Race To Big Ten Championship 204 | Do The Badgers Have A Shot?

So how are things going in Big Ten football right now? The race to the Big Ten Championship game has turned into one of the most entertaining conference races in the nation. Let’s examine where we stand.

The Big Ten East division is a two horse race between Ohio State and Michigan State. Both teams currently sit at 7-1 on the season and 4-0 in Big Ten play. Ohio State fell off of the map for a while after their early season debacle against Virginia Tech and Michigan State almost blew it against Purdue a few weeks back. These two teams are headed for high noon this Saturday at 7 p.m. Central time in East Lansing. The winner of this game will play in the Big Ten championship.

The Big Ten West division is an entirely different story. Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin all have serious chances at it. Nebraska. This one is far from over as all of these teams have to play the other three to finish the season. This is going to be the best race coming down the stretch in the nation. It may not impact the National Championship game, but it does have a competitive appeal to it. Of the four, I would put my money on Nebraska as they seem to have the best package of the four teams to offer. After that Minnesota followed by Wisconsin. I put Minnesota above Wisconsin because of the complete ineptitude of the Badgers quarterbacks right now, as I have written about previously this season on this blog. Iowa in my opinion is the least likely of the four to win this division. I will predict that Nebraska plays Michigan State for the Big Ten Championship in Chicago in December and gets hammered when they do.

Badgers First Two Games Were Not A Test | Wisconsin Has Huge Obstacles Ahead

The Wisconsin Badgers have started the 2013 season with back-to-back shutouts, defeating UMASS 45-0 in week one and Tennessee Tech 48-0 in week two, becoming the first Badgers team in over half a century to post back-to-back shutouts. Yawn.
Not much of a news story there, as these were both Championship Subdivision opponents. I understand that seven such teams beat Bowl Subdivision teams in week one, but none of those Bowl Subdivision teams were as good as the Badgers are, and no, I don’t count Oregon State as a good team.
2012 was basically a free ride to a Big Ten Championship for Wisconsin, as they literally had almost no opposition to get there. That isn’t the case in 2013. There are a number of teams who could get in their way of another trip to Pasadena. The biggest road block is Ohio State. The Buckeyes currently sit ranked third in the polls. Ohio State couldn’t stop the Badgers from winning the Big Ten championship because they simply were not eligible due to their postseason ban. The postseason ban is over now, and the Buckeyes are a strong favorite to win the Big Ten.
Also standing in Wisconsin’s way is Michigan, whose offense ran over a good Notre Dame defense on Saturday, dropping 41 on the Irish. Question with Michigan is the same question that has plagued them the last couple of years, can they defend enough? Another team in the Badgers’ way is Northwestern. The Wildcats have been slowly improving year to year for the last decade, and I believe one of these years they are going to sneak up and snatch the Big Ten title when nobody’s paying attention. Northwestern has always been led by strong quarterback play, and this year is no different as Kain Colter might be the second best quarterback in the Big Ten behind Ohio State’s Braxton Miller.
Another team that would like to have a say in this process in Nebraska, and I guarantee you they have not forgotten about the way Wisconsin embarrassed them last December in the Big Ten Championship game. If Nebraska and Wisconsin meet again, I believe the game will go much, much, differently. At the end of the day, I think the completion for Wisconsin is too strong for the Badgers to win the Big Ten yet again.

Why History Doesn't Favor J.J. Watt | NFL Injuries Can Slow Down The Best Of Pass Rushers

The Badgers have put a quite a few players in the NFL over the last number of years, and out of all of them, J.J. Watt is the one that stands out. Watt has quickly become possibly the league's best defensive player in short order topped off by winning the 2012 NFL defensive player of the year award. Watt is a monster of a football player, standing 6'5”, and 295 pounds, so it easy to see how he could become what he has become. However, before you expect even bigger things from Watt in 2013, I may some bad news for you. History does not favor Watt at the moment.

If you look throughout recent NFL history, plenty of players have had a big breakout season, 2-4 seasons or so into their NFL careers. This gets everyone all excited about their limitless potential, possibly even expecting bigger things from that player the following season, which even places somewhat of unrealistic expectations on that player. History shows us that very few players ever replicate success the following season after their big “breakout” year, especially defensive players. In fact, we need to look no further than our own Green Bay Packers as an example of this.

Injuries Slow Down The Pass Rusher Every Time

In 2010 Clay Matthews, Tramon Williams, and B.J. Raji all had huge breakout seasons. Matthews was a force off the edge all season that year, recording 13.5 sacks and being named to his second Pro Bowl. Tramon Williams had raised the depth chart to become the Packers cover corner opposite the now departed Charles Woodson. Williams started all 16 games, recorded six interceptions, and was named to his first Pro Bowl. Raji had a breakout year, not in terms of numbers, but in terms of performance, and was named to the Pro Bowl as well. Oh yeah, these three, along with Woodson, anchored the Packers defense on their way to their Super Bowl victory that season. As a result of these performances, all three had very high expectations placed on them for the following season, and none of them replicated their 2010 performances. Matthews recorded just six sacks in 2011, Raji played too many snaps, and Williams began to deal with injury problems.

What does this tell us about J.J. Watt? Well, it's very simple; before you expect even bigger things, remember that history does not favor J.J. Watt in terms of duplicating his 2012 success next season.