All Badgers

ESPN commentator believes Badgers 'could be a very dangerous football team'

Grey McElroy is picking Wisconsin to have a bounce-back year.
Nolan O'Hara|
Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell watches the team's 10th spring practice, which was held on a practice field north of Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., on Saturday, April 20, 2024.
Wisconsin football coach Luke Fickell watches the team's 10th spring practice, which was held on a practice field north of Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wis., on Saturday, April 20, 2024. | Mark Stewart / Milwaukee Journal

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Wisconsin Badgers

ESPN’s Grey McElroy believed Luke Fickell would bring immediate success to the Badgers football team in his first year at the helm in 2023. McElroy admitted he was wrong. 

The Badgers finished 7-6 (5-4 Big Ten) for the second straight season in 2023, capping the year with a loss to LSU in the ReliaQuest Bowl. While McElroy’s prediction didn’t go so well last year, he did pick the Badgers to bounce back on a recent episode of Always College Football. 

McElroy didn’t anticipate all the growing pains, particularly on offense, in the first year under Fickell. While they were able to run the ball, there were inconsistencies elsewhere on offense, including at the quarterback position. A new quarterback is part of the reason for McElroy’s optimism. 

The Badgers brought in Miami transfer Tyler Van Dyke this offseason. Van Dyke threw for 2,703 yards, 19 touchdowns and 12 picks while completing 66% of his passes last season for the Hurricanes. McElroy said the turnovers are a concern, but also noted Van Dyke’s upside.

“There was one point in the year last year in which he was one of the top quarterbacks in the country as far as passing efficiency,” McElroy said. “That was not the case down the stretch. If he can play like he did early in the season for a 12-game stretch, look out, man. This could be a very dangerous football team, but that’s a big if.” 

Wisconsin comes in at No. 39 in the nation in ESPN’s Power Football Index, which is a measure of team strength that is meant to predict a team’s performance going forward during the season and is updated after each game. That gives the Badgers a 57% chance to win six games, and it predicts the Badgers overall to win between 5.8-6.2 games. 

The Badgers will certainly be looking to do a lot more winning than that. And McElroy expects them to redeem his prediction from a season ago with a bounce-back year. 

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Nolan O'Hara
NOLAN O'HARA

Nolan O'Hara covers all things Minnesota sports, primarily the Timberwolves, for Bring Me The News and Sports Illustrated's On SI network. He previously worked as a copy editor at the St. Paul Pioneer Press and is a graduate of the University of Minnesota's Hubbard School of Journalism. His work has appeared in the Pioneer Press, Ratchet & Wrench magazine, the Minnesota Daily and a number of local newspapers in Minnesota, among other publications.

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