Forcing Alex Hornibrook into mistakes —or not— will decide the Big Ten Championship

Wisconsin hasn’t gotten a lot of respect this season. Despite being the only unbeaten Power 5 team left, it took until this past week’s College Football Playoff rankings for them to crack the top four, and even then, most people don’t see them as a credible threat to compete for the national championship.

Part of that is because of their lackluster non-conference schedule. Through no fault of their own, they also didn’t meet Ohio State or Penn State in Big Ten play. On the flipside, it also doesn’t help when you only beat Illinois 24-10, and Purdue 17-9. The Badgers aren’t flashy, but stick to their identity (BEEF ALONG THE LINES) and find ways to win. So do they have what it takes to beat Ohio State and make the College Football Playoff?

On this episode of The Hangout in the Holy-Land, Colton Denning chats with Jake Kocorowski of Bucky’s 5th Quarter about all things Badgers, and how they match up with the Buckeyes prior to Saturday’s Big Ten Championship.

Jake drops some knowledge on what makes this Badgers group different from the 2016 team, how they’ve progressively gotten better as the season has gone on, and why they’re deserving of a spot in the College Football Playoff.

The guys then give their predictions for the game, why quarterback Alex Hornibrook’s mistakes—or lack thereof— may be the deciding factor, Ohio State needing to get J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber involved early on, and more!

(Jake is also the co-author of an excellent book about the history of Wisconsin Football’s storied walk-on tradition, which you can buy here)