Phil Steele names Wisconsin as his top surprise team in 2023

Luke Fickell has brought plenty of interest with him to Madison ahead of next season. Phil Steele is now bought in too based on what he recently had to say about Wisconsin’s chances this fall.

Steele shared his appreciation for the Badgers on ‘McElroy and Cubelic In The Morning’. He said that, at the beginning, he didn’t give as much thought to Wisconsin. That has since changed as he sees a team that, with their pieces on both sides of the ball, could make some noise in the Big Ten, and potentially even nationally, this season.

“I’m going with Wisconsin,” Steele said. “This is something where, when I started the magazine process, I wasn’t that high on Wisconsin. In fact, I was going with Iowa to win the Big Ten West. But after going over the team in-depth with Coach Fickell and seeing what they have talent wise? Just looking at it the entire spring?”

“I like Tanner Mordecai coming in at quarterback. They’ve got the Phil Longo offense, they’re going to throw the ball more. But they’re not going to a pass offense completely because they’ve got Braelon Allen, they’ve Chez Mellusi in the backfield,” said Steele. “They’ve got a dynamic offensive line, as you would expect. Wisconsin always has a great O-line. The defense has eight starters back. They’re going to be tough.”

From there, Steele also likes Wisconsin because of their schedule this year. Their four conference road games at Purdue, Illinois, Indiana, and Minnesota will be manageable enough. They’ll also get three of their tougher tests at home with Nebraska being a wildcard along with Iowa and Ohio State.

If they do what he expects, Steele believes that we’ll be seeing the Badgers in Indianapolis. Depending on the record at that point, he then thinks we could be talking about Wisconsin making the College Football Playoff.

“The schedule sets up well,” noted Steele. “They do pull Ohio State but they get them at home. I think that’s a game where they potentially pull the upset. They also get Iowa at home, all the road games are winnable.”

“And, even if they drop one in the regular season, if they win the Big Ten title game? They could get to the playoff,” Steele said. “My surprise team is always a non-Top 10 team that I think actually has a chance of making the playoff. Wisconsin is that this year.”

Wisconsin has had an up and down past few seasons. In 2017, 2019, and 2021, the Badgers went 32-9. Then, in 2018, 2020, and 2022, they went 19-14. Their 7-6 record in ’22 led to Paul Chryst’s firing after a 2-3 start and Fickell’s eventual hire from Cincinnati.

Still, with what he has seen from the Badgers, Steele is all in on the Badgers reaching some significant heights in Camp Randall over the course of the upcoming season.