Wisconsin’s surge has changed the conversation around its postseason path. After opening the year with no bowl projection after two weeks, the Badgers are now sitting at 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten, and they’re just about a sure thing to reach a bowl game for the first time since 2023, Luke Fickell’s first season in Madison.
The bigger question now is where they land. With Iowa, Rutgers, Maryland, Purdue and Minnesota still on the schedule, Wisconsin has a real shot to push this season into the territory of a potential 10-win campaign. Iowa may end up being the toughest test left, but the Badgers’ outlook has clearly risen from survival mode to something much more ambitious.
ESPN’s projections have Wisconsin in one of the stronger Big Ten bowl slots. Kyle Bonagura has the Badgers headed to the ReliaQuest Bowl to face Texas on December 30th, while Mark Schlabach projects Wisconsin to the Music City Bowl against Alabama on December 31st. Both matchups would bring major-challenge opposition, with Texas sitting at 5-2 and owning three top-15 wins, while Alabama is 6-2 and ranked No. 10 nationally.
CBS Sports has Wisconsin in the Citrus Bowl against Ole Miss on January 2nd, which would represent the top non-College Football Playoff bowl spot for a Big Ten team. That matchup would put the Badgers across from an Ole Miss team that is 5-2 and ranked No. 12, with wins over No.
24 Louisville, No. 7 LSU and No.
13 Missouri. Last year, No.
18 Michigan and No. 14 Texas met in that game.
The Athletic’s projection is a little lower, sending Wisconsin to the Cactus Bowl against West Virginia on December 26th. In that view, the Badgers are slotted as the No.
6 Big Ten team, behind Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern. West Virginia comes in at 5-3 and 2-3 in the Big 12.
Another projection also has Wisconsin in the Citrus Bowl against Ole Miss, calling it a strong fit. A separate projection sends the Badgers to face Baylor, a 4-3 team that just fired head coach Dave Aranda after losses to TCU and Kansas.
In Other News...
Wisconsin Gets A Huge Opening In Iowa Rivalry But One Problem Remains
Wisconsin heads into this weekends trip to Iowa with a chance to do something it has not done in four tries against its rival. Both teams arrive at 5-2, and the Badgers have built their case on one of the nations best run defenses, the kind of strength that usually travels well in a Big Ten game where possessions are precious and field position matters. Iowa, meanwhile, is coming off a loss and has already taken a hit to its backfield, giving Wisconsin a better opening than it might have expected in a series that has often tilted the Hawkeyes way.
Still, the matchup has the feel of another low-scoring slog, which helps explain why oddsmakers have only nudged Iowa ahead. The Hawkeyes remain built for defensive football, and that makes Wisconsins path clear in theory and frustrating in practice: survive the trenches, avoid mistakes and find a way to finally break the streak. The problem is that against Iowa, almost every possession turns into a test of patience, and the Badgers will have to prove their edge on the road before the rivalry turns in their favor. [Read more 🡒]
Wisconsins Quarterback Carousel Keeps Raising An Uncomfortable Question
Since Luke Fickell took over, the quarterback spot at Wisconsin has been anything but stable, and the ripple effects have reached well beyond Madison. A string of departures and injuries has pushed the Badgers into constant turnover at the most important position on the field, while former Wisconsin passers have scattered to new programs in search of better fits and clearer paths to playing time. Braedyn Locke, Cole LaCrue, Mabrey Mettauer and Nick Evers are among the names who moved on, each landing in a different situation with different levels of opportunity.
For Wisconsin, the more uncomfortable part is how familiar this has started to feel. Some of those transfers have found modest success elsewhere, others have seen limited action, and the churn only reinforces how much the Badgers are still trying to sort out the position under Fickell. The current quarterback picture is no easier to project than it was a year ago, and with former options continuing to surface in other places, the question hanging over the program is not just who starts next, but when the revolving door finally slows down. [Read more 🡒]
Kentuckys New-Look Roster Just Got An Encouraging Preseason Sign
The preseason conversation around Wisconsins perimeter game got a little more interesting this week when data analyst Evan Miyakawa released a ranking of college basketball teams with the most elite 3-point shooters on their rosters. In a sport where spacing can change everything, those kinds of lists tend to say as much about a teams ceiling as any early preview, and Wisconsin found itself grouped with some familiar names such as BYU, Kentucky, NC State and West Virginia in the broader top-end discussion.
For the Badgers, it is another reminder that shooting still matters in the Big Ten, especially with the roster landscape shifting before the season. Several of the players highlighted in the ranking, including Milan Momcilovic, Paul McNeil Jr., Finley Bizjack and Eian Elmer, are also being watched as potential 2027 NBA Draft prospects because of their shooting and long-term upside, which only adds to the intrigue around how quickly these teams can stretch the floor when the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]