The Wisconsin Badgers just finished spring practice, so it's the perfect time to put one of my classic pieces on the best path, worst path, and most likely path for this team in 2024 .
Spoiler alert: The range of potential outcomes I'm about to explore is very wide and could take the program in a completely different direction heading into 2025. Please buckle up.
Best case (11-3, lost in CFB playoff quarterfinals)
I always love starting this game, but the sky is the limit for the Badgers in early May.
Here, health is Wisconsin's friend, riding the wave of Alabama's big upset at Camp Randall in mid-September, with Tyler Van Dyke's team enjoying Phil Longo's Air Raid sound and Mike Tressel's rebuilding The defenseman was shot out of the cannon with his fast and aggressive play.
Since this is a sports piece, not science fiction, the team stumbles twice along the way (at Oregon State and Iowa State, for example). But fans will also get a tantalizing glimpse of an impressive turnaround as Luke and his Fickell-coached team strive for better. They fell to the 11th seed in the College Football Playoff than expected.
In the playoffs, the Badgers upset No. 6 Texas, but lost to No. 3 Clemson in the quarterfinals.
No matter how you look at it, this is a dream for Wisconsin in 2024 and a stepping stone to even greater progress in 2025.
Worst case (5-7, no bowl)
I still have PTSD from when I made the worst basketball prediction of losing to JMU in the embarrassing first round in March, but I'm going to do my best here, hoping from the bottom of my heart that that won't happen. Passed.
This brutal road has seen injuries at key positions (not to be pathological, it's just weird), offenses (quarterback controversies and offensive line woes) and defenses (new recruits). The jump that people were expecting.
Under this scenario, the Badgers' absolute schedule woes would go from resume builders to grave diggers, with Alabama, USC, Oregon, Iowa, Penn State (and a mystery team or two ) combination will inflict some painful losses on the team. And a 5-7 record ended Wisconsin's 22-year bowl streak and cast big doubts on Luke Fickell's ability to lead the program to where it needs to go.
This is probably an overreaction, as the team's five wins on the 2024 schedule are actually more impressive than the seven wins on the 2023 schedule, but the seeds of doubt are planted, and the “Fire Fic” We need to deal with what we want to be authentic.
Most likely case (8-4, solid bowl game)
I went back and forth between 7 and 8 wins in this scenario, but I settled on 8 wins because I believed in Fickell and his plan.
Here, the Badgers have stayed mostly healthy but have had some key injuries that tested their depth throughout the season and experienced some ups and downs (mostly ups). Tyler Van Dyke is a more mature 2021 version of himself, and his downfield passing game will be a legitimate weapon to use in conjunction with a reliable ground attack from Chez Merusi and Towie Walker, making him one of the best in the Big Ten. Forms one of the better 1-2 backfield punches.
Wisconsin came out of this very difficult game with two upsets at Alabama, USC, Penn State, Oregon State, and Iowa, but also dropped one game they probably shouldn't have played (like Nebraska) and finished with eight wins. It ended with 4 losses. And a solid bowl game.
And remember, 8 wins in 2024 is equivalent to 10 or 11 wins in 2023. That's how tough the situation is this fall. I'll almost certainly be revisiting all of these after fall camp, so stay tuned.
