College football is officially back, and one of the first games of the Week 1 slate sees the Wisconsin Badgers host the Miami (OH) RedHawks.

The vibes have soured in Madison, but this is a great opportunity for Luke Fickell's squad to nab a comfortable victory and start the season off on the right foot.

See why I'm bullish on the Badgers with my Miami (OH) vs. Wisconsin predictions and college football picks for Thursday, August 28.

Chuck Martin has built up respect over the last 11 seasons as the head football coach for the Miami (OH) RedHawks, but he'll be hard-pressed to find much success in 2025, especially initially, with a brand new roster.

The offense returns just a single starter and ranks 135th in returning production. None of the projected starting offensive linemen has been a full-time starter, and in fact they have just three combined career starts. That's not the recipe you want going against a Big Ten team.

The Wisconsin Badgers are hungry, will be playing at home, and have something to prove in a pivotal season for Luke Fickell, who needs to build up some goodwill with the fan base after a 12-13 record across the last two seasons. While the schedule down the road might make that difficult, that's far from the case here.

First-year offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes should be able to establish the run game led by Dilin Jones against a Miami (OH) front seven with a ton of turnover. If you want to prove that ground-and-pound Wisconsin football is back, you have a great opportunity to do so in the opener.

The Badgers should get off to a nice start here to avoid an anxious home crowd. With Miami's offense likely to sputter out of the gate, the Badgers will look to pound the ball into the end zone and give the fan base what it's been waiting for, and to establish an identity for the year.

As for the total, the RedHawks may not be able to contribute. They play at one of the slowest tempos in the sport (123rd in snaps per minute) and aren't likely to click early with so many new pieces.