Week 9 Big Ten West Rooting Guide for Wisconsin Football Fans

As a Wisconsin Badgers fan, it was gross cheering for the Minnesota Gophers, but the Week 8 slate of games worked out pretty well for the Wisconsin football team.

They climbed back on top of the Big Ten West with their win over Illinois and Iowa’s loss to the Gophers. The Badgers have a half-game lead over the Hawkeyes and a whole game lead over the Gophers.

They are going to need more of that in Week 9.

Here’s a look at the updated standings heading into this week’s slate of games:

Wisconsin – 5-2 (3-1)
Iowa – 6-2 (3-2)
Minnesota – 4-3 (2-2)
Nebraska – 4-3 (2-2)
Northwestern – 3-4 (1-3)
Purdue – 2-5 (1-3)
Illinois – 3-5 (1-4)

Iowa and Illinois have a bye this week, so the Wisconsin football team has a chance to bump that lead to a whole game over the Hawkeyes if they can pull a huge upset over the Buckeyes this Saturday. Whether you think the Badgers can win or not, here are the slate of Big Ten West games in Week 9 and who Wisconsin football fans should be cheering for.

Who Should Wisconsin Football Fans Cheer for in Week 9?

Big Ten West teams on a bye this week: Iowa, Illinois

Maryland @ Northwestern – 11:00 AM

Surprisingly, the Northwestern Wildcats aren’t completely terrible like everyone thought heading into the season. Granted, they are still not good, but they are making things a lot more competitive than people thought. The Badgers play them in in a few weeks and I’m sure the Wildcats would love to play spoilers for the Badgers’ chances at the Big Ten West title. The less hope the Wildcats have, the better.

As a Wisconsin football fan, you always want Northwestern to lose.

Who to cheer for: Maryland

Michigan State @ Minnesota – 2:30 PM

It just felt wrong cheering for the Gophers last weekend. But the Gophers pulled off the win over Iowa, putting the Badgers back in the driver’s seat in the division.

Now, we can go back to hating the Gophers and hoping they lose every game but 50 points.

Michigan State is coming off a beatdown by Michigan last week and if I’m being honest, aren’t giving me a ton of hope. With the Gopher’s victory over Iowa, they stayed within a game of the Badgers for the division lead. If we are being realistic, things could very well be tied between the Minnesota and Wisconsin football teams by next week. So let’s hope the Spartans show up this week and take down Minnesota.

Who to cheer for: Michigan State

Purdue @ Nebraska – 2:30 PM

Like Minnesota, the Huskers are coming off a low-scoring win, defeating Northwestern, 17-9. And like Minnesota, Nebraska sits a game behind Wisconsin with a 2-2 conference record.

Any loss for the Huskers is a win for the Wisconsin football team, even if they were winless in conference play. A Purdue victory doesn’t hurt Wisconsin because they are up two games on the Boilermakers and own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Always cheer against Nebraska.

Who to cheer for: Purdue

Ohio State @ Wisconsin – 6:30 PM

This is a huge game for the Badgers. The loss to Iowa made it even bigger. There is no wiggle room for the Wisconsin football team. A win over Ohio State will really boost the Badgers’ chances at winning the West. A loss puts them a half-game behind the Hawkeyes (who already own the tiebreaker over the Badgers), and potentially in a tie with Minnesota and Nebraska.

We obviously know we need to cheer for Wisconsin.

Who to cheer for: Wisconsin (duh)

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