Keep an eye on this, folks. While the Wisconsin Badgers are almost certainly going to fall to 2-5 overall, 0-4 in Big Ten play and 0-5 on the season vs. Power Four competition after Saturday afternoon's certain beating from the Ohio State Buckeyes, that is not going to be the game that will result in Luke Fickell's termination. He should have been gone already, but his fate has been sealed.
That is because college football's grim reaper will be on the schedule the following week when these no good stinkin' Badgers have to travel to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks. No. 8 Oregon may have just suffered its first loss of the year, but is 5-1 on the season. For better or worse, the Ducks have been responsible for helping put three other notable head coaches out of their misery this year.
B1G Duck Energy pointed this out on X on Tuesday evening. Does Fickell have any idea it is coming?
Luke Fickell seeing Oregon on the schedule after 3 coaches they’ve beaten got fired pic.twitter.com/xHKFuHumtt
— 🦆 B1G Duck Energy 🦆 (@B1GDuckEnergyy) October 14, 2025
So far this season, Oregon has beaten Montana State, Oklahoma State, Northwestern, Oregon State and Penn State before falling to Indiana last week. Oklahoma State fired one of their own in Mike Gundy. Oregon State could not move on from Trent Bray fast enough. James Franklin is no longer The Driver for Penn State. Even David Braun was on the hot seat at one point in time for Northwestern...
So with Wisconsin almost certainly firing Fickell at some point, Oregon is the new harbinger of death.
Oregon may love to beat up cupcakes, but what is Wisconsin at this time?
Yes, Oregon's playoff resume may be incredibly flimsy right now with maybe two more quality wins to be had vs. USC and at Washington to end the year. That being said, the timing of it all for Wisconsin could not be more perfect. If Oregon is college football's grim reaper, look at when the Badgers draw them on their schedule. They will have to play them in likely Liquid Sunshine, right before Halloween...
What makes this date so compelling, other than the unintended spooky nature of it of course, is Wisconsin's second bye of the season comes after the Oregon road date. They will have the first week of November off to figure out what on god's green earth they are going to do in the final third of the season. It will be Washington, at Indiana, Illinois, and at arch rival Minnesota to end the campaign.
Ultimately, Oregon's playoff status may be grossly inflated by the fact they are beating up on tomato cans, masquerading as Power Five teams. Getting pushed around at home by Indiana was not a great look, but it was far more pleasant on the eyes than anything we have seen out of Wisconsin. The only thing more jarring is Dan Lanning's rib tattoo of his beloved wife looking like a team logo collection.
Look for The Big Cheese that is Lanning to great Fickell with an awkward smile before whacking him.