Wisconsin

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Big Ten · Luke Fickell, year 5 (18-22) · Camp Randall Stadium · 80,321 · 65,274 avg in 2026

The nationunrankedAP / Coaches
The model#88 CFB ZeitgeistSP+ #74 (-1.5) · FPI #56
The marketWisconsin by 23.5vs Eastern Michigan · our model 75% Wisconsin · a number, not a pick

LastW 36–9 vs Western Illinois · Sat Sep 12 · Abu Sama III 107 rush yds, 1 TD, 5 rec yds

Nextvs Eastern Michigan · Sat Sep 19 · 12:30 pm ET · Camp Randall Stadium · Wisconsin by 23.5 · series 4-0, won the last 4 · Game preview

Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2

Zeitgeist staturePower Program III#32 all-time– holding
The era · 2014 through 2025

The CFP Era

12 seasons inside the CFP era, no bids yet — the era the program is still trying to break into.

Era record 97-53 12 seasons
Best season 13-1 2017
Top-10 finishes 2 AP polled only
TRAJECTORY · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program Quality AP Rank (inverted) CFP Appearance
'14'16'18'20'22'24NOW
CHAPTERS · 12 seasons · tap to open the archive
'14 11-3 '15 10-3 '16 11-3 '17 13-1 '18 8-5 '19 10-4 '20 — '21 8-4 '22 7-6 '23 7-6 '24 5-7 '25 4-8

Wisconsin's 2014–2025 record is 97-53. The era is still being written; the CFP line is the one the program is arguing for.

Era win %
.646
Ranked seasons (AP)
10/12
Best AP finish
#6

Program outlook

Wisconsin spent twenty years proving that a 250-pound running back behind a 320-pound line is a philosophy, not a cliche. Then Luke Fickell's third year produced a 4-8 record, a 37-0 Iowa shutout, and a program that looked like it had lost the thread entirely. The identity crisis is real. Whether it is permanent is the question.

Read the full essay — 3 more paragraphs

Barry Alvarez built what Wisconsin became: three Rose Bowl wins in the 1990s, Ron Dayne's Heisman in 1999, the establishment of the running-back factory as a two-decade pipeline of 1,000-yard backs — Dayne, Montee Ball, Melvin Gordon, Jonathan Taylor — behind an offensive line that produced NFL starters as reliably as any program in the country. 'Jump Around' shakes Camp Randall between the third and fourth quarters and the Fifth Quarter band show closes wins. The culture is specific and it is earned. Wisconsin has not been anything else.

Fickell's third season broke the machine. The 4-8 record was the worst in a generation. Quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. went down, four passers rotated through a remade scheme, and the identity the program was supposed to be built around — the run, the line, the physical attrition — disappeared from the box scores. Iowa shut the Badgers out 37-0. That scoreline is the crystallization: a Wisconsin team that could not impose its will on the program most like itself. Fickell's seat is on fire. The debate in Madison is not abstract — it is the program's oldest argument made urgent by the worst year the modern era has seen.

The 2026 season is the referendum. Does Wisconsin return to the line-and-back model that three Rose Bowls and a Heisman produced, or does Fickell rebuild toward an offense the program has never been? The Big Ten has changed around the Badgers, but Camp Randall hasn't, and neither has the fan contract. Run the ball. Win the line. The 2026 team will either honor that contract or breach it — and the fanbase will be watching for the first third-down run.

On the field

Blue-collar-running-game-cathedral — the line and the back, defense that gets out of the offense's way, and a physical attrition model that treats the fourth quarter as the program's home territory. Camp Randall is built for the identity: a Civil War training ground stadium where 'Jump Around' is a seismic event and the crowd believes that running the ball is a worldview. The question is whether that identity is still what the coaching staff is building toward.

program outlook · as of 2026-06-14

All-time record · Wisconsin

Wisconsin has won 56% of its games since 1892 — 67% at home, 42% on the road.

747-529-52 all-time · 135 seasons · 1892–2026

Home 502-227-22
Away 222-278-30
Neutral 23-24
76% 1890s
76% 1900s
60% 1910s
59% 1920s
43% 1930s
42% 1940s
62% 1950s
35% 1960s
42% 1970s
40% 1980s
58% 1990s
67% 2000s
75% 2010s
51% 2020s

Coaching Era · Wisconsin

Luke Fickell

Luke Fickell has held the program for 4 seasons — the era is established.

Era Luke Fickell · 2023–presentPrev: Jim Leonhard (2022)OC: Jeff GrimesPrev OC: Phil Longo (2023–2024)DC: Mike TresselPrev DC: co-Alex Grinch / Mike Tressel (2024)
The full CFP-era story →The full coaching lineage →
4 years · era

Program memory

What this program never forgets

Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.

1994

First Rose Bowl win

Alvarez's program wins the Rose Bowl, announcing Wisconsin as a national factor

1999

Dayne's Heisman

Ron Dayne breaks the NCAA career rushing record and wins the Heisman at Camp Randall

2025

37-0 to Iowa

A shutout loss that crystallized the program's worst season in a generation

Wound

Moment of the season — so far · Wisconsin · 2026

Lost 13-41 at Notre Dame

Week 1 of 2026. A reckoning loss — the data point the next season must answer. It turned on one snap in Q2 — Colton Joseph to Malachi Coleman, a 33-point win-probability swing.

Decisive Marginvs Top-5 (#4)

NFL Draft Pipeline

2022–2025

Wisconsin has sent 12 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — none in the first round.

Steady. Reliable mid-tier pipeline.

12 picks · 0 in round 1
#43 Joe Tippmann Center · 2023 · New York
#49 Keeanu Benton Defensive Tackle · 2023 · Pittsburgh · #8/278 final season
#103 Leo Chenal Inside Linebacker · 2022 · Kansas City · #198/578 final season
#22 all-time · 29 first-round picksthe talent factory →

More in this tab

Ladder finishHow far up the ladder this season got.

Season standing · 2026 · 1-1

Wisconsin is 1-1 and unranked in the season's first weeks.

Even or better through the season's first weeks. The resume is still forming.

Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Coaching historyEvery hire and departure on record, not just the current era.

Coaching history

  • Hired Luke Fickell2022
  • Hired Jim Leonhard (interim)2022
  • Paul Chryst departs67-26, 8 seasons
  • Jim Leonhard departs (interim)4-3, 1 season
  • Hired Paul Chryst2015
  • Gary Andersen departs19-7, 2 seasons
  • Barry Alvarez departs1-0, 1 season
  • Hired Barry Alvarez2014
Coordinator lineageOffense and defense under each coordinator.

Unit lineage

Wisconsin’s offense and defense, by coordinator

FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.

Offense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014 · Andy Ludwig2015–2021 · Joe Rudolph2022 · Bobby Engram2023–2024 · Phil Longo2025–2026 · Jeff Grimes
Defense2014–2026
2014201620182020202220242026
2014–2015 · Dave Aranda2016 · Justin Wilcox2017–2022 · Jim Leonhard2023 · co-Colin Hitschler / Mike Tressel2024 · co-Alex Grinch / Mike Tressel2025–2026 · Mike Tressel
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customsThe gameday customs unique to this program.

Rituals

The rituals that anchor a Saturday in this program's world.

Jump Around

since 1998

more

House of Pain's 1992 song plays at full volume; 80,321 fans literally jump in unison. The stadium structurally moves — geological sensors at the University of Wisconsin's geology department have measured it. CFB's most replicated 4th-quarter ritual; the original is still the only one that's been measured shaking the ground.

Fifth Quarter

since 1978

more

The Badger band continues playing in the stadium after the game ends. Fans stay. The 'Fifth Quarter' is a 25-minute coda that turns a 60-minute game into a 90-minute fanbase event. Built into the football experience as a tradition, not a marketing campaign.

Bucky Badger Push-ups

since 1980s

more

Mascot Bucky Badger does a push-up for every point on the scoreboard. After a 70-7 win, Bucky does 70 push-ups — twice if it's homecoming. The single most-photographed mascot ritual in the Big Ten.

Cultural identityWhat college football loses if this program didn't exist.
Canon appearancesMoments that made college football's permanent record.

Featured in The Canon

#38
Jonathan Taylor
The 100 Best Players of the CFP Era
Browse The Canon →
BowlsEvery bowl this program's played, and how it did.

Bowl / Postseason Ledger

Recent postseason (2014-2023): 8-2

Most recent: 2023 — loss 35-31 (away). Last 5 postseason: 3-2.

20232022202120202019
Reddit blowupsThe plays that blew up on r/CFB.

r/cfb moments

1.4k
[Postgame Thread] Wisconsin Defeats USF 49-0
Aug 2019 · r/cfb

All-time top community posts · ranked by upvotes

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