Wisconsin ranked No. 18 in preseason USA Today Coaches poll

[JakeKocoB5Q]

The Badgers begin the season as a top-20 team in the eyes of the coaches.

The Wisconsin Badgers will begin the season No. 18 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. That's fairly reasonable considering sure Wisconsin finished last season (11-3, win over Auburn in Outback Bowl) and what it lost since then (Melvin Gordon, two offensive linemen and some defensive players up front).

Other Big Ten teams in the top 25 include No. 1 Ohio State (no surprise there) and No. 6 Michigan State (a little high, no?).

These are just preseason rankings, of course, but how are you feeling about them?

RANK​

TEAM​

RECORD​

POINTS​

1ST PLACE VOTES​

PREV​

CHANGE​

HI/LOW
1​

Ohio State​

14-1​

1598​

62​

NR​

–
2​

TCU​

12-1​

1487​

1​

NR​

–
3​

Alabama​

12-2​

1452​

1​

NR​

–
4​

Baylor​

11-2​

1365​

NR​

–
5​

Oregon​

13-2​

1260​

NR​

–
6​

Michigan State​

11-2​

1230​

NR​

–
7​

Auburn​

8-5​

1103​

NR​

–
8​

Florida State​

13-1​

1057​

NR​

–
9​

Georgia​

10-3​

1026​

NR​

–
10​

USC​

9-4​

1014​

NR​

–
11​

Notre Dame​

8-5​

883​

NR​

–
12​

Clemson​

10-3​

838​

NR​

–
13​

LSU​

8-5​

727​

NR​

–
14​

UCLA​

10-3​

697​

NR​

–
15​

Ole Miss​

9-4​

668​

NR​

–
16​

Arizona State​

10-3​

577​

NR​

–
17​

Georgia Tech​

11-3​

573​

NR​

–
18​

Wisconsin​

11-3​

470​

NR​

–
19​

Oklahoma​

8-5​

407​

NR​

–
20​

Arkansas​

7-6​

377​

NR​

–
21​

Stanford​

8-5​

365​

NR​

–
22​

Arizona​

10-4​

299​

NR​

–
23​

Missouri​

11-3​

229​

NR​

–
24​

Boise State​

12-2​

190​

NR​

–
25​

Tennessee​

7-6​

166​

NR​

–​

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[57packer]

OSU makes sense.

MSU not a surprise considering they have Cook and a fairly solid defense and offense. They finished strong last year.

UW at around 18 seems about right. Without Gordon they will need to find some additional offense somewhere - though Clement has a great chance to get to the 1500+ yard mark if he stays healthy and the line doesn't have any significant injuries. They will need Stave to be more steady and consistent and find another WR and make some hay with their TE's. They should have a solid defense if they can get some solid ILB play.

TCU at #2 is a little bit of a surprise to me. Be interesting to see how that works out for them. Not saying they are not worthy, but they are going to have to beat the crap out of people and go undefeated because with no Big-12 championship game it'll be tough for them to make the final 4.

 

[ztruk8]

TCU has had an underrated team. agree 3 2 is high but they are a top 10 team. WI will have a better passing game under Chryst. Less big plays more 25 yarders and short stuff to the TE.

 

[Crease Creature]

Stave only needs 10 wins to pass Brooks Bollinger for most wins by QB at UW