Wisconsin Badgers football coach Luke Fickell may need to go at least 3-5 the rest of the 2025 season to keep his job in Madison. Negative momentum in the three years since he took over has doomed his tenure. As has an unwillingness to financially support his program from the university’s donors.
Following consecutive losses to the Alabama Crimson Tide and the Maryland Terrapins, the latter being a particularly brutal low point, the Badgers face one of the toughest schedules in the Big Ten ahead of them, starting with the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor on Saturday night.
After that, Wisconsin has the Iowa Hawkeyes, No. 1 overall Ohio State Buckeyes, Washington Huskies, and Illinois Fighting Illini at home, and the Oregon Ducks, Indiana Hoosiers, and Minnesota Golden Gophers on the road.
USA Today’s Paul Myerberg laid out the grim reality for Fickell as Chris McIntosh weighs his next option, if it’s even the current AD’s call to make. Fickell’s failures may cost McIntosh his job, too.
“Fickell won seven games in 2023, five games last season and might top out at three or four this year, given how the Badgers have looked through four games and the remaining schedule in Big Ten play. After beating Miami (Ohio) and Middle Tennessee, the Badgers lost to No. 11 Alabama and Maryland by a combined 41 points and now head into a brutal eight-game stretch: No. 20 Michigan, Iowa, No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Oregon, Washington, No. 9 Indiana, No. 22 Illinois and Minnesota. While Wisconsin might’ve sold another year for Fickell had a young roster eked out five or six wins against this schedule, anything less could force the school to fire the former Cincinnati coach after just three seasons,” Myerberg wrote.
Wisconsin could be a sleeping giant. So far, NIL spending just hasn’t been there, though. Naturally, they’ve been lapped in the Big Ten, especially as the conference expanded to 18 teams before the 2024 season.
The Badgers will never be able to outspend Ohio State, Michigan, or Oregon. But they can be in the next tier below, which they aren’t currently.
Until Wisconsin gets with the name of the game and starts spending on talent, this situation won’t improve. It feels like Fickell has to get fired for the ball to get rolling, though.
We’ll see if the Badgers can find three wins from now until November 29.