Last season was one to remember if you’re an Illinois fan.

The Fighting Illini went to a bowl game for the first time under Lovie Smith and the program as a whole had a few good surprises take place along the way. One of them was upsetting a heavily-favored Wisconsin team in the middle of October.

Fast forward a year and Illinois will have that same opportunity: to upset a heavily-favored Wisconsin team.

Depending on where you look, Illinois is roughly a 20-point underdog to Wisconsin. Again, just last season, Smith’s group defeated the Badgers. This time around, though, Vegas believes the game will play out much differently.

On Tuesday, Illinois offensive lineman Alex Palczewski addressed how he took the opening spread:

“It’s an atrocity,” he said.

That’s an understandable take to have if you’re on a team that just last season beat that same opponent. Rosters and programs change year to year of course, but we’ll see if Palczewski and the Fighting Illini can once again shock the world and upset the Badgers Week 1.

The two teams are set to play at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23 in Madison, Wis. on BTN.