Your Big Ten Rooting Guide for the Wisconsin Football Bye Week

The Wisconsin Badgers football team will not be playing this week. After dispatching Purdue last Friday for a 17th straight time, the Badgers won’t take the field again until October 7th, when they host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

But even though the Badgers aren’t playing this week, that doesn’t mean we won’t be watching and cheering against other Big Ten teams. But are there teams we should be cheering against more than others? The simple answer is yes.

As a general rule of thumb, always root against the Big Ten West. The first step for the Wisconsin football team to win the Big Ten is to Win the Big Ten West. Currently, things have been working out pretty well for the Badgers. Their lone loss was a non-conference loss to Washington State. And the Cougars, in case you haven’t noticed, look pretty damn good. They are 4-0 and just beat #14 Oregon State last week behind a crazy game by Cam Ward.

Heading into Week 5, Luke Fickell and the Badgers are the lone Big Ten West team without a conference loss. So what is the best-case scenario for the Wisconsin football team while they are on their bye?

Who You Should Be Rooting For During the Wisconsin Football Bye Week

Bye Weeks: #4 Ohio State; Wisconsin

#6 Penn State (4-0; 2-0) @ Northwestern (2-2; 1-1)

Northwestern may not seem like much of a threat to the Badgers, but they did just beat Minnesota last week.

I don’t see this being much of a game, especially after watching what the Nittany Lions just did to Iowa. But weird things tend to happen at Ryan Field.

Wisconsin football fans should be cheering for Penn State to win.

Louisiana (3-1) @ Minnesota (2-2; 1-1)

You know what, I don’t necessarily care about the circumstances.

Always. Cheer. Against. Minnesota.

The Gophers are in a bit of a hole now after losing to Northwestern, a game many considered to be an automatic win for the rest of the conference. That was a big game for the Wisconsin football team.

Louisiana goes to Minnesota with a 3-1 record. I’m not saying I think they’ll win, but after watching the SS PJ Fleck sink last week, I am almost convincing myself there’s a chance.

Go Ragin’ Cajuns!

#2 Michigan (4-0; 1-0) @ Nebraska (2-2; 0-1)

Nebraska already has a conference loss to the Gophers this year. But like Minnesota, I will always cheer for the Huskers to lose. The Wolverines should be able to handle Nebraska, but this just seems like the type of game that Michigan could lose and everyone hops right back onto the Nebraska hype train.

Let’s all just hope Nebraska continues to be Nebraska and Matt Rhule is not working magic in Lincoln.

Indiana (2-2; 0-1) @ Maryland (4-0; 1-0)

This game is honestly pretty irrelevant for the Badgers. Neither of these teams will be in the Big Ten Championship Game if Wisconsin were to make it. You could make the argument for Indiana winning because the Badgers do play the Hoosiers later. Beating an Indiana team with a win over Maryland would be better than a Hoosier team with another loss.

Plus, if you are into the Badgers being a top 25 team, the Terapins are currently ahead of the Badgers in voting for the top 25 poll.

But again, this game is pretty benign.

Illinois (2-2; 0-1) @ Purdue (1-3; 0-1)

This game is a no-brainer. Even though both teams are winless in the conference, the Wisconsin football team already has the tie-breaker over the Boilermakers after beating them last week. Illinois dropped their first conference game to Penn State. Another loss could be devastating to the Illini, especially to a Purdue team that is really struggling so far this year.

Cheer for the Boilermakers this weekend.

Wagner @ Rutgers (3-1; 1-1)

Kind of like the Maryland-Indiana game, this game doesn’t really affect the Badgers or their standing in the Big Ten. If anything, you’d like the Scarlet Knights to win so if/when the Badger beat them in Week 6, their win will look a little better. Beating a 4-1 Rutgers team would look a lot better than beating a 3-2 team that just lost to an FCS team.

Michigan State (2-2; 0-1) @ Iowa (3-1; 0-1)

Big Ten West Standings For Best-Case Scenario

If everything goes perfectly for the Wisconsin Badgers football team, the Big Ten West standings could look like this:

Wisconsin (3-1; 1-0)
Minnesota (2-3; 1-1)
Northwestern (2-3; (1-2)
Purdue (2-3; 1-2)
Iowa (3-2; 0-2)
Illinois (2-3; 0-2)
Nebraska (2-3; 0-2)

If the weekend went like this, the Wisconsin Badgers football team would essentially open up a 1 lead in the division. So let’s all hope for Purdue to be the only Big Ten West team to win this weekend.

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