August 26, 1998
Brooks Bollinger: Shorter than expected, closer to 6'0" or 6'1" yet looking solid. Great poise in the pocket and yet running the option REALLY well (which is what his high school team ran). Better than Peter Lee already though probably will still redshirt since he is still at best #3 on the depth chart.
Coaches have a sense of urgency this year and have been very intense. The whispers and slams on the program are being felt personally by the staff. They feel they have something to prove.
Cornerbacks looks very athletic, but are probably going to really struggle early with typical growing pains. The defense is being designed to support them as much as possible via linebacker drops and deep help. I would presume that this means more soft zone, at least early in the season.
Tom Burke is ready to explode as an impact defender. Is better at getting off the constant double-teaming he is sure to face.
Roger Knight was labeled "great"...very explosive...exceptionally fast. Has had some trouble with overpursuing, but is a playmaker.
In the handicapping the Heisman section, Ron Dayne was eliminated from consideration because "His team has to be good." Obviously 9-2 is optimistic, but not out of the question by any means. This seems to be a good team to me, but I guess they are the "experts". Their pick was Jamal Lewis of Tennessee.
In the likely milestones this season section, no mention of the distinct possibility of Dayne becoming the All-Time Big Ten leading rusher. Ricky Williams was mentioned for his possibility of breaking Tony Dorsett's career rushing record. Actually, with a huge year(something like 2,500 yards), Dayne could break the record in THREE SEASONS!! Highly unlikely, but pretty impressive just to dream about.
SI also put together a "Dream Team of the 90's" consisting of players from one team at one position. For instance, the Washington State QBs, the Ohio State TBs, the Florida State defensive ends, and so forth. Well, the best offensive line in the 90's was judged to be Nebraska's. Runner ups? Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State.....and Wisconsin.
Wisconsin was ranked #28 nationally. OSU was #1. NC opponents were ranked #70 (SDSU), #71 (Ohio), and #98 (UNLV). Wisconsin was #5 in the Big Ten.
How does the infamous Howell "computer" see the Badger season? Well, realize that computer rankings compiled at this point in the season are pretty worthless, for the obvious reason that nobody has played a game. The ratings are derived from last year's season and then slightly upgraded or downgraded depending on returning starters, traditional strength, and so forth. As the season progresses, the computer power rankings become much more legit.
Regardless, at this EARLY juncture, the "puter" says the Badgers will go 8-3. Losses will occur to Michigan, Iowa, and Penn State.
Here are the percentage chances the Badgers will have of winning each game:
SDSU: 53%
Ohio: 70%
UNLV: 82%
Northwestern:60%
Indiana:67%
Purdue:59%
Illinois: 71%
Iowa:38%
Minnesota:75%
Michigan:19%
Penn State:39%
August 14, 1998
The Sporting News College Football Preview Issue came in the mail today. Here were the Wisconsin notes of interest.:
Ron Dayne was one of five underclassmen who will enter the NFL after the season.
In the fearless predictions secion..."Wisconsin's Ron Dayne will run for 200 yards in at least 3 games." Considering he has AVERAGED 247 yards per game vs. non-bowl competition, this would be well below his previous level.
Wisconsin was ranked #17 with a predicted record of 8-3 (5-3) with this comment.."Ron Dayne will be in pain if passing game remains grounded."
Player on the spot: Mike Samuel
Rising Star: Roger Knight
Other Big Ten ranks: #3 OSU, #6 Michigan, #14 PSU, #28 MSU, #43 PUR, #55 NW, #57 IOWA, #78 MIN, #89 IND, #94 ILL.
Non conference opponents: #51 SDSU, #63 Ohio, #77 UNLV. Note how many rank above many of the Big Ten teams.
August 8, 1998
Ron Dayne was named the Preseason Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year for the second straight season.
August 7, 1998
The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll is out. Wisconsin begins the year at #20 with 344 points between Virginia and So. Mississippi. OSU was ranked number one.
June 19, 1998
Last week I gave the Wisconsin rundown in the Athlon's College Football Magazine, this week one of the other major preview mags, Lindy's.
First the rankings/predictions: (Note that the recruiting ranking is within the conference, unlike the previous Athlon's ranking which was national)
| Team | Conf | Natl | Recru |
| Ohio St. | 1 | 1 | 5 |
| Michigan | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Penn St. | 3 | 16 | 3 |
| Wisconsin | 4 | 19 | 6 |
| Michigan St. | 5 | 25 | 4 |
| Purdue | 6 | 40 | 2 |
| Northwestern | 7 | 46 | 8 |
| Iowa | 8 | 48 | 10 |
| Indiana | 9 | 71 | 11 |
| Minnesota | 10 | 73 | 9 |
| Illinois | 11 | 90 | 7 |
In the national capsule, the Badgers were rated the "most veteran team in the Big Ten, if not the country" based upon the number of returning starters. Strengths were the running game, weaknesses the pass (wow..more brain surgery).
Aaron Gibson was picked as First Team All-American (still don't see it).
Ron Dayne was the #3 running back in the country and Cecil Martin was the #8 fullback in the country.
The Wisconsin OL was rated #4 nationally. ("Aaron Gibson..a darling of the NFL scouts....line must improve pass blocking"). I will say that the OL looked really strong with the pass blocking in the spring game for what that is worth.
Gibson placed as the #3 offensive tackle (don't see how they could put him first team All-American then) while Chris McIntosh was #6. Casey Rabach was the #8 center.
No mention of the DL in the evaluations though, as someone on the Board noted, Tom Burke is going to be a madman this year if healthy and deserved to be in the top 20.
Special teams were ranked #10 in the country behind the legs of Stemke and Davenport (#9 nationally). Conroy Whyte could really give this group a spark.
Ron Dayne was picked as the most important player on ANY team. (no argument here, the #2 favorite for the Doak Walker Award, and the #5 favorite for the Heisman. Aaron Gibson was the #4 candidate for the Outland Trophy
All Big Ten picks were Dayne and Gibson on the first team, Rabach, McIntosh, Burke, and Stemke on the second team.
The most important player on the team was Dayne, emerging star was Rabach, top newcomer (as has been debated in depth on the board) Devery Hughes, and unsung hero Cecil Martin.
The lengthy article on the team was fairly uneventful and predictable...check out the mag for details.
Oh yes, one aspect I found interesting was the Previous Four Year Cumulative Big Ten Standings. Wisconsin is sixth with a record of 27-19-3. Penn St. has the best overall record in that time frame, 41-8.
Finally (whew), here are the Big Ten Rankings for each position for each team in the conference:
| Team | QB | RB | REC | OL | DL | LB | SEC | KCK |
| Ohio St. | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Michigan | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Penn St. | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 8 |
| Wisconsin | 4 | 1 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 11 | 1 |
| Michigan St. | 8 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| Purdue | 5 | 10 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 |
| Northwestern | 10 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 5 |
| Iowa | 3 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 7 |
| Indiana | 7 | 8 | 4 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 10 | 10 |
| Minnesota | 9 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 3 |
| Illinois | 11 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 11 |
Badgermaniac Comments: Seemed to be about right for the Badgers generally...but check out that QB ranking..#4!!!!!!! Here that Badger fans..we have the fourth best QB in the conference! Man, I knew the conference lost a slew of QB's but that ranking still is ridiculous. I don't know either of the candidates in Happy Valley, but there is now way JoePa would put out someone worse than our Mikey. Chambers could elevate the receiver ranking a spot or two, though the position still probably won't be top notch. Same sitution with some younsters at LB such as Roger Knight.
On a team note, I was surprised at Minnesota's rankings. For a team picked in either 10th or 11th by nearly everyone, they garnered some respectable placements talent wise. On paper, the rankings lead you to believe they are a 7th or 8th place team. Gee...must be crummy coaching (sorry...just a little dig at Goldie..see BadgerBoard for details).
June 11, 1998
Here is the Wisconsin rundown in the Athlon's College Football Preview magazine.
Here are the Big Ten Predictions, National Predictions, and Recruiting Analysis:
| Team | Conf | Natl | Recru |
| Ohio St. | 1 | 1 | 13 |
| Michigan | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| Wisconsin | 3 | 15 | 32 |
| Michigan St. | 4 | 20 | 16 |
| Penn St. | 5 | - | 12 |
| Iowa | 6 | - | 43 |
| Purdue | 7 | - | 26 |
| Northwestern | 8 | - | 45 |
| Indiana | 9 | - | - |
| Illinois | 10 | - | - |
| Minnesota | 11 | - | 44 |
Only four teams in the top 25? And no Penn St.?? Quite surprising.
In the short team capsule in the Top 25 section, they mentioned the Badgers youth of last year and their strong running game. As weaknesses they listed speed at CB and WR. They must be rocket scientists to figure that out.
As has been mentioned on the BadgerBoard, Chris McIntosh, Ron Dayne, and Matt Davenport were listed as Pre-Season All Big 10 players (with Dayne an All-American). Dayne was mentioned as the best Heisman hopeful out of the Big 10.
In the in depth team capsule, there were also no real surprises. Samuel's productivity was questioned, Dayne's productivity was lauded, etc. At the WR position, Chris Chambers got second billing behind Willie Austin and Ahmad Merritt, although anyone who saw the spring game knows he will be THE MAN. Defensively, Tom Burke and John Favret were rightfully identified as the pivotaval big time players most likey to make a difference, while the DB's lack of experience was the greatest pitfall. Roger Knight did get a little insert blurb about being the "rising star" due to his superior athletic skills.
As mentioned earlier, Wisconsin's recruiting class was ranked #32 nationally, 6th in the Big Ten. Improved speed was listed as being a noticable improvement. Mentioned in the Top 100 Nationally was Ben Johnson (#30, also listed as #7 in the Big Ten). The Top 25 Prospect List in the Big Ten was dominated by Michigan, Penn St. and Ohio St. as might be expected.
Finally, here are the Wisconsin players that were listed among the Top 294 players in the Class of 1999:
Benji Kamrath, QB, 6-3, 185, Mayville
That's it folks! As has been observed numerous times before, it is a weak state class this year.