Ohio State football: 5 reasons the Buckeyes will beat Wisconsin

2. The Buckeyes will be the Badgers’ toughest opponent this season.

It’s no secret that the Badgers have had it easy in terms of schedule strength. There’s a reason why the committee hasn’t raised the Badgers any higher than four in the playoff rankings. Additionally, every team ahead of them had to lose at least a game or two for the Badgers to even be in the top four.

The Badgers currently rank 45th in strength of schedule. The Badgers’ only technical wins over ranked opponents were both at home against #24 Iowa and #24 TTUN. Those opponents are now unranked though which further weakens the Badgers’ cause.

However, the Badgers did squeeze by Northwestern earlier in the season who is now ranked 21.

Their schedule weaknesses aren’t necessarily their fault though. The Big Ten West has been on the weaker side in the last few seasons and this season was no exception. Aside fro Northwestern, the rest of the west division is below .500 in conference play.

The Buckeyes will undoubtedly be the Badgers’ first real challenge.

The best scoring offense the Badgers have played thus far is Northwestern. Ohio State has scored almost a whopping 200 more points than Northwestern has this season. What makes things worse for the Badgers is their game against Northwestern came down to one possession and they were at home.

The best defense the Badgers have played was the TTUN Wolverines. The Badgers had the luxury of playing them at home and put up just 24 points on them. As another disclaimer, seven of those points were produced from a punt returned for a touchdown by their special teams.

The Buckeyes put up 31 points on the road against the Wolverines with backup quarterback Dwayne Haskins playing most of the second half. The Badgers may be undefeated but that doesn’t mean they’re as authentic as their record indicates.

OSU isn’t afraid of taking down undefeated teams either as they tarnished Penn State’s spotless record earlier this season. Losing two games may look untidy on OSU’s resume but they have certainly learned how to play with tough competition.

Expect the Badgers to be overmatched when Ohio State comes to play on Saturday.