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Wisconsin Football: Badgers in position to make College Football Playoff push

By Trevor Jossart

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: Wisconsin Badgers players celebrate winning the 2017 Capital One Orange Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: Wisconsin Badgers players celebrate winning the 2017 Capital One Orange Bowl against the Miami Hurricanes at Hard Rock Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Rob Foldy/Getty Images) /
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Wisconsin football narrowly missed the College Football Playoff last season. The Badgers have reloaded and are poised to make another push in 2018.

Looking for your favorite team? Find their preview on the 2018 Countdown to Kickoff

A couple of years ago in 2016, the unranked Wisconsin Badgers football team shocked the college football world by rattling off several top 25 wins to begin the year- including LSU, Michigan State and Nebraska.

While they missed the College Football Playoff (CFP) by quite a few metrics, the Badgers took a huge leap forward in 2017- missing the playoffs by virtually one game, a Big Ten Championship loss to Ohio State in Indianapolis. Entering that game with an undefeated regular season record, a win against the Buckeyes would have guaranteed them a spot in the top four.

Looking ahead to the 2018 season, the Badgers are in great shape to make another stab at a playoff run. In 2017, the Badgers were fueled by their formidable defense- which sometimes picked up the slack for a stagnant offense at times. This was due to injuries at the wide receiver and tight end position and inconsistency from then-sophomore quarterback Alex Hornibrook.

Despite the imbalance of placement in the college football ranks between the offense and defense in 2017, entering the new year will present a new-look Badgers team. All but one of the team’s starting secondary will be first-time starters, and a few defensive lineman and linebackers gone to graduation and the NFL will serve to be a challenge for the team off the bat.

On the other side of things, the offense will be returning all of their top position players, with Hornibrook back at quarterback and a Heisman Trophy favorite in sophomore running back Jonathan Taylor. The offense will also have the likes of perhaps the program’s most talented receiving core at their disposal, led by the team’s top pass catcher from a year ago in Quintez Cephus.

It will be tough for the Badgers to repeat their perfect regular season in 2017, but they have the pieces to make it a special season.

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