Wisconsin football 2026

[LouisEly]

UW flips 4-star CB Mekhi Williams from Florida State.  

UW currently sits #15 on 24/7's 2027 class ranking.

It appears that concerns about UW's record last year are a bit overblown.

[BrewerFan]

On 4/14/2026 at 5:10 PM, owbc said:

This is exciting news. Hopefully it is the first step to firing Fickell. A couple of poor performances with the soft schedule should be enough. 

I haven't been thrilled with Fickell(to say the least), but I REALLY hope he doesn't get fired. 

I'm going to hold out hope he can turn it around until the last possible minute... and things are looking up with this class. 

[CheezWizHed]

2 hours ago, LouisEly said:

UW flips 4-star CB Mekhi Williams from Florida State.  

UW currently sits #15 on 24/7's 2027 class ranking.

It appears that concerns about UW's record last year are a bit overblown.

To be fair... no one cares if you win the offseason.  Still have to make it count on the field. 

1 hour ago, BrewerFan said:

I haven't been thrilled with Fickell(to say the least), but I REALLY hope he doesn't get fired. 

I'm going to hold out hope he can turn it around until the last possible minute... and things are looking up with this class. 

Yeah, I'm kind of there too.  He has really stunk the last few years, but it FINALLY looks like he has turned recruiting around a bit.  I don't want to lose that momentum now.  But I also don't want to be thinking in three years that he still stinks. 

[BrewerFan]

2 hours ago, CheezWizHed said:

Yeah, I'm kind of there too.  He has really stunk the last few years, but it FINALLY looks like he has turned recruiting around a bit.  I don't want to lose that momentum now.  But I also don't want to be thinking in three years that he still stinks. 

No... I guess I was thinking if he doesn't show a lot of improvement with a new AD, he'll likely get fired and then it's that much further out before Badger Football is relevant again. 

I would have felt great about the Badgers in this current B1G up until maybe Covid. Now it's just painful to watch. 

[JosephC]

Fickell is a dead man walking.  There was some hope that, with the weak schedule, the Badgers could be an 8 or maybe even 9 win team in 2026.  After the spring practice reports, the same people are now thinking 6 wins and maybe push that to 7 if they get a weak bowl matchup.  Even with a 7-6 record, that would bring Fickell's record at Wisconsin to a pitiful 24-27.  A new AD will want to hire "their guy" anyway, and a 7-6, 24-27 record will not be nearly enough to save Fickell.

Not to just dump on Fickell, as it is pretty obvious at this point that 75% of the problem was idiot Chris McIntosh and 25% Fickell.  But that said, there has been nothing to indicate that Fickell is a Big 10 level coach.  He looks like a mid-major coach that recruits mid-major players and hires mid-major assistant coaches.  What do you know, the 6-7 record he had as Ohio State's head coach doesn't look like a fluke after all.

And as far as celebrating high school commits in June, what a joke after what happened last year.  Do the names Jayden Petit and Amari Latimer ring any bells?  Even Latimer's "replacement," Qwantavius Wiggins, never made it to campus and will not be playing for the Badgers.  I can see getting excited about some of the in-state players that commit, but a June verbal from anybody else is completely worthless. 

 

[igor67]

The LSU nonsense with bringing back ex-Pros just confirms for me that college football is done. 

[LouisEly]

6 hours ago, igor67 said:

The LSU nonsense with bringing back ex-Pros just confirms for me that college football is done. 

Seems like everyone's against it except for LSU and an elected judge in Louisiana.

[CheezWizHed]

16 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Seems like everyone's against it except for LSU and an elected judge in Louisiana.

Someone needs to look into that Judge's campaign donations!

[Jim French Stepstool]

Certainly not a lot of optimism for 2026, and understandably so. I was a many-years season ticket holder, could recognize any name on the two-deep (and quite a few below that) and had a nephew who usually attended the games with me & had a friend on the team. Fun times. Now.......I'll grudgingly accept the portal & what it's done to college basketball, mainly because it's much easier to keep track of the effects of half a roster being turned over & how it fits the program when you're talking about 14-15 total players. 35, 40, 50 new players a year? Forget it. I'll watch this years' Badger team & hope for the best. If you're taking on Notre Dame, the first week is as good a time as any, I guess. AFA personnel, from what I understand the overall depth at QB is decent & more attuned to what they'll try to do offensively. The O-line can actually be competitive provided everyone is & stays healthy; not much depth. TB Darrion Dupree had a few moments last year & MIGHT have a little more growth in him. And in both quality & depth, LB appears to be easily the most attractive unit on the team.

'Sides that I got nuthin'.

[RedStickBrew]

39 minutes ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

Certainly not a lot of optimism for 2026, and understandably so. I was a many-years season ticket holder, could recognize any name on the two-deep (and quite a few below that) and had a nephew who usually attended the games with me & had a friend on the team. Fun times. Now.......I'll grudgingly accept the portal & what it's done to college basketball, mainly because it's much easier to keep track of the effects of half a roster being turned over & how it fits the program when you're talking about 14-15 total players. 35, 40, 50 new players a year? Forget it. I'll watch this years' Badger team & hope for the best. If you're taking on Notre Dame, the first week is as good a time as any, I guess. AFA personnel, from what I understand the overall depth at QB is decent & more attuned to what they'll try to do offensively. The O-line can actually be competitive provided everyone is & stays healthy; not much depth. TB Darrion Dupree had a few moments last year & MIGHT have a little more growth in him. And in both quality & depth, LB appears to be easily the most attractive unit on the team.

'Sides that I got nuthin'.

I think with the exception of ILB, every other position group has been almost completely remade with the offseason moves which is likely why I have similar apathetic feelings about the start of the year. 

The Oline will be key to the offense and is not off to a great start with two injuries to Haywood and Mandell right now.

The feature RB should be Abu Sama, an experienced 1000 yard rusher from Iowa State. Dupree should be part of the rotation. 

The DB room has some of the best talent we’ve had in years and Steeples is a legit coach. I’m excited to see how they play behind our defensive front this year. 

[Jim French Stepstool]

1 hour ago, RedStickBrew said:

I think with the exception of ILB, every other position group has been almost completely remade with the offseason moves which is likely why I have similar apathetic feelings about the start of the year. 

The Oline will be key to the offense and is not off to a great start with two injuries to Haywood and Mandell right now.

The feature RB should be Abu Sama, an experienced 1000 yard rusher from Iowa State. Dupree should be part of the rotation. 

The DB room has some of the best talent we’ve had in years and Steeples is a legit coach. I’m excited to see how they play behind our defensive front this year. 

Yeah, I heard about Haywood & Mandell having issues. They're two pretty good bookend tackles to build on IF you can get them on the field.

Thx about the Sama mention. I read weeks ago about him joining & completely forgot.

[owbc]

In the past this game would be must-see TV but I'll probably forget that it's even happening this weekend. 

[homer]

The defense was playing well at the end of last year. Interested to see how they start off. I am not expecting much from the offense.

[Jim French Stepstool]

7 hours ago, homer said:

The defense was playing well at the end of last year. Interested to see how they start off. I am not expecting much from the offense.

They really were. At LB Catalano, Cheeks & Posa are no joke, Aaron Witt is pretty dependable & I believe they are still pretty high on Thomas Heiberger. If the secondary can be pulled together the way @RedStickBrew thinks can happen, the D will certainly be the strong side of the ball.

[yourout]

On 8/31/2026 at 4:27 PM, owbc said:

In the past this game would be must-see TV but I'll probably forget that it's even happening this weekend. 

I wish they would schedule a home and home with South Carolina. I have a friend there that's a season ticket holder and alumni of SC. I would probably travel there for the road game and he would come here for the camp Randall game

[TwinsBrewersWorldSeries]

I agree with the comments about the portal ruining what used to be great anticipation for the season.  I’m no fan of Fick, but I expect us to be better this season.

I’m going eight wins four losses with a win in a midtier bowl.

Pretty confident, the badgers will win more games than the Packers this year

[Jimbo]

On 8/31/2026 at 4:27 PM, owbc said:

In the past this game would be must-see TV but I'll probably forget that it's even happening this weekend. 

I will attending an annual Labor Day Weekend Cookout, so this will most likely be an afterthought for me as well.

[owbc]

4 hours ago, TwinsBrewersWorldSeries said:

I agree with the comments about the portal ruining what used to be great anticipation for the season.  I’m no fan of Fick, but I expect us to be better this season.

I’m going eight wins four losses with a win in a midtier bowl.

Pretty confident, the badgers will win more games than the Packers this year

I just looked at the schedule for the first time...quite the cupcake schedule other than the ND game which is essentially a glorified exhibition. 

Two likely nonconference Ws in September, two guaranteed Ls at PSU and Iowa, probably a L to USC at home as well. 

So that's 2-4, then the other 6 games are all essentially coin flips so 3-3 in those.

5-7 it is unless they manage to show improvement over last year which seems unlikely to me.