MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A strong running game and a stingy defense have become as synonymous with Wisconsin football as Bucky Badger, the school's furry mascot in the striped turtleneck sweater.

If the seventh-ranked Badgers are to meet the lofty expectations being placed on them in Year 2 under coach Bret Bielema, it'll be on the strength of that simple formula for success.

``It's better to have high expectations than low expectations,'' Bielema said. ``That sounds like a song, but it has a lot of truth to it. I'd much rather have people preparing for how good you're going to be than, 'Is he going to be any good at all?'''

Powerful running back P.J. Hill returns for the Badgers, along with several key members of defense that ranked among the best in the country last year.

But there are question marks at quarterback and left tackle with departures of John Stocco and Joe Thomas. And after going a surprising 12-1 last season, Wisconsin won't be sneaking up on anybody this year.

The schedule gets tougher for the Badgers this season, too. Ohio State is back on the slate - the week before Wisconsin plays Michigan.

``I would love to see the computer that spit out that we would play Ohio State and Michigan back-to-back,'' Bielema said. ``That's a nice random draw.''

But the Badgers won't have to worry about that unhappy scheduling quirk until November. For now, they have a more pressing concern: Choosing a starting quarterback.

Fifth-year senior Tyler Donovan has the inside track on the job after leading the Badgers to victories at Iowa and against Buffalo when Stocco was injured last season. But Allan Evridge, a transfer from Kansas State, might have more long-term potential than Donovan - especially when it comes to the passing game.

Whichever player wins the quarterback derby will have the luxury of handing off to Hill, who ran for 1,569 yards and 15 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman last year.

But Hill's punishing running style worked against him as the year wore on, and he had to have offseason shoulder surgery that kept him out of spring practice.

Hill came back lighter - about 224 pounds, down from a listed 242 last year - and determined to avoid unnecessary contact this season.

``I'm still going to be a physical back, that's just in me,'' Hill said. ``I like being physical. I'm just going to be smart about the contact that I make.''

As the main offensive player for a potential top-10 team, could Hill be a candidate for the Heisman Trophy?

Hill just laughs.

``I'm not really thinking about Heisman right now,'' Hill said. ``I'm just thinking about my role that I have to play on this team.''

The Badgers return the bulk of last year's offensive line, but are missing one big piece - left tackle Joe Thomas, who was drafted No. 3 overall by the Cleveland Browns in April.

Three players are competing to take over for Thomas: Senior Danny Kaye, sophomore Jake Bscherer and freshman Gabe Carimi.

``He's a great guy and everything that has been said about him is true,'' Kaye said of Thomas. ``It's nearly impossible to replace him. I'm going in with the mentality that if we can do half as good as Joe did, we'll be all right.''

The outlook is even brighter on defense, where cornerbacks Jack Ikegwuonu and Allen Langford, linebacker DeAndre Levy and defensive end Matt Shaughnessy return for a unit that ranked No. 2 in the nation in points allowed at 12.1 per game.

``I think we can be just as good if not better,'' Ikegwuonu said. ``Every year there are teams who are getting better and better. Last year, we had new coaches so obviously everything is getting better. We have a lot of athletes on this team. If we can take the right approach, we can exceed a lot of expectations for this year.''

Shaughnessy said the team embraces high expectations.

``There won't be any drop off from last season,'' Shaughnessy said. ``We want to take it to another level and we can.''

Bielema, meanwhile, is still beating the Badgers' drum for more national respect.

``At Wisconsin, we have to play with a little chip on our shoulders,'' he said. ``We have to go with a little different attitude, maybe more so than others, just because people don't know the level of success we've had. Over the last three years, there is no football program in this conference that's won more games than we have. We need to get that truth out there and in front of as many fans and recruits as possible.''