The Wisconsin Badgers have a lot to prove on the football field this season. The University has plugged more money into the program, the schedule has gotten more realistic and manageable than the gauntlet it was the last two seasons, and Fickell says he has the staff in place to make the jump. Wisconsin is the team with the most to prove this season, according to ESPN's Jake Trotter. They are on danger alert if it's not a successful year.
Trotter joined a written panel of other analysts that talked about the teams with the most to prove, and of course, Wisconsin came out of his mouth. "Wisconsin had not suffered back-to-back losing seasons since 1991 and 1992 -- Barry Alvarez's first two years (and in 1993, the legendary coach went 10-1-1 and won the Rose Bowl)."
Luke Fickell is in the midst of his 'prove-it' season and 2026 will be very telling
Related: CBS predicts a laughable result for Wisconsin's opener against Notre Dame
Now Fickell has a similar expectation. It doesn't have to be 10-1-1 and a Rose Bowl, but there has to be a winning season, or the fanbase that's already unglued will lose faith entirely. Fickell should feel the pressure and the heat, which then should result in a winning season and results on the football field. After 5-7 and then 4-8 seasons, 2026 needs to be at least 6 or 7 wins.
10 wins would immediately seal the deal that Fickell has things on the right track and that the University should have invested this amount (or more) of money into the program years ago.
Trotter goes on to say, "Wisconsin refrained from making a coaching change and vowed to invest more heavily in football behind Fickell. Will that reverse the recent decline? Or, in the expanded Big Ten, with so many other winning programs, are the Badgers headed for extended second-tier status? This year could be telling."
That's the damning part of the whole article. The Badgers are destined for "second-tier" status if they let Fickell have another ho-hum season and don't do something about it. No Badger fan wants Wisconsin to fall into the category with Minnesota, Rutgers, Maryland, etc. Sure, for a couple of seasons while the program is being rebuilt or built up, but it can't permanently be the home.
That's the danger alert, that's the fear, and now the Badgers are on high alert to fix this mess, and this year will be very telling.