Duke coach David Cutcliffe had a message for the University of Wisconsin football team after he heard the Badgers were dealing with a flu outbreak:

"God bless 'em," Cutcliffe said Wednesday.

Cutcliffe knows what UW coach Bret Bielema is going through. More than 30 Duke players came down with the flu last month, an epidemic that wreaked havoc during the team's preseason training camp.

While the situation was far from ideal, at least the Blue Devils weren't dealing with it during a game week. Cutcliffe declared his team healthy last week leading up to last Saturday's season opener against Richmond, a Football Championship Subdivision opponent that handed Duke a 24-16 loss.

The Badgers, meanwhile, are dealing with a flu outbreak just days before their scheduled game against Fresno State Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.

"We would have had a hard time playing a game," Cutcliffe said of the outbreak during training camp. "We had over 30 players sick with the flu and it was most of our linemen, where they were (in) close contact in practice.

"Boy, it just went through us hard. You can play a little bit sick, but kids were over 103 (degrees) or at 103 fevers, some (were) nauseated, tremendous body aches, lack of energy, hydration was a real problem."

Denny Helwig, UW's assistant athletic director for sports medicine, said Tuesday that the number of UW football players affected by the flu is in the "low double-digits." Helwig said he could not confirm if the players were infected by the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu.

According to Cutcliffe, if what the Blue Devils went through is any indication, the Badgers might be in for a rough rest of the week as they prepare for Fresno State.

"The missed practice time was frustrating, but it was getting them back to par after they even got back out there practicing," Cutcliffe said. "We had to let them sit 24 hours symptom-free before we could mix them back with the group at the recommendation of all the health people. But once we were back, we just were not back full speed.

"I think it will linger. I hate to tell (UW officials) that. I don't know how many people they have or if it's hit their linemen. I would be interested in knowing if it's mostly linemen. It's very difficult to deal with."

Like Bielema, Mississippi's Houston Nutt is also finding that out. Nutt said Wednesday that 20 to 22 of his players, including star quarterback Jevan Sneed and eight other starters, have been affected by a flu outbreak on the team.

However, the sixth-ranked Rebels caught a break on the schedule. They're off this week after opening the season with a 45-14 victory at Memphis. Mississippi's next game is Sept. 19, when it hosts Southeastern Louisiana on Sept. 19.

So unlike the Badgers, the Rebels have plenty of time to recover.

"We're very fortunate we don't play this week and very thankful," Nutt said. "I hope we can get them back. The good news is, what we're seeing ... it's been about a 48-hour process. Hopefully, it will continue to be a 48-hour process and we can get well."

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