The only direction for the Maryland wrestling team to go is up.

After dropping their first seven dual meets in a blowout fashion, the Terps are now staring down the possibility of not only a winless conference campaign — but a winless season altogether.

In the thick of a Big Ten slate, five of Maryland’s next six duals will come against ranked opponents. That brutal stretch will start this weekend as Terps will welcome No. 15 Wisconsin (6-5, 1-5 Big Ten) to College Park.

“You look up and down their lineup, they’ve got a lot of guys that aren’t necessarily heralded, but they’re pretty good,” coach Kerry McCoy said. “I think in every dual they’ve had this year, they were able to knock off a guy that was ranked higher than them.”

[Read more: Maryland wrestling’s stars aren’t fazed by their drops in rankings]

McCoy was impressed by the Badgers’ performance in a close 24-13 loss to the three-time defending national champions and current No. 1 ranked team in the nation, Penn State.

“Just look at what they did against Penn State,” McCoy said. “They wrestled them really tough.”

Youssif Hemida has breezed through his dual competitions since returning from an unexplained absence after the U23 world championships in November. But the No. 8 heavyweight in the nation is ready for some better competition, and he might get just that in the No. 9-ranked Trent Hillger.

“I’m pretty excited,” Hemida said. “This is someone that I might see at Big Tens or at Nationals so I’m really excited for it. This is my toughest opponent yet this season.”

[Read more: A new mindset got Michael Doetsch his first dual win for Maryland wrestling]

149-pounder Alfred Bannister will also be facing his toughest opponent yet in Wisconsin’s Cole Martin, who’s currently No. 11 in the country. Bannister is unranked after starting the year at No. 18. He knows that if he wants to get back into the rankings, he’ll need to change his mindset.

“It’s all about the man in the mirror,” Bannister said. “If you beat your expectations, and you conquer your weaknesses, then you’re not really worried about the other guy walking across the mat. Win or lose, as long as I do what I think I need to do, I’ll be happy with it.”

But Hemida and Bannister won’t be the only Terps facing ranked opponents — the Badgers boast a lineup with five ranked wrestlers.

165-pounder Philip Spadafora is facing one of the biggest uphill battles as he will take on a national championship contender in No. 3 Evan Wick.

Fresh off his first-ever dual victory as a Terp, Michael Doetsch has a chance to follow up his upset with an even bigger one as he takes on No. 8 Tristan Moran.

Despite a strong performance at the annual Midlands tournament, 125-pounder Brandon Cray has yet to pick up a dual victory on the season. Cray will look to break his slump and get his first dual win of the season against No. 15 Connor Brown.

Despite a winless season, McCoy still believes in his team and thinks this part of the schedule is a good thing for his guys.

“After this next month, we’ll see exactly where we are,” McCoy said, “and everyone else will see where we are.”