The Iowa debacle last Saturday night in Madison has seemingly bumped the last few Luke Fickell supporters off of the Wisconsin Badgers fan roller coaster, so the prospect of facing the top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes in Camp Randall tomorrow afternoon with a lame duck coach feels like an inevitable curb stomping.
The only drama will involve whether or not the Badgers bring more fight than they did against the Hawkeyes, and even an optimist will fairly wonder if this is even realistic.
Best Case
I struggled
a bit with what a Best Case would even look like. I’m going with limiting injuries, showing some guts, and scoring points. It isn’t any more complicated than that.
Prediction: OSU 35-10.
Worst Case
Naturally, the Buckeyes smell blood in the water, and that’s very bad news for the Badgers.
In this scenario, Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin and stud wide receiver Jeremiah Smith do whatever they want to a Wisconsin defense that’s not putting up much of a fight, and the wildly overmatched Badgers offense doesn’t cross the 50 until garbage time early in the third quarter.
The boos are robust, but it’s the empty seats that dominate the narrative. There are more Buckeye fans Jumping Around than from the home side, and that’s about as sad as it gets.
Luke Fickell, a coach who’s already acting like he knows it’s over, is fired on Saturday evening.
Prediction: OSU 55-0.
Most Likely Case
It’s almost certainly going to be really bad for Wisconsin on Saturday, even if Ryan Day eases off the gas pedal a bit because he has sympathy for Fickell, an all-time Buckeye great.
Here, the superior team simply does superior team things, and the game inexorably tilts wildly toward the Buckeyes from the jump.
Fickell walks off Barry Alvarez Field, possibly for the last time, with an empty student section telling us all we need to know.
Prediction: OSU 45-6.
