The Wisconsin Badgers travel to Tuscaloosa for a tough match-up with the No. 19 Alabama Crimson Tide in what will surely be one of the stiffest tests for the revamped Badgers in a season full of them (UW is currently a 21.5-point dog).
Per usual, I’m here with three possible scenarios for this big-time interconference clash.
I’ll start with this one, because it’s the only happy ending in this piece. Although I went back and forth a bit as far as making this a close Badger win versus a close loss, I’m choosing the fun, optimistic path. Here, everything goes Wisconsin’s way: Alabama comes out flat and the lads in cardinal and white ride a superior effort, two key turnovers, and a handful of massive offensive plays to a world-shocking 23-20 victory that finally gives Luke Fickell his signature win and sends Bama fans into the bottle and/or therapy.
Remember, this is a Best Case, so I wouldn’t bet that case of Spotted Cow on it.
Prediction: Wisconsin 23-20.
The haters will say that Wisconsin’s first two games offered all of the warning signs that we need to predict a rough game for Bucky: A patchwork offensive line providing marginal push, a confident but still young starting quarterback who had to levitate to stop several snaps from going over his head versus a Conference USA opponent, surprisingly leaky cornerback play at times, and letting teams with less than half of Bama’s talent hang around at home into the second half.
In this brutal scenario, the offense can’t move the ball and turns it over a few times trying to make something happen, while the upgraded Defense is exposed a bit, partially due to being on the field too much. Alabama rides several big plays on both sides of the ball to a never-in-doubt 45-9 shellacking that empties the Wisconsin bandwagon, which wasn’t exactly bursting at the seams coming in.
Prediction: Alabama 45-9.
I see the Badgers actually having some success moving the ball and making a fair number of plays defensively. But the host’s robust talent will ultimately be too much, and the Badgers fall well short after a valiant effort that was close for a while, losing 34-16. Wisconsin beats the embarrassing spread but still heads back to Madison feeling like it left points on the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
Prediction: Alabama 34-16.
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