Nebraska vs. Wisconsin: Badgers Will Give Cornhuskers Rude Welcome to Big Ten

Nebraska will make its long-awaited Big Ten debut on Saturday against Wisconsin in what's shaping up to be a stern disclaimer to those schools that would dare jump into the fray of conference realignment.

For the second time in as many weeks, the college football gods have blessed fans (and TV executives) with a matchup between the No. 7 and the No. 8 teams in the country, that has BCS implications written all over it.The Cornhuskers will take their option-heavy act to Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, where many have entered but few have left with their pride and dignity, much less their win-loss record, intact.

I doubt even the Big Ten commissioner could've dreamed it up better than this: two storied programs, one a reigning conference champ and the other looking to take the league by storm, meeting in a Top 10 clash that will go a long way toward setting the Big Ten hierarchy for this season and beyond.

Which puts all of the pressure on Nebraska, the new kid on the block. 

Sophomore quarterback Taylor Martinez appears to have shaken off the jitters that jilted him down the stretch last season, when Big Red dropped three of its final four contests.

Not that doing so against the likes of Chattanooga, Fresno State and Wyoming is all that much reason for Huskers fans to celebrate. To his credit, Martinez did steward Nebraska quite beautifully to a 51-38 win over Washington to avenge an embarrassing defeat in last year's Holiday Bowl.

Whether Martinez and his teammates can keep their early-season roll going against a top-quality team like Wisconsin is questionable, to say the least. The Badgers look even better than last year's Rose Bowl bunch, thanks in large part to the addition of quarterback Russell Wilson. The fourth-year transfer from North Carolina State has added a whole new dimension to an already-prolific offense that already sports two top-notch running backs in Montee Ball and James White.

Giving up 29 points to Fresno State and 38 to Washington did little to inspire confidence in the Black Shirts, who will be tested by the nation's sixth-best scoring offense, one that has proven eminently effective both on the ground and through the air.

Don't get me wrong, the Huskers won't make life easy for the Badgers whatsoever. Both teams will spend the evening running the ball down each other's throats while trying to keep the opposing offense on the sidelines.

And I like the ability of Martinez and running back Rex Burkhead to do just that.

Unfortunately, that won't be enough to keep Wisconsin from lighting up the scoreboard. Despite their rush-first philosophy, the Badgers are anything but a grind-it-out-type team, having already put together 10 touchdown drives of two minutes or fewer. As such, Wilson and company won't mind it so much if Nebraska dominates the time of possession, so long as they get the ball back a few times just to keep warm.

Because this will be a warm one, indeed.

For both teams—of smiles for Wisconsin and of a baptismal fire for Nebraska.

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