Wisconsin Football: Badgers finally earn respect in playoff rankings

Wisconsin football finally earned a top four spot in the College Football Playoff rankings after concluding the regular season undefeated

For the first time ever, the Wisconsin Badgers are ranked in the top four of the College Football Playoff (CFP) rankings.

In the penultimate edition of the rankings, the Badgers came in at No. 4 following their 31-0 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers, paired with two teams in front of them losing in Alabama and Miami. The Badgers were jumped by then No. 6 Auburn, who catapulted to No. 2 following their defeat of the Crimson Tide.

Wisconsin’s ranking at No. 4 makes it pretty clear what a win will do in this year’s Big Ten Championship game. Avoiding the dreadful outside looking in position, Wisconsin will all but clinch a berth in the playoff with a victory over No. 8 Ohio State Buckeyes. Of course, the Buckeyes will be looking to create a little magic for themselves as they will need an impressive win over the Badgers and help to get in position to crack the top four.

It has been a long road to this point, albeit not done, for the Badgers as they have dealt with disrespect all year with regards to their weak schedule. To finish the season, Wisconsin knocked off two ranked teams in the month of November and held opponents to 216 total in four games combined. They are now the lone remaining Power Five team without a loss — so to say this ranking is deserved would be an understatement.

Wisconsin will enter the Big Ten title game against Ohio State as underdogs, as the Buckeyes remain one of the more high-level teams in the country due to many advanced analytics. The last time the two teams met in the championship game, Ohio State won 59-0, which proved to be enough to get them in as the No. 4 seed and ultimately win the national title.

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Kickoff will be Saturday at 8:00 p.m. ET at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.