Wisconsin football 2026

[JosephC]

nate has Chryst derangement syndrome.

Whoever looked at Joseph and said he was QB priority #1 and worth throwing millions at...that guy should definitely be fired.

[nate82]

1 minute ago, yfinn6 said:

How is it relevant in 2026?

You are seriously asking this?  Do you even follow college football?  Seriously?

Recruiting is extremely important in college football even in the transfer era.  You still have to recruit.  It takes 2-3 years to recruit players some even as young as freshmen in high school.  That would put that player at about a sophomore or junior currently.

I also pointed out Fickell’s failure with the QB transfers he has brought in.  I’m not really putting the blame on one person but it started with PC and it has continued with Fickell.

[nate82]

4 minutes ago, JosephC said:

 

nate has Chryst derangement syndrome

 

And for whatever reason you continue to bend over backwards to defend PC when he completely gave up on recruiting.  The OL and QB position being as bad as they have been has been on him.  Going all the way back to the start of 2019.

[yfinn6]

4 minutes ago, nate82 said:

You are seriously asking this?  Do you even follow college football?  Seriously?

Recruiting is extremely important in college football even in the transfer era.  You still have to recruit.  It takes 2-3 years to recruit players some even as young as freshmen in high school.  That would put that player at about a sophomore or junior currently.

I also pointed out Fickell’s failure with the QB transfers he has brought in.  I’m not really putting the blame on one person but it started with PC and it has continued with Fickell.

I'm well aware of how college football works and how college football works in the transfer portal and NIL era is far different from the era you're seemingly stuck in. 

[homer]

Hey guys stop with the personal attacks.

[Jim French Stepstool]

First off, they gave up 30 points. This wasn't the type of opponent, venue or circumstance (Iowa suffering a frustrating loss last week) where you can give up anywhere near that many & be able to compete. 

Against a lot of teams, a QB like Joseph can allow you to compete IF you can get the opposing front seven to take your run game seriously, get Joseph out on the edge (or in the middle on a QB draw IF you're running effectively enough off-tackle or on the jet sweep to stretch the defense a little) and maybe most importantly keep the down & distance manageable. UW did none of those things today.

They were never going to score a lot of points today, but you needed just enough 1st downs & 8, 10, 11 play drives where you could keep your defense fresh, and punt from a more advantageous spot on the field when you DID have to kick. This had to be a field position, strong special-teams game where whoever made the fewest mistakes won 17-13 or something like that.

The goal now in the next three games is to get back to what they've been able do in the last several games before today (yes, including the UCLA loss) & see if the next real 'physical' test (Minnesota) can be handled better than this one was.

[Jim French Stepstool]

2 hours ago, yfinn6 said:

What are you witnessing from this program that they're moving in the right direction? They're getting absolutely pantsed by Iowa, again. They've beaten bad teams and teams that are well-coached have no issues with Wisconsin. USC and PSU are trash. 

Whoops, now we about to be down 27-0. 

I think compared to last year, it could be argued they're in a better spot right now. I don't know if last years' team competes as well on the road at UCLA, or wins at Penn State (regardless of how much the Lions have fallen). And as meaningless as this may be, I don't think last years' teams dominate the non-con opponents after Notre Dame like this years' team did. 

But I don't disagree with you, either. Physical teams have eaten their lunch in the last few years. That's why I want to see things get righted before Minnesota, another team that prides itself on that.

If I can make an analogy, I think this program has gotten better the last year or two in the same way that Steve Yoder's BB teams improved in his last handful of years. Which means not enough, at least at this point. Winning the next three is probably critical for Fickell, and a better showing in the finale might be. As I said above, barring a loss or two to people not named Minnesota I think he'll be back. That's based more on reading tea leaves than any desire I have, one way or the other. We'll see.

[LouisEly]

Who left the playbook in the hotel lobby?

 

[homer]

Minnesota is weird. They get crushed by Purdue then beat Iowa and take Indiana to OT.

[Jim French Stepstool]

39 minutes ago, homer said:

Minnesota is weird. 

A more accurate statement has never been made, that backs up the adage that a team takes on the personality of their coach.

[JosephC]

Penn State runs Purdue off the field today.  Looks like the Badgers get 3 cupcakes in a row.

[Yaz]

The Badgers came out flat.  I saw 4 or 5 false starts in the first 2 possessions.  How does that happen?!!!!!! When Iowa made it 17-0 with around 2 minutes left in first half I shut my TV off.  Then I saw they got shut out 30-0.  Oh my.  I didn't think they would win this one but 30-0??    The good thing is they have multiple winnable games left and should be back in a bowl game.  

[HarryDoyle]

 

[LouisEly]

17 hours ago, homer said:

Minnesota is weird. They get crushed by Purdue then beat Iowa and take Indiana to OT.

UW dominates USC last week.  USC handily beats Ohio State this week.  UW craps the bed against Iowa this week.  (Note - Indiana's starting QB Hoover got knocked out of the game and didn't play the 2nd half.  Backup QBs struggle.)

I don't know what to make of this season (insert Airplane Johnny GIF).

[JosephC]

Ohio State had the long trip to USC.  Wisconsin had the long trip to UCLA.  Oregon has the long trip to Illinois.  These long trips make a real difference.  I can still remember several Big 10 coaches having complaints about Penn State being added to the conference because of the travel.  Penn State?  Having west coast teams in the Big 10 is stupid.  Having an 18 team conference when you play a 9 game schedule is stupid.  College football these days is stupid.

[Underachiever]

On 10/31/2026 at 2:11 PM, yfinn6 said:

You're really still going to blame PC in year 4 of Fickell in the transfer portal era? I was shaking my head at your post in general disagreement since the ranked teams they've beat this year are generally bad teams and getting worse, and the Badgers didn't exactly blow them out but then I read the bolded sentence. 

 

.

[JosephC]

Now that Purdue is looking rather non-competitive, Fickell looks safe with a likely 8-4 (maybe even better) record this year.  But after the latest Iowa beatdown, Madison seems to have had enough of him.  And there is no doubt who the locals want to see at his replacement.

 

[CheezWizHed]

Bad news was that Saturday was my first chance to see a full WI football game...Good news is that I watched it off the DVR and only wasted an hour on the game.  Woof that was ugly.

I remember why I hate, hate, hate option football.  I was getting major Gary Anderson vibes.  By the time we decided if it was an RB run or a QB keep the Iowa defenders were already going through holes in the line.  I guess not having to defend the pass helps with that.  But we looked like we were running in concrete while Iowa was flying around us.  

[LouisEly]

5 hours ago, JosephC said:

Fickell looks safe with a likely 8-4 (maybe even better) record this year.

Eichorst has shown that he's not afraid to make a change at that point (but it sounds like Pellini's firing had a large part to do with how he treated athletic department staff and others and not just W/L record, and was probably pressured by boosters too).  Will depend on the athletic department's finances and projections on paying out ~$350K/mo until 2032

I would not be at all surprised if his fate is tied to their performance against Minnesota.

Yes, New Mexico is currently ranked, but their strength of schedule is ranked between 114th and 134th out of 138 teams depending on source.  ESPN's Football Power Index has an overall Power Index of 46th, by far the lowest of the ranked teams.  FWIW, ESPN has UW's overall Power Index at 39th.  And their QB play doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in me that it will improve under him.

To me, Eck winning at New Mexico has a lot of "Fickell winning at Cincinnati" vibes.

[Jim French Stepstool]

IF Fickell is jettisoned, it'll be just about impossible avoid rumors about Eck. And if I compiled my own personal short list he'd be on it. But AFA local ties-type guys go there are a couple I'd put in front of him. The first guy I'd explore to see if there's any interest is Jake Dickert at Wake Forest. He brought Wazzou into Madison a few years ago & came away with a win & has had success at WF since moving there.

I also like Tim Polasek. He's at North Dakota State, so folks who remember Don Morton might learn that fact & run off screaming.

[Samurai Bucky]

On 10/31/2026 at 6:28 PM, homer said:

Minnesota is weird. They get crushed by Purdue then beat Iowa and take Indiana to OT.

I think the playbook was found on that white roll of paper in the bathroom.