Wisconsin’s place in the early bowl conversation is looking shaky.
At 1-1 and still before its first Big Ten game, the Badgers were completely absent from Brett McMurphy’s latest bowl projections for On3. McMurphy slotted 11 Big Ten teams into postseason play, with Indiana and Ohio State as the conference’s College Football Playoff picks. UCLA, Illinois, Iowa, USC, Oregon, Nebraska, Michigan, Washington, and Penn State also made the list.
The teams left out alongside Wisconsin were Michigan State, Rutgers, Minnesota, Maryland, Northwestern, and Purdue.
That omission lands at a time when Luke Fickell and his staff built this roster with a clear purpose: win now. The program poured money into the transfer portal and brought in players with real experience, aiming to avoid leaning too heavily on a young roster.
There’s still a case to be made for Wisconsin reaching bowl eligibility for the first time in three years. The schedule leaves room for it, and a run to five or six conference wins is still within reach. Games against Michigan State, UCLA, Rutgers, Purdue, Maryland, and Minnesota give the Badgers a path to the five Big Ten victories needed to get there.
That said, the early returns have already made the picture murkier than it looked in August. After watching the first two games, the optimism is a little softer now than it was before the season.
If Wisconsin can bottle the kind of football it played in the first half against Notre Dame in Week 1, the road back to a bowl isn’t far-fetched. But if this group follows the pattern of the last three seasons, it could end with more frustration than progress.
For now, the national outlook is clear: Wisconsin hasn’t earned much faith yet. And until the Badgers start stacking wins, that skepticism isn’t going anywhere.
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Wisconsin Faces A Week 3 Threat Fans Should Not Overlook
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For the Badgers, the matchup is less about the standings than the specific stress points Eastern Michigan can create. Mowchan gives the Eagles a reliable presence on defense, and the mix of experience across the roster is what makes this one worth watching beyond the usual nonconference assumptions. Wisconsin should expect a physical game in which the details matter, and the danger is letting a seemingly manageable opponent turn the afternoon into something more complicated than it should be. [Read more 🡒]