Luke Fickell trying to take spotlight off Buckeyes ties ahead of Ohio State vs. Wisconsin

It's going to have to be a bit awkward for Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell this weekend. His 5-2 Badgers are playing host to No. 3 Ohio State, and Fickell has a bit of history with the Buckeyes.

In fact, that's putting it lightly.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Fickell made a school-record 50 consecutive starts at nose guard from 1993 to 1996. He was an assistant coach at Ohio State from 2002 to 2016 and even served as the interim head coach in 2011.

Fickell is about as Ohio State as they get, but now the head coach of the Badgers, he doesn't want any of that talk surrounding this contest.

"It's not about me," Fickell said on Monday, per ESPN. "I know we have some guys on our staff — myself included — that have some obvious history there, whether they went to school there or played there. But that's not what it's about."

What it's about for Wisconsin is having a shot at redeeming this season in a sense. With losses to unranked Washington State and an offensively inept Iowa squad, Fickell's first year in Madison hasn't gone as planned. With that said, a perennial Big Ten contender, the Badgers still are at the top of the Big Ten West with a 3-1 conference record, and with Indiana, Northwestern, Nebraska and Minnesota on deck after Ohio State — a chance to face either Michigan, Ohio State or Penn State int he Big Ten title game is still in the cards.

Beating Ohio State would firmly put Wisconsin back in the national conversation as well, but that's going to be easier said than done. Ohio State is 9-0 against Wisconsin since 2010.