Wisconsin Football Takes Embarrassing Hit As Program Races Downward
Will Luke Fickell ever improve the Badgers or his his fate sealed?
Wisconsin's football team continues to be in a dark place weeks ahead of the season starting.
As a Wisconsin man, I've made my feelings clear about the state of the football program many times here at OutKick.
Watching the Badgers slip from a premier Big Ten program and regularly winning 10+ games a year to the trash product now has been brutal.
Fans are desperate for the sinking ship to be saved, but it appears nobody has much confidence that will happen.
Wisconsin football head coach Luke Fickell is 13-13 since being hired to run the show in Madison. (Photo by Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Wisconsin not expected to be a major player in Big Ten this season
Head coach Luke Fickell is just 13-13 since arriving in Madison following the firing of Paul Chryst. The Badgers now face a gauntlet this season of brutal matchups.
It could get ugly.
Voters expect it will.
Cleveland.com released its prestigious preseason poll Monday morning, and the Badgers are slotted at 12th. For comparison, the Badgers opened last season in the seventh spot.
You can check out the full poll in the tweet below from Brett McMurphy.
This poll really is a sign of just how far Wisconsin has fallen since the Rose Bowl appearance capping off the 2019 season.
Imagine telling a Wisconsin fan five years ago that the Badgers would soon be viewed as a bottom 50% team among the likes of Minnesota, Rutgers, UCLA, Northwestern and Purdue.
No honest fan would have believed you, but the downfall is proof that when things go bad, they can go bad quickly. What took decades to build can disappear over the course of just a few years.
Fickell's seat is definitely growing hotter and with games against Alabama, Michigan, Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon, Washington, Indiana, Illinois and Minnesota, fans might be in for a *ROUGH* 2025 season.
A 5-7 finish or worse could result in Fickell packing his bags and finding employment elsewhere.
The Wisconsin Badgers are 12th in the Big Ten preseason poll. (Photo by Ross Harried/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Wisconsin opens the season Aug. 28 against Miami (OH) in Madison. For the sake of my mental health, I hope my pessimism isn't validated on the field. If so, we're going to soon be having a very different conversation. Let me know your predictions for the season at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.