Wisconsin football is finally spending like a program that wants to keep up.
After years of being openly behind the curve in NIL, the Badgers appear to have made a real leap in 2026, and the number attached to this roster says plenty. According to Justin Williams of The Athletic, Wisconsin’s football roster for 2026 cost north of $25 million. That figure is reportedly more than double what the Badgers had available during the disappointing 4-8 season in 2025.
That kind of jump didn’t happen by accident. Former athletics director Chris McIntosh had already promised more investment in football before moving on to an administrative role within the Big Ten, and Wisconsin seems to have backed that promise with real money.
Mega-donor Ted Kellner helped, and new state legislation that sends millions of taxpayer dollars to the athletic department also played a role. The result is a Badgers program with some actual financial muscle.
The difference shows up most clearly when you look at the transfer portal. Wisconsin’s 2025 incoming class was respectable on paper, but it was not built like a roster with major resources behind it.
Former Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. was the headliner, and he was the best quarterback the Badgers could land. He had a solid first season as a starter in College Park, but he was not considered an elite portal quarterback.
Out of 22 signees, he was the only one who spent the 2025 season as a Power Four starter.
There was some Power Four experience in that group, with players such as cornerback D'Yoni Hill from Miami and defensive lineman Jay'Viar Suggs from LSU, but neither had started at any point. Overall, the 2025 transfer class included just six Power Four players, not counting Arkansas long-snapper Eli Stein.
This year’s group looks very different. Wisconsin’s 2026 transfer class is 50 percent larger, with 33 players total.
Of those, 22 come from Power Four programs, and 14 of those newcomers started at least one game in 2025. That is a major shift in profile, and it points to a Badgers staff that finally has more to work with when it comes to building a roster.
The money is there now. The question is what Luke Fickell does with it.
With a roster budget that has more than doubled, the expectations have changed with it. If Wisconsin can’t turn that investment into a much bigger win total this fall, the conversation around the Fickell era in Madison is going to get a lot louder.
In Other News...
Badgers Face Painful New Uncertainty Around Promising Back Gideon Ituka
Gideon Itukas future has become one of the most sobering storylines around Wisconsin this offseason. The running back was not included on the official 2026 roster, a notable sign for a player who had been expected to be part of the programs backfield mix before last seasons injury changed everything. Even with that uncertainty, Ituka remains around the team and continues to be involved in some capacity as he works through the aftermath of a severe setback.
Luke Fickells latest update only deepened the concern, because the coach made clear there is no clean timeline for a return. For a player who still had reasons to believe he could carve out a role in Madison, the issue now is less about when he might be back and more about whether he will ever be cleared to play contact football again. [Read more 🡒]
Badgers Making Early Push For In-State Lineman Fans Need To Watch
Wisconsin has already made contact with in-state defensive lineman Zachery Lavoe, a 2028 prospect who is starting to pick up real early attention. The Badgers have also lined up a campus visit for him on Sept. 19, giving the staff a closer look at a player who is still early in the recruiting process but already on the radar of several programs.
Lavoe has drawn interest from Missouri, Minnesota and Iowa State, though he has not landed a scholarship offer yet. For Wisconsin, the bigger question is how he would fit along the defensive front, especially as the staff continues sorting out its board and weighing where he might line up alongside other targets such as Hendrix Dawson. [Read more 🡒]
Luke Fickell Finally Said What Wisconsin Fans Needed To Hear
At Big Ten media day, Luke Fickell sounded like a coach who knows Wisconsin can no longer lean on its history to do the heavy lifting. He said the program has fallen short of the standard it expects, and he pointed to a series of behind-the-scenes changes over the last nine months in how the Badgers operate, prepare and recover as evidence that the reset is already underway.
Fickell also made clear that the support structure around the program looks different now, with more help in the front office, on the coaching staff and in recruiting than before. For Wisconsin fans, the encouraging part was not just the acknowledgment of what has gone wrong, but the sense that the Badgers are trying to rebuild the identity that has long defined them, with a renewed emphasis on toughness and discipline going forward. [Read more 🡒]