I remember being in Madison last year and watching unbeaten Wisconsin handle No. 19 Michigan. Afterwards, I basically wrote, “Ok, can we start giving Wisconsin the credit it deserves?”

At that time, the Badgers were unbeaten but without a win against the then-current Top 25. Many inexplicably questioned whether an undefeated Wisconsin team would even be Playoff-worthy if it ran the table. Foolish, that was.

And perhaps foolish I was to think that day would actually change the narrative of Wisconsin.

For a variety of reasons, the Badgers are still viewed as the team that beats up on the weaker B1G West but cracks against the B1G East elite. The numbers back that up.

Even with that Michigan win last year, Wisconsin is still 1-5 against B1G East teams with winning conference records dating back to when the conference expanded divisions in 2014. That includes last year’s B1G Championship in which Wisconsin was a last-ditch effort short of knocking off an Ohio State team that nobody gave the West champ much of a chance against.

It doesn’t feel like the Badgers are getting much of a chance on Saturday. Oddsmakers have the Badgers at nearly double-digit underdogs at Michigan. Part of that is probably due to Wisconsin’s banged-up secondary, and the fact that we’re a month removed from watching the Badgers get stunned at home against BYU.

Still, here’s something to consider:

Whether that’s the right line for this game or not, it doesn’t change the truth.

Saturday is a prime opportunity for the Badgers to change that “good, not great” narrative.

In many ways, that’s at stake for both programs this weekend. Jim Harbaugh is the one who is 2-8 vs. top-15 opponents since returning to Ann Arbor. He’s also 0-5 when College GameDay is in the house.

College GameDay will be there on Saturday, and inevitably, Harbaugh’s big-game blues will come up. His struggles against rivals will be a popular topic of conversation. Even though the teams faced off each of the last three years in crossover matchups, Michigan and Wisconsin aren’t rivals.

They just both want the same thing on Saturday night. Better yet, they want to avoid the same thing.

Credit: Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

There’s something to be said for being all but eliminated from Playoff contention by the midway point of the season. That would be the case for Wisconsin, and likely Michigan, which would still have a chance at the B1G East with a loss but would certainly need plenty of help to become the first two-loss team to make the field.

Obviously the worst thing that would happen for Wisconsin would be to continue bulldozing the West for the latter half of the season but without a path to the Playoff. In a year that Wisconsin appeared to have its most Playoff-ready roster, that’d be a tough pill to swallow. That has short- and long-term implications for a division some would argue is the weakest among the Power 5.

Wisconsin would theoretically play in another B1G Championship, but only as the potential spoiler to a possible Playoff contender representing the East. Considering that the Badgers lost each of their last three B1G Championship appearances in the last four years, they’d be heavy underdogs almost regardless of how the rest of the season plays out.

But let’s bring it back to Saturday. One game at a time.

That’s how both of these coaches are going to treat this one because as teams with already a blemish on their résumé, Saturday is everything. It’ll either wind up being one of those games when the pundits say, “see, I told you Wisconsin wasn’t elite.” Or it’ll be a game where we see Chryst embrace his role as underdog and drop another one of these NSFW lip reads on camera:

Ah, that’s the Paul Chryst we need in our lives. I don’t know if we’ll get it on Saturday night, though.

That aforementioned depleted secondary looked awfully vulnerable in that Nebraska game last week — allowing 400-plus yards of offense to a true freshman at Camp Randall is very un-Wisconsin like — and Shea Patterson is plenty capable of carving up a defense. Wisconsin will have a total of six defenders either out or hobbled in this one. Compare that to a Michigan defense which enters Saturday ranked first in America in yards allowed.

All of those things added to the belief that Wisconsin will be overwhelmed on the big stage again. It’s an unfortunate narrative to have for a team that has double-digit wins and a bowl victory in each of the four years of the Playoff system. Going 31-5 in conference play during that stretch isn’t too shabby, either.

But in the Playoff era, that’s how great programs are defined. To beat Michigan and keep its Playoff hopes alive, Wisconsin has to be great on Saturday night. That much is obvious.

Just like last year, the Badgers have a prime opportunity to buck a nasty trend against Michigan. Upset the Wolverines in Ann Arbor and suddenly, Wisconsin sends a loud “how do you like me now” message to the college football world.

Well, ABC cameras will likely catch Chryst delivering that message in a more colorful way.