Wisconsin Football: Way-too-early game-by-game predictions for 2018
The 2017 Big Ten opener ended up being a 33-24 Wisconsin victory over Northwestern in Madison and afterwards, the Badgers received a lot of criticism for only beating a Wildcats team that was 2-3 on the year by nine points at home. Turns out, the Wildcats were a very good football team as Northwestern rattled off eight straight wins to end the season and ended up being ranked in the College Football Playoff polls for multiple weeks down the stretch.
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Evanston has proven to be a house of horrors for the Badgers as two years ago a 21-7 win gave the program their first victory there since 1999. The Wildcats program seems to be on the uprise and could be one of the biggest threats to take down the Badgers in the west division in 2018.
It will interesting to see how the Wildcats bounce back from their incredible season in 2017, especially losing a couple major pieces on offense. If they want to compete for a division title, they will need to protect their home field as Wisconsin, Michigan, and Nebraska all enter Evanston next season.
Whenever the Badgers and Wildcats get together in Evanston, there always seems to be some kind of inclement weather- or in other words: conditions are never perfect. With that being said, expect a low-scoring, in-the-trenches type game that will come down to whichever team can make the fewest mistakes. This will be a game that really challenges the Badgers offense and whether or not they have taken their play to the next level.
It will not be easy, but the Badgers will squeak by.
Final Score: Wisconsin 24, Northwestern 17 (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten)