ESPN SP+ thinks Wisconsin's Week 2 opponent is better than Western Michigan

ESPN SP+ thinks Wisconsin is up against a tougher test in Week 2 after its less-than-convincing Week 1 win over Western Michigan.

The metric ranks Wisconsin’s Week 2 opponent South Dakota No. 102 overall in its full college football top 764 ranking. Western Michigan, meanwhile, is down at No. 127.

Bill Connelly’s SP+ metric is the only one that compiles a ranking for every college football program in the country: FBS, FCS and beyond. That creates the mentioned 764-team ranking. It’s the best point of comparison between FCS and FBS teams, as they are rarely judged against each other aside from the games on the field.

In simpler terms, SP+ thinks South Dakota is a better all-around team than Western Michigan — a Western Michigan team that gave Wisconsin trouble for 3 1/2 quarters in Week 1.

The only takeaway from Connelly’s ranking is that Wisconsin needs a better showing on Saturday afternoon when the Coyotes visit Madison. The Badgers are by far the more talented team, ranked 36 in the latest SP+ update. They badly need a complete, all-around, decisive victory before a Week 3 showdown with top-ranked Alabama (No. 2 in SP+).

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