Wisconsin Football Snubbed in The Athletic's Preseason All-Big Ten Team

Another day, another lukewarm take on Wisconsin football by the national media that feels fair based on how recent seasons have gone in Madison yet unsubstantiated in reality.

Do the Badgers have a handful of the best players at each position in the conference? Certainly not. Do they have more than two players deserving of a mention on a preseason all-conference team? I'd have to imagine that they do.

The Athletic's Scott Dochterman, a national writer but one who spent years covering Iowa and is therefore quite familiar with the Big Ten, recently released his first, second and third-team All-Big Ten selections. Just two Wisconsin players made the cut.

Badgers' linebacker Mason Posa snuck onto the list with the third-team, and punter Sean West also earned a third-team selection.

Wisconsin Badgers linebacker Mason Posa. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

It could be worse, of course. Wisconsin could be like UCLA, Illinois or Purdue who only had one player included across all three teams.

Posa obviously deserves to be included after he emerged as one of the more dangerous linebackers in the conference as a true freshman with just five starts. His running mate, Cooper Catalano, also deserves consideration. The two posted nearly identical stats last fall, with Posa racking up more havoc numbers (sacks, fumbles, pass breakups).

Sean West is a fun inclusion on this list. He punted 25 times last fall with a respectable average of 47.7 yards per punt. He also led Wisconsin in passing (with 24 yards) in its win over No. 23 Washington in November after he executed a perfect fake punt to Jackson Acker. It hadn't really crossed my mind, but West could certainly be one of the best punters in the Big Ten. Wisconsin hopes it doesn't have to use him nearly as much as it did last season.

Which other players might deserve consideration? I look at some of Wisconsin's experienced, plug-and-play transfer starters such as center Austin Kawecki, cornerback Javan Robinson or safety Marvin Burks.

This is a loaded conference and with 18 teams, there's a lot of talented players vying for a very limited amount of spots on a list like this. We knew Wisconsin was flying under the radar this year; that's nothing new. If the Badgers want national recognition, they'll have to go earn it on the gridiron.

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