Happy G5 and FCS Signing Day!

MaxyJR1

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Good luck to those diamonds in the rough that stayed the course and were able to find a home in these transfer portal times. I guess you can include Nebraska today in filling out their class of 60.
 

Good luck to those diamonds in the rough that stayed the course and were able to find a home in these transfer portal times. I guess you can include Nebraska today in filling out their class of 60.
28 Recruits and 11 transfers.....but hey Nebraska has continued their tradition of winning the on paper recruiting battles in the West. Will be interesting to see if all those nice rankings ever translate to success on the field.
 

It is hard to predict how Ruhle will do.
He has to build a new culture after Frost drove many if not most of his highly-ranked recruits away.
Fickell we have an easier job but is not acting like that given the energy he and his staff are putting into recruiting.
 

It is hard to predict how Ruhle will do.
He has to build a new culture after Frost drove many if not most of his highly-ranked recruits away.
Fickell we have an easier job but is not acting like that given the energy he and his staff are putting into recruiting.
I will be very surprised if he isn't very successful there. He built up a Baylor team that was pretty mediocre to bad into a New Year's Bowl team. He is a good coach and if he can't turn it around there I am not sure who can!
 

I will be very surprised if he isn't very successful there. He built up a Baylor team that was pretty mediocre to bad into a New Year's Bowl team. He is a good coach and if he can't turn it around there I am not sure who can!
He’s 44-22 at Temple and Baylor if you throw out year zero at each school. If he can’t win at Nebraska not sure who will.
 


I will be very surprised if he isn't very successful there. He built up a Baylor team that was pretty mediocre to bad into a New Year's Bowl team. He is a good coach and if he can't turn it around there I am not sure who can!
I think it is likely that both Rhule and Fickell will be successful but the question will be will their level of success reach what the fanbase expects them to?

I see those programs in a similar light to ours where challenging for double digit wins most years and being in the mix for the division/conference is realistic however being a dominant program in the conference is not.

Many Nebraska fans still view their program as one of the elites in college football and many Wisconsin fans believe their program should be viewed at that level. However in the current college football landscape I don't think either program is capable of joining the likes of Ohio State, Michigan and to a lesser degree Penn State.
 

I think it is likely that both Rhule and Fickell will be successful but the question will be will their level of success reach what the fanbase expects them to?

I see those programs in a similar light to ours where challenging for double digit wins most years and being in the mix for the division/conference is realistic however being a dominant program in the conference is not.

Many Nebraska fans still view their program as one of the elites in college football and many Wisconsin fans believe their program should be viewed at that level. However in the current college football landscape I don't think either program is capable of joining the likes of Ohio State, Michigan and to a lesser degree Penn State.
This is an honest and fair question. You have all these fanbases that are expecting to win 10 plus games every year and the reality is there is not enough wins to go around for everyone. Something has to give! I think fans will have to lower their expectations a bit because the answer always seems to be to fire the head coach and start over.

When most games are a coin flip, chances are pretty good that most teams finish roughly even and most fans that are expecting championships aren't too happy with 5-7, 6-6 and 7-5....
 
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Still not convinced Fickell ball will work in the B1G.
 

Still not convinced Fickell ball will work in the B1G.
Time will tell, but regardless I don't think he will be a disaster or that Wisconsin will fall off far from where they have been.

I just don't know that he is going to propel them past where Chryst had things either. Going to be interesting to see how all the new hires in the West work out.
 



Still not convinced Fickell ball will work in the B1G.
What is Fickell ball? Somewhere between tOSU and Purdue or something completely different?
 

What is Fickell ball? Somewhere between tOSU and Purdue or something completely different?
You know, not power running game. The thing that’s worked for Wisconsin for over twenty years. He won in Cindy’s conference but I don’t think that means much in the B1G.
 

You know, not power running game. The thing that’s worked for Wisconsin for over twenty years. He won in Cindy’s conference but I don’t think that means much in the B1G.
Will be interesting.

Here's how the raw numbers match up.

Cinci would have been 12th in rushes per game in the B1G at 33. Wisconsin was 5th at 38.5.
They would have been 3rd in yards per carry at 5.2, in total rushing yards, and rushing TD's. They would have been 6th in yards per game. Their passing game would have been around 6 in the league based on raw numbers.

Their defense is what set them apart in the AAC. Will be interesting to see how that translates to B1G.



You would think his recruiting ability will translate higher at Wisconsin
 

When talking about offense I don't know if it should be considered "Fickell Ball" or "Longo Ball."
It's going to be Longo's offensive scheme. Everyone talks Air Raid but he's had offenses at UNC that ran more than they passed, and vice versa.

As a badger fan I'm ready for a fresh start. Chryst did some great things at UW but it was pretty clear the offense had gotten extremely stale the last few years. Repeatedly running into 8 man boxes was not going to work. The Badger offensive lines of the last few seasons have not been remotely close to as good as they've been in earlier Chryst seasons. I also think defenses/defensive lines have caught up to badger OLs, whether that be strength program or scheme or whatever. UW can't just line up and bully people anymore.

I've been impressed with Fickell and the new staff but obviously it's going to take a while to see how it translates to the field. In the time he's been here recruiting has been on an upswing. It's definitely a new approach and seems like there's a lot more energy around the program. None of that means anything if they can't get back to consistently playing for Big Ten titles. With realignment that's only going to get harder.
 




This is an honest and fair question. You have all these fanbases that are expecting to win 10 plus games every year and the reality is there is not enough wins to go around for everyone. Something has to give! I think fans will have to lower their expectations a bit because the answer always seems to be to fire the head coach and start over.

When most games are a coin flip, chances are pretty good that most teams finish roughly even and most fans that are expecting championships aren't too happy with 5-7, 6-6 and 7-5....
This is where Iowa and WI have been pretty successful. They have stayed the course with coaches despite having 7-5 or 8-4 seasons. Alvarez, Bielema and Chryst had a lot of seasons that were in that range, as has Ferentz. The school stuck with them though because they get over the hump every 3-5 years (Beilema had a run of three in the row that skewed expectations there a little). It will be interesting to see what happens now at WI because they pulled the plug on that. I'd love to see them start going the way of NE and just change coaches regularly. They are not OSU or MI, and in West a lot of good coaches now and we don't even know what the new divisions will look like.
 

I wish posters would stop using W/L numbers that count wins gained mostly beating cupcakes.
What had signified stature in the West was winning the West and beating rivals.
Chryst had fallen down in those categories over the prior two or three years and was fired.
PJ has never won the West and has not won over IA.
Next year will be his last chance at the West and he will face IA with a new QB and WRs, NE with a new coach and almost a new team, and the same at WI. The schedule will not be his friend
In 2024 the rubber will really meet the road with USC, and UCLA. and no divisions.
Then stature will be determined by getting into the final 12 and beating rivals.
 


28 Recruits and 11 transfers.....but hey Nebraska has continued their tradition of winning the on paper recruiting battles in the West. Will be interesting to see if all those nice rankings ever translate to success on the field.
Nope. Distant second to wisconsin now
 

When talking about offense I don't know if it should be considered "Fickell Ball" or "Longo Ball."
It's going to be Longo's offensive scheme. Everyone talks Air Raid but he's had offenses at UNC that ran more than they passed, and vice versa.

As a badger fan I'm ready for a fresh start. Chryst did some great things at UW but it was pretty clear the offense had gotten extremely stale the last few years. Repeatedly running into 8 man boxes was not going to work. The Badger offensive lines of the last few seasons have not been remotely close to as good as they've been in earlier Chryst seasons. I also think defenses/defensive lines have caught up to badger OLs, whether that be strength program or scheme or whatever. UW can't just line up and bully people anymore.

I've been impressed with Fickell and the new staff but obviously it's going to take a while to see how it translates to the field. In the time he's been here recruiting has been on an upswing. It's definitely a new approach and seems like there's a lot more energy around the program. None of that means anything if they can't get back to consistently playing for Big Ten titles. With realignment that's only going to get harder.
Seems like a fair assessment.
 





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