Wisconsin is coming off of a 5-7 season and will enter 2025 with one of the hardest schedules in the country. So surely by 2026 things will be back on track, right? Well, maybe not, at least according to ESPN's future power rankings.
The rankings, which take into account things like quarterback stability, roster star power and the coaching staff itself, compiled every Power conference team 1 to 68 and ranked them for the future 2026 season. Wisconsin scored poorly, and was placed as the 54th ranked team, and the fourth worst team in the Big Ten behind only Purdue, Northwestern and Maryland.
Ouch. Badger fans are likely in for another bumpy ride in 2025, but it seems like the national media doesn't believe the pain ends there. And while the poor ranking does have some valid concerns, like uncertainty about the quarterback position, and limited success in the portal and on the recruiting trail, there is still some hope that the Badgers will be better in 2026.
Will Wisconsin actually be one of the worst teams in 2025-26?
While quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. will be one-and-done, transfer quarterback Danny O'Neil and true freshman Carter Smith are no slouches. O'Neil started at San Diego State as a freshman with mostly positive results, and Smith looked to be the future of Michigan football before they won the Bryce Underwood sweepstakes. So while it's unclear who might take over at the position, it's not like the cupboard is bare.
Also, assuming Luke Fickell and his staff make it 2026, they'll have a year experience in the new system. Fickell brought in offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes to bring back power and physicality to Wisconsin football. There will surely be some growing pains, but 2026 will be year two in the plan and the team will likely have a much better grasp on the system.
So really, it feels like the ESPN ranking is much too low. Yes, the Badgers had a bad 2024, and may have a rough 2025 potentially, but to put Wisconsin as a bottom-feeder and one of the worst teams in the Big Ten seems like an oversight of the facts that the program is (slowly) trending back up.