Wisconsin football stands at No. 20 in the preseason Coaches Poll

The Wisconsin Badgers are once again represented in the preseason USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll which dropped on Monday.

Author:
Matt Belz
Publish date:
Aug 8, 2022 5:21 PM EDT

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Wisconsin Badgers

The Wisconsin Badgers football team will open up the 2022 college football season ranked inside the top 25 of the AFCA Coaches Poll once again, as the team lands at No. 20 in the preseason rankings.

The news of Wisconsin landing in the annual poll comes on the heels of the team's first full football practice open to media members, as the Badgers prepare for their home opener against Illinois State on September 3.

At this time last year, the Badgers came into the season as the No. 15 school in the country according to the Coaches Poll and finished just outside the top 25, with the 27th most votes in the nation.

The weekly poll is voted by 65 head coaches across college football, including Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst, who is one of the voters this season.

The Badgers are the fourth team from the Big Ten to make the preseason list, with Ohio State, Michigan, and Michigan State also making the cut. You can see where each team from the Big Ten Conference fell below:

No. 2 Ohio State
No. 6 Michigan
No. 14 Michigan State
No. 20 Wisconsin

Iowa (No. 26 based on voter points), Penn State (No. 27), Minnesota (No. 33), and Purdue (No. 40) were all in the 'other team's receiving votes' category.

Here is how the rankings broke out by conference:

SEC (six teams)
ACC (five teams)
Big Ten (four teams)
Big 12 (four teams)
Pac 12 (three teams)
AAC (two teams)
Independent (Notre Dame)

Wisconsin went 9-4 a year ago and will look to make a run at another Big Ten West crown, a feat the team has missed in the past two seasons. The Badgers will face two ranked opponents, based on this preseason list, as Wisconsin will head to Ohio State (No. 2) and Michigan State (No. 14) this season.

Nationally, Alabama enters the year as the overwhelming favorite, earning 54 of the possible 65 first-place votes, with Georgia (6) and Ohio State (5) the other trendy first-place selections. Interestingly Texas also received a first-place vote, though the Longhorns are just ahead of the Badgers at No. 18 overall.

You can see the entire USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll below: