MADISON, Wisc. – Seventh-ranked Wisconsin looks to live up to its lofty ranking when it kicks off the new season at home against Western Kentucky on Friday.
The Badgers went unbeaten in the regular season en route to their third Big Ten West Division title in the last four years before falling to Ohio State in the conference championship game, and the Badgers hope to build on their record-breaking 13-win season by earning a spot in the College Football Playoff for the first time in program history.
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TV: 9 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: Wisconsin -36
Wisconsin returns several key players on offense, including Heisman Trophy candidate Jonathan Taylor, who set an NCAA freshman rushing record with 1,977 yards.
Quarterback Alex Hornibrook is back after throwing 25 touchdowns passes, but the lefthander will be without two major weapons. Junior Quintez Cephus, who was the team's top returning receiver, was suspended indefinitely after he was charged with two counts of sexual assault while Danny Davis will sit out the first two games for his role in the alleged incidents.
Wisconsin has won 22 consecutive home openers and can extend its non-conference winning streak at Camp Randall to 40 games with another victory.
Western Kentucky is coming off its first losing season since 2010 and hopes to earn the biggest win of Mike Sanford Jr.'s two-season tenure by knocking off a Big Ten opponent for the first time in school history after losing its previous seven meetings.
ABOUT WESTERN KENTUCKY (2017: 6-7)
Senior quarterback Drew Eckels will replace Mike White, who threw for 4,177 yards and 26 touchdowns last season. Eckels hopes to prove the critics wrong after the Hilltoppers were picked to finish fifth in Conference USA's East Division.
Senior D'Andre Ferby is the favorite to start at running back after rushing for a team-high 373 yards in 2017, but there are four other players vying for playing time in a crowded backfield.
"I think that all five guys are going to play against Wisconsin," Sanford told reporters. "We've had opportunities in scrimmages to see who ran the best and that was going to decide the starter but all five of them have done really good things."
ABOUT WISCONSIN (2017: 13-1)
Taylor racked up ten 100-yard games to go along with 13 touchdowns in his record-breaking freshman campaign and is poised for another big year with all five starters returning on the offensive line, including All-Americans Beau Benzschawel, Michael Deiter and David Edwards. A.J. Taylor, who caught 31 passes for 475 yards and five touchdowns last season, and Kendric Pryor will be counted on to fill the void left by Cephus and Davis.
"It's something we can't control and everybody's accepted it and we're moving forward trying to get better every day," linebacker and team captain T.J. Edwards told reporters. "Those two guys have done a lot in the past but we have a game on Friday and that's our main focus."
EXTRA POINTS
1. Wisconsin has won 10 or more games in four straight seasons.
2. Hornibrook is 20-3 as a starter.
3. The Badgers are 85-10 at home since the start of the 2004 season.
PREDICTION: Wisconsin 41, Western Kentucky 13