In 100 days, Ohio State will open its Big Ten schedule.

And the conference schedule opener is not an easy one, taking on presumed Big Ten West favorite at home for the first time since 2019 Sept. 24.

Here's what you need to know about the Badgers before the 2022 season kicks off.

In matchups against Wisconsin, recent matchups have heavily favored the Buckeyes.

Since 2011 — through the final years of Bret Bielema, the interim years of Gary Andersen and the beginning of the Paul Chryst era, along with a Barry Alvarez game or two in that run — Ohio State has beaten Wisconsin eight straight times, including three wins for Big Ten titles.

The Buckeyes last lost to Wisconsin in Madison Oct. 16, 2010, ending a mini three-game win streak from 2007-2009.

But here's the thing: Wisconsin has always seemed to keep things close with the Buckeyes.

Five of the eight times Ohio State has beaten the Badgers, the game has been decided by a touchdown or less, including the 2017 Big Ten championship, where the Buckeyes used a Sean Nuernberger field goal in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter to stave off a rallying Wisconsin offense.

Out of any Big Ten team, however, Wisconsin, with 18 wins historically, has the third-most wins against Ohio State behind Michigan with 59 and Illinois with 30.

Just like 2020, Wisconsin's offense wasn't anything too special in 2021.

The Badgers finished with the No. 8 scoring offense in the Big Ten, averaging 25.4 points per game — fourth-best in the Big Ten West behind Purdue (29.1), Nebraska (27.9) and Minnesota (25.5) — along with 371.1 yards per game: good for No. 8 in the conference, averaging 5.6 yards per play.

While the offense struggled to find consistency at times, Wisconsin did find another running back to add to its legacy.

Following in the footsteps of Montee Ball, Melvin Gordon and Jonathan Taylor, Braelon Allen, who came into the program as a 6-foot-2, 240-pound four-star athlete without a position, shined as a freshman, joining Ron Dayne, James White and Taylor as the only freshmen in school history to record 1,000 yards in their first season.

Taking over for an injured Chez Mellusi, who is expected back in 2022, Allen rivaled Ohio State running back TreVeyon Henderson, tying him for the best yards-per-carry average among backs with more than 140 carries with 6.82.

Even with Graham Mertz returning for another season at quarterback, most of Wisconsin's game plan will be focused on Allen and the run game.

In 2021 opposing offenses couldn't get anything going against Wisconsin's defense.

The Badgers finished with the No. 4 scoring defense in the country, allowing 16.2 points per game — one of 17 defenses in the country, including Minnesota, Penn State, Michigan and Iowa from the Big Ten to allow less than 20 points per game — along with 239.1 yards per game: the best total defense in the country by nearly 30 yards.

But both of Wisconsin's top two defenders are gone. Leo Chenal, after recording 115 tackles, 18.5 tackles-for-loss and eight sacks as a junior linebacker, was selected in the third round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs, while Jack Sanborn, who finished second on the team with 89 tackles, 16 tackles-for-loss and five sacks as a senior linebacker.

The Badgers will have Nick Herbig, the team's only returning starting linebacker, who led the team with nine sacks last season, and John Torchio, who was tied for the team lead with three interceptions at safety last season, back, along with nose tackle Keeanu Barton, but have tremendous holes to fill defensively.