Badger Bits: The effect of Wisconsin's weak schedule

Perhaps you've heard the rumblings by now: Wisconsin's schedule this season is turning out to be incredibly weak. The presumed top two teams on the Badgers' non-conference schedule have floundered. Oregon State has stumbled its way to an 0-4 start, and Northern Illinois has looked rather unimpressive on its way to a 2-3 record. Wisconsin's strength of schedule is so poor that one of the BCS computers still has Nebraska ranked ahead of the Badgers (do keep in mind these computers are forbidden to use margin of victory in their rankings). Another BCS computer has Wisconsin's strength of schedule as the 113th toughest in the country so far this season.

It's going to get worse before it gets better. The Indiana Hoosiers are the next team to arrive in Madison, and the BCS computers will probably hate the Badgers once that game is over. The two game road swing to East Lansing and Columbus at the end of the month will probably help bring the Wisconsin SOS out of the gutter, even though the ugly game the two played on Saturday prompted this NSFW and hilarious post on Every Day Should Be Saturday. Anyways, let's take a look at some rooting interests Wisconsin has right now.

Badger fans should definitely root for Michigan State to beat Michigan in two weeks. The Badgers do not play the Wolverines this season, so that will hurt Bucky's SOS if the Spartans lose to them. At this juncture, it's probably not a bad idea to root for Illinois to keep winning, either. But when it comes down to it, Wisconsin just needs to take care of its own business. This is not a strong Big Ten this year, and the Badgers need to smell blood this season. Regardless, 13-0 with an inaugural Big Ten Championship game victory will be hard to keep out of the BCS Championship Game.

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Russell Wilson has been named the Davey O'Brien Quarterback of the Week for his three touchdown performance in the 48-17 victory over Nebraska. But he's currently only 29th in the O'Brien Award fan vote with 256 total votes. The online fan vote counts for 5% in the selection process. Russell Wilson is better than the 29st best quarterback in the country. Vote here. DO IT. ONCE A DAY. GO. EVERYDAY WE'RE RUSSELIN'

If you attended the Nebraska game on Saturday, make sure to check yourself out on the Camp Randall Fan Cam picture. It was taken about 6 minutes before the game started, so don't bother looking if you were that guy who showed up late.

No Badgers game this week, so go ahead and familiarize yourself with the other Big Ten games on Saturday. Nationally, the big game this week is the Red River Rivalry (Texas/Oklahoma).

Linebacker Mike Taylor was named the B1G Defensive Player of the Week after he was all over the place against Nebraska, finishing with 14 tackles and the first interception of Taylor Martinez. That pick gave Wisconsin the momentum for good.

Wisconsin may have a better team than NC State with Russell Wilson in the fold, but NC State's tickets are still one dollar more expensive than Wisconsin's. Turns out Wolfpack coach Tom O'Brien knew what he was doing when he let Russell go?

Indiana-Wisconsin will be televised by ESPN2. As is customary for Wisconsin's homecoming game, it will kickoff at 11 AM CT. Fortunately, Pam Ward has been replaced by Beth Mowins on the 11 AM ESPN2 announcing team, so that game will now be tolerable to watch.

Who ranked the Badgers numero uno in the Coaches Poll? Andy Baggot thinks Bret Bielema should say whether or not it was him, though Bielema could probably lie about his vote if he wanted to.

You can listen to Russell Wilson's interview with Dan Patrick here. Wilson more-or-less declared himself ready to play in the NFL after some prodding from Patrick.

Kelly Erickson at the Badger Herald grades the play of Wisconsin's various positional units on Saturday. Particularly take a look at the offensive line evaluation. Maybe it's just me, but the offensive line doesn't seem as dominant as it was last year.

Wisconsin's successful courtship of basketball recruit Bronson Koenig over Duke and UNC raises some eyebrows. Bo Ryan closing the state borders is always a good thing.

After the Huskers loss to Wisconsin, Nebraska DT Chase Rome got really angry at a Madison airport bathroom paper towel dispenser and ruined it. I didn't even know that was possible.

Have a good Tuesday, folks. You need to see this video of Buttercup at Camp Randall if you haven't already.