA, Miami (Ohio), Alabama A&M and Ohio – before winning its first two league games – against UConn and Tulane – by a combined 86-28 to improve its record to 6-0.
The Bearcats went on to finish 6-2 in the league, with losses to Temple and league champion Central Florida, and capped an 11-2 season with a victory over Virginia Tech in the Military Bowl.
After seeing Wisconsin finish 5-4 in the Big Ten and 7-6 overall – both disappointing marks – in 2023, Fickell and his staff are working toward a resurgence in 2024.
Unlike that second season at Cincinnati, however, UW faces a scheduled that on paper appears daunting.
Alabama, which finished 12-2 last season, highlights the nonconference schedule. UW avoids playing Ohio State or Michigan, but league foes Oregon (12-2), Penn State (10-3) and Iowa (10-4) were a combined 32-9 last season. The Big Ten opener is at USC, which is expected to be better than last season (8-5).
The 2018 Cincinnati team faced what turned out to be a favorable schedule.
Cincinnati’s four nonconference foes finished a combined 24-24.
The Bearcats’ six AAC victories came against teams that finished a combined 26-49. Temple and Central Florida, which defeated Cincinnati, finished a combined 20-6.
Will Fickell’s second UW team be more talented and better overall than his first? Perhaps. But UW’s schedule might prevent a turnaround similar to what Cincinnati fans saw in 2018.
“At the end of the day we’re excited for the opportunity to play guys like Oregon, USC, Alabama…Penn State as well,” Hallman said.
“It is going to be exciting to see that type of competition and see where we stack up against those guys.”
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin football players set to meet challenge of difficult schedule
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
