Wisconsin gets its only bye week of the season in Week 6, but there’s no real chance for the Badgers to drift into cruise control.
They’re coming off four straight wins, and the work doesn’t stop just because the schedule does. Practice continues, the next run of games is looming, and the road gets tougher fast with UCLA, USC and Iowa waiting on the other side of the break.
That makes this weekend a useful one for Wisconsin fans to keep tabs on. There are a few Big Ten games that could say something about what’s ahead for the Badgers.
The one that jumps out first is UCLA, because that’s the next opponent on Wisconsin’s schedule. The Badgers head to Pasadena in Week 7, and the Bruins are 4-0 and ranked No. 21 nationally under new head coach Bob Chesney, who UCLA pulled from James Madison this offseason.
The record looks clean, but the schedule hasn’t exactly been a gauntlet. UCLA has beaten 2-3 California, 2-3 Purdue, San Diego State and Maryland, with the Bruins’ opponents not exactly inspiring a ton of fear.
Even so, the numbers are real enough to make you pay attention. UCLA owns the No. 4 rushing offense in the country, powered by James Madison transfer Wayne Knight, who has piled up 533 yards and nine touchdowns on 9.1 yards per carry.
Senior quarterback Nico Iamaleava has been...just fine, but UCLA still has the No. 16 total offense in the country. Defensively, the Bruins also sit at No. 16 against the run, which is a pretty strong calling card for a first-year Big Ten staff.
Then there’s Oregon, which remains one of the most interesting measuring sticks in the league despite that ugly Week 2 loss to Oklahoma State. The Ducks are back in the AP top 15 and, as the source material puts it, have played with a different fury since that setback in Stillwater.
They’re loaded across the board, and Eugene remains one of the toughest places to play anywhere. That game should tell a lot about where both teams stand.
Wisconsin fans also have another future opponent to monitor in USC, which comes to Madison on Oct. 24.
The Trojans are 5-1 and still ranked in the top 20, but the season has already included a rough 41-27 loss to Oregon in Week 4. That game also sparked an awkward moment for Lincoln Riley, who initially tried to play dumb about a vicious hit his linebacker Desman Stephens II laid on Ducks quarterback Dante Moore.
Penn State is another one worth watching, especially after Wisconsin’s upset of then-No. 13 Penn State lost a little shine when the Nittany Lions were blown out by Northwestern the next week. Penn State is somehow a slim favorite in this one, and a win would make Wisconsin fans feel better about both the result in Happy Valley and what’s coming when the Trojans arrive in Madison.
And then there’s Minnesota, which is always a game Wisconsin fans notice. This one matters beyond the rivalry, though. The Gophers and Boilermakers are the last two teams on Wisconsin’s schedule, so this is a chance to get an early read on both.
Minnesota is sitting in a very similar spot to Wisconsin at 4-1 overall and 2-0 in Big Ten play. The Gophers took a blowout loss to Mississippi State, but they’ve opened conference play with a road win at Washington and a home win over Michigan. Their own difficult stretch starts soon enough with games against Iowa, at Indiana and then back home against UCLA.
Purdue, meanwhile, is 2-3 and 1-1 in the league, but the Boilermakers are coming off an upset over Illinois in Champaign and have looked much tougher in year two under Barry Odom. They’re narrow 2.5-point home underdogs in this one. If Purdue pulls it off, it would give the Boilermakers a real bump in standing and tone down some of the Minnesota buzz that’s built in recent weeks.
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