The Wisconsin football team has high expectations heading into the 2017 season. Is there a title on the horizon?

The 2017 Wisconsin football team has a lot of new faces entering this season, while the returning members and veterans are ready to put the roller coaster that was 2016 in the past and gear up for another championship-chasing season.

Fresh off a 24-16 Cotton Bowl victory over then-undefeated Western Michigan, the Badgers flirted with the College Football Playoff all throughout the 2016 season, and some could argue they were one or two big wins away from getting their first ever berth in the final four.

Three losses last year, all by seven points, have Wisconsin fans eager to get started on the 2017 season. Some of you may recall the brutal schedule the Badgers endured last season, with more than half their games versus preseason top 17 teams.

We can also recall FOX Sports‘ Colin Cowherd bashing the Badgers and calling them a 6-6 team prior to the year.

While expectations were much lower last year thanks to the severe difficulty of their schedule, the team’s 11-3 mark through it all had the Wisconsin program and its fans raving for next year, which is now just a few weeks away.

On paper, the Badgers’ schedule appears to be lighter than last year’s slate, but then again, almost anything would look more appealing. With no return game against Ohio State, and Michigan at home, it might be time to start considering Wisconsin not only Big Ten champs, but national champs as well.

Here are five reasons why the Wisconsin Badgers can, and will, win the 2017 national title.