STATE OF THE BADGERS: Chances of Winning the B1G Championship

Johnny Raider – @johnnyraider29 – October 15th, 2024

Photo By Cameron Schneider ~ The Daily Cardinal

Two massive conference wins have the Badgers sitting in the middle of the pack at ninth in the conference with a 2-1 record. If the Badgers can get a win against Northwestern, we may be looking at a slim chance of competing for a Big 10 championship. Call it delusional, but there is a way!

Here’s how it can happen…

1. BADGERS WIN OUT
This one is obviously non-negotiable; with the conference having 18 teams now, losses have somehow made the margin for error even slimmer. As of now, one conference loss doesn’t seem backbreaking for teams in the conference, but when you look at the Badgers upcoming schedule, the odds definitely look to fade.

Badgers Upcoming Schedule
@ Northwestern (My Prediction: 35-13 Badgers)
Vs Penn State (My Prediction: 34-23 Penn State)
@ Iowa (My Prediction: 21-20 Badgers)
Vs Oregon (My Prediction: 38-17 Oregon)
@ Nebraska (My Prediction: 40-21 Badgers)
Vs Minnesota (My Prediction: 28-19 Badgers)

Winning out would put the Badgers at a 7-1 conference record, but the main questions lie in the Oregon and Penn State games. Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota are anything but easy wins as well.

2. Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State, and Michigan lose One or more

This is where things get tricky, and it’s where having 18 teams in your conference comes to bite you. The Badgers will not play any of these teams in the regular season, and they all sit above Wisconsin in the standings. As of now, we have no idea how the tie-breakers will work out, but the good news is the Badgers can take the head-to-head tiebreaker with Oregon and Penn State if they win out. Out of these four teams and their schedules, it seems the most likely team to win out is Ohio State.

3. Win the B1G Championship

IF all of those things happen, the badgers will have a shot in the Big 10 championship against
one of the top dogs in the conference. With the way the badgers have been playing as of recently,
it’s nice to know the badgers can still be in the running for a conference championship. Even if
the chances seem extremely slim.