Buck 'em up

With school looming and the heat causing milk to become a bad choice, people are desperately looking for a reason to live. Enter football. Whether you prefer college or pro football (the NFL edges out college by a nose personally), either brand involves people beating the living crap out of each other. So it’s time to turn our attention to America’s most popular sport, and we’ll begin with college football and our very own Wisconsin Badgers.

Last year, not too much was expected of Bucky, but the Badgers surprised many and ended the season with an impressive victory over Miami in the Champs Sports Bowl to finish the year at 10-3. Wisconsin returns 16 starters, including 10 on offense along with the entire starting offensive line. In case you haven’t heard, these guys are ginormous. And by ginormous, I mean an average height of 6’51/2” and an average weight of 325 pounds. Combine that with at least a year of experience for each member of the line, and you should see quarterback Scott Tolzien have all day to throw and Heisman trophy candidate John Clay have gaping holes to run through. Backing up Clay will be sophomore Monte Ball, a perfect change-of-pace back who has nice speed to compliment Clay’s bruising running style. Lance Kendricks has emerged as yet another pro tight end prospect in the Badgers’ system thanks to this game and will be one of the main targets for Tolzien along with receiver Nick Toon.

While there may not be many question marks on the offensive side of the ball, the defense could be the make or break factor for this year’s team. Notable returnees include junior defensive tackle J.J. Watt, sophomore linebacker Chris Borland, and senior safety Jay Valai (this dude can hit). However, the Badgers will be without two key defenders from last season in lineman O’ Brien Schofield and safety Chris Maragos. I really like what I see from the linebacker core with sophomore Mike Taylor returning from a season ending knee injury and senior Culmer St. Jean anchoring the crew. Taylor led the team in tackles through seven games last season before tearing his ACL. Oh yeah, and that Borland guy. He’s pretty good too. Thankfully, the Badgers have at least one bona fide player at each level of defense with Watt on the line, Borland in the middle, and Valai roaming in the secondary. An overall solid defense, but I still fear that if anything is going to cost this team a conference title, it’s the defense because of the five slots left open from last year.

The special teams unit will return two of the better players at their respective positions, Philip Welch at kicker and Brad Nortman at punter. Along with David Gilreath returning punts and kick-offs, head coach Bret Bielema has to be pleased with what he has to work with this season.

Now that we’ve covered the key players to keep an eye on this upcoming season, let’s take a look at the slate of games the Badgers were given for the 2010 campaign. I’ll break the games into three categories.

Chalk it up in the win column games:
@ UNLV, vs San Jose State, vs Arizona State, vs Austin Peay, vs Minnesota, vs Indiana, vs Northwestern

Some of these games aren’t even worth mentioning. UNLV plays in what has become one of the better conferences in the nation, the Mountain West, and I debated on whether this one was a gimme…but they are not a premier team in the conference and allow far too many points to present much of a problem for Bucky. The Sun Devils finished to next to last in the Pac-10 last season, and they have trouble moving the football. Add that to the game being played at home and Arizona State shouldn’t pose a challenge for Wisconsin. Minnesota is a rivalry game, but Eric Decker is gone and the Golden Gophers have to march into Camp Randall for the battle of the axe. Northwestern always poses a challenge on their home turf, but is a rollover when they have to visit the House that Bucky Built.

Should be a win but could present a problem games:
@ Michigan State, @ Purdue, @ Michigan

You may look at these teams and the records they put up in 2009 and wonder why these aren’t Chalk it up games. The fact is that in-conference road games are never a rollover, and any one of these teams could put it together for four quarters against the Badgers and come out on top. It’s put up or shut up time for head coach Rich Rodriguez at Michigan, so you can expect the kitchen sink to be thrown at Wisconsin in that one. The Badgers certainly don’t want to see a repeat of their 2008 matchup either. Purdue and Michigan State both finished below .500 overall and 4-4 in conference last year, so the Badgers should be favored in these games. I still believe one of these contests will result in a letdown for Bucky…maybe a late season collapse in Ann Arbor.

This could be a tough one games:
vs Ohio State, @ Iowa

These games are back to back on the schedule and will determine whether or not the Badgers make a trip to the Rose Bowl on January 1st. A HUGE game against Ohio State on October 16th in front of what will be an amped up Camp Randall Stadium crowd (myself included!) is the first of the two major tests. Heisman Trophy hopeful QB Terrelle Pryor will lead a highly touted Buckeye team that has realistic hopes of a National Championship. Pryor led a game winning drive at Wisconsin in ’08 as a freshman and easily handled the Badgers last year at the Horseshoe in a 31-13 victory. The Iowa Hawkeyes also handled the Badgers – in Camp Randall – last season behind junior quarterback Ricky Stanzi. It’s hard not to say that this is a game the Badgers have no chance of winning, but the Badgers have a very talented roster and I just can’t rule them out. I like Wisconsin to beat the Buckeyes and fall in Iowa City to the Hawkeyes.

With all this being said, I think the Badgers will earn a 10-2 regular season record (6-2 in conference), which may be good enough for a BCS at-large berth. Call me optimistic, but I think Wisconsin has a realistic chance at playing in a BCS game one way or another.

On deck: Packers’ season outlook, PGA Championship at Whistling Straits snippet
In the hole: some baseball, fantasy sports, perhaps golf, and maybe more!

Until next time…