Wisconsin’s 17-0 start should have been the easy part. Instead, the Badgers spent the rest of the game making things far more complicated than they needed to be, turning what should have been a runaway into an underwhelming win.
That was already a frustrating enough backdrop when Shawn Eichorst stepped in front of a microphone and was asked how he plans to take Wisconsin to the next level. His answer landed like a brick: he said that “Wisconsin is already at the next level.”
For a fan base that watched the Badgers go 4-8 last year and hasn’t seen a meaningful bowl game in what feels like forever, that was not the message anyone wanted to hear from a new athletic director. It sounded detached from reality, especially in the middle of a game against an FCS opponent in which Wisconsin looked very much like a team still searching for answers.
There is, to be fair, a version of Eichorst’s comment that makes a little more sense. Maybe he was talking about the university as a whole.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is already at the top level academically, and that would be a reasonable thing for an athletic director to say. He could also have meant the athletic department overall, which is a more believable interpretation than applying it directly to the football program.
But if the question was about football - and that sure seems to be the point - then the response was a disaster. The Badgers are not living at “the next level” when the recent standard includes four-win seasons and the lowest attendance total for a Camp Randall home opener since 1992.
That is not where a program says it wants to be. That is a program trying to climb out of the hole.
Eichorst was brought to Madison to help move things forward, not to sound like he was shrugging off the problems already on the table. Chris McIntosh was not exactly beloved in the role, and the last thing this fan base needed was an incoming AD giving off the vibe that everything is fine and nothing much needs fixing.
The timing made it worse. Wisconsin was in the middle of a sloppy win over an FCS foe, looking every bit like a team that could be headed for another four-win season. That is not the moment for a line like that.
The truth is simple: the next level is not what Wisconsin has shown on the field lately. It is the College Football Playoff.
It is winning the Big Ten. It is steady success in both results and recruiting.
And as bad as things have been, Luke Fickell would be the first to admit the program has a lot of work to do.
Maybe Eichorst misspoke. Maybe he heard the question wrong.
But whatever the explanation, he answered wrong. And he needs to be better than that.
In Other News...
Wisconsins QB Situation Suddenly Feels Murkier After Colton Josephs Showing
Colton Josephs outing against Western Illinois did little to settle Wisconsins quarterback picture, and in some ways it only made the conversation harder to read. The Badgers needed steadier play from the position, but Joseph finished 12 of 22 through the air and left several routine throws on the field, while also showing little eagerness to take off and run when openings were there.
Luke Fickell said Joseph was dinged up and that the staff held him back from some deeper attempts, which at least offers context for a rough afternoon. Still, Wisconsin stuck with him throughout the game despite the uneven decision-making and missed chances, leaving the quarterback room feeling a little less defined than it did before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Has One Big Colton Joseph Concern It Can't Ignore
Colton Josephs first two outings gave Wisconsin a little bit of everything it hoped to see, and a reminder of how much polishing still remains. In his debut against Notre Dame, the Badgers quarterback showed off the arm talent that made him such an intriguing addition, throwing for 217 yards and a touchdown while also adding some production on the ground.
Against Western Illinois, the early returns turned a bit rougher through the air, with several missed throws exposing the next step in his development. Even so, his decision-making held up well, which is why the bigger concern is not the reads but the ball placement. Wisconsin can work with talent and instincts, but if Joseph is going to give the offense real stability, the accuracy has to come along with the arm strength. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsin Just Got A Troubling Sign About Fan Confidence
The early read on Wisconsin footballs 2026 season is already coming with an uncomfortable backdrop. The announced attendance for the home opener, 65,274, was the lowest for a Badgers opener in more than 30 years, a notable sign for a program that has long counted on Camp Randalls weekly pull as part of its edge.
It comes on the heels of a 13.1% drop in season ticket sales for the 2026 season, a stretch that has sharpened the pressure on Luke Fickells program to give fans a reason to keep showing up. Fickell has acknowledged the challenge and framed the response in simple terms: the Badgers need to deliver a winning product, and the gap between expectation and buy-in is now impossible to ignore. [Read more 🡒]