This season has seen me need to change a favorite #agenda to push on social media and podcasts, and that was the agenda that Tony Granato was a hilariously bad coach at Wisconsin. Has it changed because Granato has figured it out? No it has changed and been exalted as correct due to the fact that Wisconsin, a team that went 13-23 last season, is now the top-ranked team in the country, standing at 9-1 under new coach Mike Hastings, who comes to Madison from a successful stint coaching Minnesota State in Mankato.

A turnaround was expected, the Badgers have always been stocked with NHL level talent and U.S. National Team Development Program alums, but a turnaround of this proportion is still quite a bit more than what almost all of the college hockey landscape expected.

Now is this start a bit of an over the top reaction that will come down to earth? I mean maybe? The Badgers have swept Minnesota and Michigan, which makes it seem solid as can be. Also, though, of those four wins, the Badgers scored the winning goal with 2:31 left, 3:46 left, and six seconds left on the clock in three of those wins.

This is like a football team that goes, say 10-2, and wins all four of its one possession games (not that anyone around here would be familiar with this feeling, right?). I am working hard to not be a hater on this Badgers team, I truly am. They have a new leader, and tons of veteran talent that followed that leader from Minnesota State. That veteran poise and grit blended with high-end talent has had excellent early results for the Badgers.

However, Michigan and Minnesota have not looked as good as expected as well, and I'll just say with these games at home, the Spartans have an opportunity to maybe get even more casual fans' attention by getting some wins over a No. 1-ranked opponent.

The advanced stats (per College Hockey News) show that we should expect a very even series this weekend. The Badgers are ninth in the country in Corsi For (a stat that measure percent of shots taken, including blocked shots and missed nets, compared to opponents) with a percentage of 55.3%. MSU is 10th in the country with a CF percentage of 55.1%, so this should be a series with even shots and back-and-forth action, I would not expect one team to control the pace for long stretches of time.

Two guys up front for the Badgers who absolutely drive the pace and shots on net are Cruz Lucius and William Whitelaw. Michigan State head coach Adam Nightingale will be incredibly familiar with Lucuis as he coached him for two seasons at the U.S. NTDP (where Lucius was also teammates with Spartan sophomore Isaac Howard). Lucius has good pace to his skating, and vision that is above average, and he has started the year hot with six goals and three assists in 10 games.

Whitelaw, a freshman, has had less impact so far on the score sheet, but leads the team in shot attempts. Whitelaw scored 36 goals for the USHL champion Youngstown Phantoms last season, is a third-round NHL draft pick and a goal scorer who has a different set of shot releases that can make him tough to defend. I wouldn't expect Whitelaw to hang around the two goal mark for much longer, and it should be a priority of the Spartans to still limit his opportunities.

It's not all offense for the Badgers, as they sit third in the country allowing 1.8 goals against per game. Hastings has brought his defensive systems that worked so well at Minnesota State and shown that despite a step up in conference, the system still works at muzzling opponents.

In net, the benefactor of this system, Kyle McClellan, has seen his save percentage jump from .883 last season to a .929 this year. The Mercyhurst transfer who is in Madison for the second year, may be the happiest person in the state of Wisconsin to have Hastings cross the state line.

1. Discipline- I promise you guys I am not mailing this section in, but yes again, I am preaching discipline as a key. The Badgers are not a light the world on fire power-play team (22%, good for 20th in the country), but with the way the Badgers can choke out a game offensively, it's important to not provide an advantage to them. Mathieu De St. Phalle leads the Badgers with three power-play goals.

2. Keep the fourth line going- I thought last weekend the fourth line of Tiernan Shoudy, Tanner Kelly and Tommi Männistö played the best they have all season, especially Männistö who was engaged physically and all over the ice. In a weekend where the top line could be in for tough sledding, it often can be depth scoring that wins you a weekend, and for the Spartans, it is great this unit is trending upward.

Time: 7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, Nov. 17 and 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov 18.

Location: Munn Ice Arena, East Lansing, Michigan

Streaming: B1G+ ($$$)

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