Badgers turn focus on winning another West Division title
The Badgers’ 38-13 loss at Michigan proved several points that were lingering after an upset defeat to BYU in Madison.
Despite one of the best offensive lines in the country, a Heisman Trophy candidate in running back Jonathan Taylor and a quarterback in his third year of starting, the Badgers are a very good football team, just not a great football team.
Michigan proved that with a 25-point blowout victory.
“It’s not like we were saying it’s playoffs or bust for us,” Wisconsin left guard Michael Deiter said. “That was never our thing. The goal was to get to the playoffs. Whether or not that’s possible, I don’t know.”
Now, after losing two times in their first six games, the Badgers can put away any thoughts of making the College Football Playoff. They can focus on winning the Big Ten Conference West Division for a third straight season and winning the conference title game in Indianapolis.
Right now, the No. 23 Badgers (4-2, 2-1) hold the West tie-breaker over Iowa based on their comeback win in Iowa City on Sept. 22.
“There’s still so much to play for,” Wisconsin linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel said. “There’s still a long season ahead of us, and we’ve got a lot of goals that we have yet to accomplish. It starts with the Big Ten West. That’s our No. 1 goal.”
The Badgers have the perfect opponent to cure some of their ills when struggling Illinois (3-3, 1-2) comes to Madison. The Badgers have won eight straight meetings with the Illini and have outscored Illinois 96-26 in the last three meetings. The Illini are coming off a blowout home loss to Purdue.
The Badgers’ secondary has been beset with injuries, with five players questionable for Saturday’s game. Safeties D’Cota Dixon and Scott Nelson are the biggest concerns, while Reggie Pearson, Faion Hicks and Travian Blaylock also will be game-time decisions.
