Greg McElroy identified Wisconsin as a team to watch closely this season.
On his Always College Football podcast (h/t On3), the ESPN analyst highlighted Wisconsin and Ole Miss as the two college football programs most likely to surprise everyone in 2023. However, McElroy was also sure to keep hopes measured.
“I think [Wisconsin and Ole Miss] are poised right now to be sleepers,” McElroy said. “I’m not saying they make the playoff. I’m not saying they win the national championship. I’m not saying you need to go bet the house on them to be in the playoff or the conference championship game … All I’m saying, those are two teams nobody’s talking about, and yet I think people should be.”
McElroy has high hopes for the offense’s “completely different looking group” led by incoming head coach Luke Fickell and offensive coordinator Phil Longo.
“If you talk to people that are familiar with the personnel on the roster, they’re very excited about the wide receivers that they have,” McElroy said. “I’ve long been very high on Tanner Mordecai. I think Tanner Mordecai has got a chance in this offense with more reps. I know it didn’t look good in the spring game, but with more reps, I think he’s got a chance to be a top-end quarterback of the Big Ten.”
While they’ll look to establish a more dynamic offense, McElroy said the Badgers can still rely on their defensive tenacity. They allowed just 20.2 points per game during a 7-6 season.
“They’re always going to be strong,” McElroy said of the defense. “They’re always going to be stout. They’re always going to be proud, and you know Luke Fickell is going to design practice to make sure that they don’t lose any of their physicality.”