CHICAGO — UW head football coach Bret Bielema addressed the media today to talk about the upcoming season. Here are some highlights:

After witnessing a plethora of injuries last spring, Bielema expects all of his players to be ready for action come fall camp Aug. 4.

Initially, Wisconsin was scheduled to play Virginia Tech Sept. 20. Instead, Bielema backed out of the matchup with the Hokies, creating a bye week to prepare for Big Ten play. The Badgers will play Cal Poly on Nov. 22 instead. Bielema shot down reporters who asked about a seemingly weak non-conference schedule by saying that Akron is no slouch, Marshall was a top-tier program when the game was scheduled, and Fresno State is currently ranked in the Top 25. “And the reason I think we’ve been successful is because we’ve had good scheduling,” Bielema added.

Wisconsin was voted by the media as the second-best team in the conference behind Ohio State.

Although he will not explicitly name a starting quarterback, Bielema did say that it was senior Allan Evridge’s spot to lose, much like it was Donovan’s last year, possibly hinting at who he’s leaning toward.

Because of the depth at running back, questions about possibly redshirting either Zach Brown or Lance Smith have come up. Bielema said that he has thought about it, but both should be in uniform come Aug. 30.

Wisconsin’s defense struggled against the spread offense last season. Because eight of the 11 Big Ten teams will be running some form of the spread this season, Bielema says that his team has spent a considerable amount of time practicing against it, which he says should lead to vast defensive improvements.

Bielema also is excited about the back-to-back October home night games against Ohio State and Penn State and thinks that they are significant advantages for his squad.