Chryst looking forward to Badgers' tough 2016 schedule

CHICAGO – The Wisconsin Badgers have taken their fair share of flak over the last few years for playing a soft schedule, whether it was within their control or not. But that’s not the case in 2016, where the Badgers are getting set to play one of the toughest schedules in the Big Ten, if not the country.

It all gets underway with another marquee neutral site game against LSU on Sept. 3, but the Badgers have played tough season-openers in each of the last two seasons: a 35-17 loss to Alabama in 2015, and a 28-24 loss to LSU in 2014.

Playing LSU (and facing former UW defensive coordinator Dave Aranda’s defense) will be tough enough, but the real challenge for the Badgers starts a few weeks later when they open their conference season with back-to-back road trips to play both Michigan State and Michigan, followed by a home game against Ohio State, a road trip to Iowa, and a home game against Nebraska.

Those teams posted a combined record of 52-15 last year, and three of those five teams (Michigan State, Ohio State and Iowa) won 12 games each. Last year’s results won’t necessarily translate to success in 2016, but on paper it makes for a daunting challenge for the Badgers, who haven’t played any of the top teams from the Big Ten East in the regular season since 2013, when they were still in the Big Ten’s old Leaders division with Ohio State.

But Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst said at the Big Ten Media Days on Tuesday that his team is looking forward to playing the best teams in the conference once again. And it might be a cliché, but he tries to get his teams to treat every week as if they’re playing a big game no matter who is on the other side of the field.

“I’ve always felt like every week is a big week,” Chryst said Tuesday in Chicago. “It might be a cliché but it’s actually the truth. And it is- it’s a heck of a schedule, and that’s a challenge. But you talk about a great opportunity. But … every week is big. You try and maximize it and enjoy it the best you can and you hope your kids maximize it and enjoy it.”

The Badgers are lucky in that they get their bye week during their toughest stretch of the season, after their road trips to both Michigan schools but before their home game against the Buckeyes. From there though it will be up to UW to try and finish strong against Northwestern, Illinois, Purdue and Minnesota.

It’s a tough challenge for the Badgers- tougher than what they faced in 2014 or 2015, for sure. And while Chryst said he and his coaches will have to adjust things on the fly without much time for a breather, he’s looking forward to seeing what twists and turns his second year as Wisconsin’s head coach has in store.

“That’s the beauty of a season- you can’t map everything out, you can’t plan everything out,” Chryst said. “I’m excited for it to get going. Our coaches and kids- we are excited about this one.”

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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.