An inside look at Wisconsin football’s Squat Fest 2024
After the Badgers wrapped up their conditioning Friday, director of strength and conditoning Brady Collins explained the value of Squat Fest.
MADISON – The Big Ten’s 2024 football media days, set for July 23-25 in Indianapolis, are less than three weeks away.
UW’s representatives are set to appear on Day 1, along with Ohio State, Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue and Rutgers.
As fans prepare for Year 2 under Luke Fickell and a schedule that includes several marquee home games, we’ve decided to rate that schedule from the most important/intriguing game to the least.
1. UW looks to stem the new-look Crimson Tide
New head coach Kalen DeBoer brings Alabama, which should be 2-0 and in the top 10 of both polls, to Camp Randall Stadium on Sept. 14.
We know Nick Saban is retired and this isn’t a Big Ten game. Yet this game should offer Fickell and his players the opportunity to announce to the college football world that the Badgers could be a force in the Big Ten in 2024.
And it has been a few years since a nonconference foe ranked in the top 10 visited Madison. That was 1989, when No. 3 Miami recorded a 51-3 victory over Don Morton’s squad.
2. Will Dan Lanning’s Oregon Ducks like the feel of the Midwest in the middle of November?
Oregon, expected to challenge for the Big Ten title, visits Camp Randall Stadium on Nov. 16.
The programs have split six meetings, with Oregon winning the past three games. Two of those games came in Pasadena, in the 2012 and 2020 Rose Bowls.
Lanning is 22-5 in two seasons at Oregon and has the Ducks capable of challenging for a national title.
3. Badgers hoping to take Los Angeles by storm
What would be the best way for Fickell’s team to open Big Ten play in 2024? With a road victory over USC and Lincoln Riley, a media darling who has coached three Heisman-winning quarterbacks − Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray at Oklahoma, and Caleb Williams at USC.
Don’t sleep on the Badgers in this Sept. 28 matchup in the Los Angeles Coliseum. The Trojans should be improved on defense this season but they play at Michigan on Sept. 21 while the Badgers are off.
4. The Badgers will be looking for some payback in Evanston
The 105th meeting between UW and Northwestern, set for Oct. 19 in Evanston, will have a different feel.
With Ryan Field under construction for the next two seasons, this game is to be played at a cozy, temporary facility within a field goal of Lake Michigan.
The setting, which will offer views of the Chicago skyline, should be beautiful.
As for the game, UW players and coaches no doubt haven’t forgotten how they were out-schemed and dominated by the Wildcats last season in Madison.
Can you imagine the angst among UW fans if Wisconsin native David Braun, entering his first season as Northwestern’s full-time head coach, beats the Badgers again?
5. Will the Badgers continue their dominance over rival Nebraska?
Remember when Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011 and appeared to be a perfect rival for UW?
Well, beginning with a 48-17 victory in the teams’ 2011 Big Ten opener, UW is 11-1 against Nebraska since the Cornhuskers joined the league.
That includes a 10-game winning streak, which was extended last season in Madison with a 24-17 overtime decision.
The Cornhuskers under Matt Rhule will prove to be a more formidable test for UW. Will the Badgers’ winning streak end Nov. 23 in Lincoln?
6. Penn State has owned Wisconsin in recent years
When the Badgers host Penn State on Oct. 26, they’ll be looking to end a five-game losing streak against the Nittany Lions.
The teams’ last meeting came in the 2021 Big Ten opener, when Penn State’s defense made critical stops all game in a 16-10 victory.
An intriguing story line should be how well UW’s defense performs.
New offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who worked under Lance Leipold at UW-Whitewater, Buffalo and Kansas, is known for diverse schemes that test the discipline of defenders.
7. Can Phil Longo solve Iowa’s defensive riddle this time?
UW offensive coordinator Phil Longo learned last season that Iowa’s defensive coordinator Phil Parker is damn good.
Iowa held UW to 324 total yards and two field goals on 14 full possessions in a 15-6 victory in Madison.
The rematch is set for Nov. 2 at Kinnick Stadium.
One stat stands out from the game last season in Madison: Iowa prevailed despite recording just nine first downs and 237 yards of offense.
8. Are you ready for Luke Fickell vs. P.J. Fleck II?
Fickell saw UW rally for a 28-14 victory over Minnesota last season in Minneapolis in his first taste in the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe.
The rematch is set for Black Friday (Nov. 29) and UW fans love to see their team beat P.J. Fleck. Let’s be honest. UW fans like to see any team beat Fleck’s Gophers.
But this game will be played on a Friday, on Thanksgiving weekend, with deer hunting wrapping up in the state.
What kind crowd will be on hand for Fickell’s second axe game?
9. The Badgers would be wise to avoid overlooking Rutgers
UW has traveled to Piscataway to face Rutgers twice – in 2013 under Gary Andersen and in 2021 under Paul Chryst.
The Badgers recorded a 37-0 victory under Andersen and a 52-3 victory under Chryst.
This meeting shouldn’t be nearly that easy and a victory by UW isn’t a given.
Remember that last season UW needed a 95-yard interception return for a touchdown by Ricardo Hallman with four seconds left in the first half to build a comfortable lead en route to a 24-13 victory over the Scarlet Knights.
Rutgers, 7-6 overall last season, won’t be a pushover in 2024.
10. UW looks to continue dominance over Purdue
The Badgers whipped Purdue last season in West Lafayette, 38-17, and host the Boilermakers on Oct. 5 this season.
Will the Boilermakers snap their losing streak in the series, which has reached 17 games?
No.
11. Opener against Western Michigan conjures all sorts of memories for UW fans
Year 2 under Fickell is to open on Aug. 30, against visiting Western Michigan.
Does anyone remember the last time Western Michigan visited Camp Randall Stadium?
That was the 2000 season opener, when 26 UW players were suspended by the NCAA for receiving improper benefits from the Shoe Box in Black Earth.
Eleven players were given three-game suspensions and 15 were given one-game suspensions.
UW prevailed, 19-7, thanks in large part to Josh Hunt’s 89-yard punt return for a touchdown on one of the steamier nights in the history of Camp Randall Stadium.
12. Badgers returning to the FCS pool in Week 2
One week before hosting Alabama, the Badgers host FCS program South Dakota on Sept. 7.
The Coyotes reached the second round of the FCS playoffs last season but shouldn’t present much of a challenge for UW.
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