Wisconsin football may have its lowest fan turnout in history this weekend

Wisconsin could fight it 3-3 Northwestern Wildcats this weekend, but it may have more to do with the environment the Badgers will be playing in than the team's actual threat.

Ryan Field, Northwestern's football stadium, is currently listed 800 million dollars construction Reconfiguration that will force the Wildcats to relocate and play all of their home games this season on a field that hosts 15,000 fans and lots of wind. This is just a fraction of it 80,321 capacity at Camp Randall in Wisconsin.

Martin Stadium is the Wildcats' temporary home stadium, and that's just how it is 50 feet from Lake Michigantherefore, the wind could also have a major impact on Wisconsin's game. In a game with a few inches, that could just weaken Wisconsin's Air Raid offense, which has worked in recent games.

Of course, since this is an away game, the Badgers will have less fan presence. However, because Martin Stadium has a low maximum capacity, an unusually small crowd is guaranteed in Wisconsin. When the team hosted Purdue a few weeks ago, they were occupied 76,091 seats at Camp Randall. This Saturday they won't even see a fifth of that number of fans.

But the lack of a large crowd is arguably less inconvenient than the other factor the Badgers aren't used to: the wind. Due to the close proximity between the stands and Lake Michigan, there will undeniably be wind.

Northwestern head coach David Braun said his team was successful I'm working to adapt to these conditions and how it will affect their special unit. Wisconsin, on the other hand, had no such opportunity to familiarize itself with the wind gusts that are likely to come their way. Running the ball more often may be their only option.

Conditions won't be ideal by any means, but a 42-7 road win over Rutgers could give the Badgers enough momentum to avoid getting lost in the wind. Even without crowded stands, they sing and jump to “Jump Around.”

Kickoff is Saturday at 11 a.m. in Evanston, Illinois.