CBS: Top 25

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60's Guy

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Top 25 Wisconsin is # 19
Gophers not included.
Link is on the bottom Bleeds Gophers Passing Piece
 

wisconsin was about #40-45 last year, just lost more to the draft than the Gophers, and is breaking in an entirely new coaching staff, offensive system and quarterback.

This is a lot like a company missing their quarterly earnings badly but talking a lot about AI and watching the stock soar on the hype.
 

Nebraska had to be bad for a really long time for them to not be annually off season ranked. Wisconsin is just getting started. Rankings sadly matter but they are often very inaccurate, especially in the offseason where reputation and past success reign supreme.
 


fmlizard said:
wisconsin was about #40-45 last year, just lost more to the draft than the Gophers, and is breaking in an entirely new coaching staff, offensive system and quarterback.

This is a lot like a company missing their quarterly earnings badly but talking a lot about AI and watching the stock soar on the hype.
Click to expand...
Maybe they will be the new Nebraska, picked to dominate yet falls flat on their face when the games actually happen.

These pre-season rankings are garbage but not sure how anyone can justify ranking the team that finished 5th in the division last year over the 4 teams that finished ahead of them.
 


Wisconsin AP Rankings - 10 Year Span

YEAR PRE SEASON FINAL
2014 14 13
2015 20 21
2016 NR 9
2017 9 7
2018 4 NR
2019 19 11
2020 12 NR
2021 12 NR
2022 18 NR
2023 20 ? (ESPN Poll)
 

It’d be hilarious to see Wisconsin become the new Nebraska where they’re consistently a preseason top 25 team and then fail to make a bowl game, but it feels like our Minnesota bubble here is the only place where there’s even a shred of skepticism surrounding Wisconsin. And the skepticism seems reasonable to me, even just the idea that even if Fickell does turn out to be a great hire in the long run, changing offensive and defensive philosophies could cause some growing pains in year one. But outside of Minnesota it seems like they’re widely projected to be the best team in the division this year, coming off a 7-6 season. Did they just crush it in transfer recruiting? Is moving on from Mertz going to jump start their offense? Did their coaches just underachieve with superior talent last year?

We’re of course somewhat biased here, but it feels like the wider college football landscape sees Wisconsin moving immediately back into the second tier of the Big Ten below Ohio State and Michigan, without even a hiccup year while they get the new systems into place.
 

I really just can't wrap my head around the hype they are getting, by all means I like the coaching hire and think he will end up do well, but why does everyone seem to think it will happen immediately in the off season with all the roster moves and changes.

Looking at record predictions for Wisconsin and having them beating Minnesota makes zero sense,
we beat them the past 2 years, with 2022 having Athan in one of his first true starts, while Mo barely played, and being at Wisconsin.

Obviously they could end up beating us but how in a preseason prediction with the current outlook can you project us losing while returning just about everyone who made a difference in the win against them last year...

Man I hate Wisconsin
 

GVLCGopherFan said:
Wisconsin AP Rankings - 10 Year Span

YEAR PRE SEASON FINAL
2014 14 13
2015 20 21
2016 NR 9
2017 9 7
2018 4 NR
2019 19 11
2020 12 NR
2021 12 NR
2022 18 NR
2023 20 ? (ESPN Poll)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the research. Interesting trend since 2018: One year exceeding preseason expectations. Four years skidding from preseason ranked (once at 4!) to NR by season's end. Would be nice to see that recent trend continue. This reinforces my belief that preseason ranking are influenced as much by your built-up brand (which takes many years to erode) than by a team's actual prospects in the coming year.

Fickell might pull off a huge, instantaneous turnaround, primarily with existing talent (except at newbies at QB); but he might not. Could end up with another NR is 2023 when dust settles. At this point, preseason, I feel like Iowa has a better shot to be rated at year end because of transfer infusion and coaching continuity + defined team identity. I think Ferentz, with his many years of experience, will exploit his team's weaker schedule in 2023 a little bit better than PJ did ours in 2022 and 2021. And I feel as though the Gophers could end up ranked, too, though our unusually tough schedule + PJ's tendency to annually lay an egg against a team we should throttle, will probably conspire against us.
 



I’ve completely given up on pre-season rankings long ago. Looking at how the gophers finished and how the b*doers finished combined with who left via transfer and graduation and who joined would lead me to believe the gophers should be ranked higher no matter the coach for the b*dgers. Pre-season rankings never make much sense though.
 

I believe prior to last season Wisconsin had the 9th highest winning percentage in college football since 2000. I think the general success of the program is also factoring into preseason rankings.
 

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