Greg McElroy names the Big Ten team that is most likely to surprise in 2023

The Big Ten is set for an interesting year in 2023. There’s the battle at the top between Michigan and Ohio State, but also some room for Penn State to make things interesting. On top of that, there’s a few new coaches getting set to kick off their first year in the conference with hopes of joining that upper echelon.

On Friday, Greg McElroy and the crew at Always College Football named the teams that will be the most surprising in 2023, essentially his sleeper team heading into the new season. His SEC nomination was Ole Miss. His B1G pick?

Wisconsin.

McElroy had 2 major points to discuss when going over his pick, including the Badgers’ consistent defense and SMU QB transfer Tanner Mordecai leading an offense that will put a priority on improving:

“I’ve long been high on Tanner Mordecai. He’s got a chance in this offense, with more reps, I know it didn’t look good in the spring game, to be a top end quarterback of the Big Ten,” McElroy said. “Where is he going to rank? I don’t entirely know. But he’s an experience guy who understands how to run this system and run it at a high level.”

“Defensively, they’re always going to be strong, they’re always going to be stout, they’re always going to be proud.”

McElroy brought up the last point to emphasize Wisconsin’s need to improve offensively. Anyone who follows the Badgers knows there have been some painful seasons in scoring the football.

But Luke Fickell is trying to rejuvenate that offense. Retaining Braelon Allen is a good place to start. The Badgers’ run game should be potent, but as McElroy said the quarterback position is where the change is really going to come from.

Let’s see if Mordecai is the man for the job.

(Featured image via Always CFB YouTube)

Ethan Stone

Ethan Stone was an editor for his student newspaper at the University of Tennessee and is now a News Manager for Saturday Tradition.