The Luke Fickell era in Madison is officially underway. Wisconsin is looking to get back to the Big Ten title game for the first time since 2019. The Badgers are poised for a run at the Big Ten West title in 2023. Their offense looks to be stellar and their defense should be one of the best in the Big Ten this season. Can the Badgers make some noise in the Big Ten? Here is the preview for the 2023 Wisconsin Badgers.
Offense
Fickell’s first order of business brought in a new offensive coordinator in Phil Longo. This will also bring the air raid offense to Wisconsin, something that Badgers fans won’t be used to as they have had run-first offenses for the last three decades. With the new offense, they brought in a new quarterback from the transfer portal. Wisconsin brought in Tanner Mordecai from SMU and I think this a top five quarterback transfer move from the past season. Last season, Mordecai threw for 3,524 passing yards to go along with 33 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
Wisconsin added three wide receivers in the transfer portal this off-season that should be contributors to this offense. Bryson Green (Oklahoma State), C.J. Williams (USC), and Will Pauling (Cincinnati) should be instant playmakers for Wisconsin. The Badgers also bring back their number one receiver from last season in Chimere Deke.
Wisconsin’s passing game should be opened to the max due to the success on the ground. Wisconsin does bring back Braelon Allen, who last season became the fifth Badger in school history to rush for 1,000+ rushing yards in his freshman and sophomore seasons. Allen last season rushed for 1,242 yards on 5.4 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns. Now that Wisconsin’s passing offense got ten times better, this will open Braelon Allen for yet another fantastic season. The offensive line brings back three starters from a season ago and will look to continue its dominance in 2023. Center Jake Renfro comes in from Cincinnati and will be the voice of this offensive line. This team has the talent and the scheme to be very good in the Big Ten in 2023.
Defense
This is the first time since 2016 they will not have Jim Leonhard as their defensive coordinator. However, this allows new defensive coordinator Mike Tressel a chance to blend Luke Fickell’s 3-3-5 scheme, which he had success with at Cincinnati. The strength of this defense is going to be their linebacker group who is led by last year’s leading tackler Maema Njongmenta. Njongmenta is going to have more field to play with in Fickell’s 3-3-5 defense and will be a bigger threat in 2023. Other factors at the linebacker position are none other than C.J. Goetz and Jordan Turner. Those three linebackers are going to be huge for this Badgers defense in 2023.
The team does need to replace Nick Herzig, who had 11.5 sacks for the Badgers in 2022. Look for Isaiah Mullins or Rodas Johnson to step up to get even close to the production that Herzig had in 2022. Now in the secondary, they are getting back safety Hunter Wohler who missed seven games last season with a leg injury. With him fully healthy, he is poised for a good season with the Badgers. He is the playmaker in the secondary, which needs someone else to step up in 2023. If they want to be good, they need someone off the edge and someone else in the secondary to step up and take their play to another level.
Win Total Bet
The win total is set at 8.5 on the FanDuel Sportsbook, with the odds on the over set at -128 and the under set at +104. The Badgers are looking to have a good season in Luke Fickell’s first season as the head coach. Offensively, I can see them putting up a ton of points. Defensively, if they stay on track with how successful they have been in history the last few seasons, there should be no issue. Look for the Badgers to get to at least nine wins in 2023. Take the over 8.5 win total at -128 odds for 1 unit. Wisconsin is going to be contending for one of the spots in the Big Ten title game. Buy in on the Badgers stock right now.
Schedule Predictions
Win vs Buffalo (1-0)
Convincing Win at Washington State (2-0)
Win vs Georgia Southern (3-0)
Win at Purdue (4-0)
Blowout Win vs Rutgers (5-0)
Loss vs Iowa (5-1)
Loss at Illinois (5-2)
Huge Win vs Ohio State (6-2)
Win at Indiana (7-2)
Win vs Northwestern (8-2)
Loss vs Nebraska (8-3)
Win at Minnesota (9-3)