Why Michigan Football will beat Wisconsin and why it might not

Michigan football will host Wisconsin on Saturday and here’s why the Wolverines will beat the Badgers at the Big House and why they might not.

The 2020 season has probably been as strange as any season we can remember and that’s sort of the theme as Michigan football will host Wisconsin on Saturday night.

The Badgers, who haven’t played since the first week of Big Ten play due to COVID-19 issues, will return to the field this week boasting a 1-0 record and holding the No. 13 spot in the AP poll.

Even the AP poll has a weird look with some teams at 8-0, while Wisconsin and Oregon are 1-0. For its part, Michigan football was dropped out of the poll following a second straight loss last week.

For the Wolverines, the 2020 season has been a nightmare. Michigan looked great in the opener, just like the Badgers did, but have fallen off a cliff since then. Michigan State, another 1-2 team, controlled their game against U-M, which was whipped, 38-21 by Indiana last Saturday.

With so much turmoil, it’s hard to know what to expect from the Wolverines. Certainly, you’d expect some personnel changes and some younger guys to get opportunities, but some expected that last week too and it didn’t really materialize.

What we do know is that this is a must-win game for the program. It has nothing to do with the Big Ten East race or anything, but a third straight loss would be disastrous.

Recruiting has already taken a hit and another embarrassing loss can only make things worse. Plus, the pressure surrounding Jim Harbaugh and the players will only increase.

This team has six regular-season games left and if the Wolverines can beat Wisconsin, their chances of a winning record go way up. Otherwise, this could get ugly.

However, on the Wisconsin side of things, how ready will the Badgers be? It’s not often teams take a three week break between games and it will be 21 days when they set foot at Michigan Stadium. We don’t know who the quarterback will be and if players will be missing.

Of course, that’s a concern each week. But still, there are a lot of unknowns about this primetime matchup and with that in mind, here’s why Michigan football can win.