To put it bluntly, the Wisconsin Badgers' home game in Week 4 is a must-win. With the Maryland Terrapins coming to town, Luke Fickell may not be able to afford another slow start to the season leading the Badgers. At 2-1 on the season, he is probably doing what everyone expected him to do. Wisconsin beat Miami (OH) and Middle Tennessee before getting pulverized by Alabama in Week 3.
Should Wisconsin improve to 3-1 with a decisive win over Maryland in Week 4, Fickell may temporarily take himself off the hot seat. If the Badgers play with their food again in the first half and drop back-to-back games to Power Four opponents, Fickell may soon suffer the same fate as DeShaun Foster at UCLA and Brent Pry at Virginia Tech. Both former Power Four coaches are already out of their jobs.
For Fickell to not lose the plot like Foster and Pry did, it starts by going at least 4-5 in Big Ten play to achieve bowl eligibility. Wisconsin does not have the easiest schedule by any stretch of the imagination, but with their powers combined, Fickell and athletic director Chris McIntosh have grossly lowered Wisconsin's ceiling as a football program. It has yet to get any better under their watch soon.
While Fickell should be able to hold onto his job for at least the duration, look at what others just did...
Luke Fickell on shortlist of next coach fired after Week 3's terminations
Now that Foster and Pry are out of their jobs, how many head coaches are facing more pressure than Fickell across the Power Four? Billy Napier at Florida and Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State immediately come to mind. Frank Reich is a substitute teacher at Stanford, so he is not included in this. Once you get past someone like David Braun at Northwestern, Fickell's name starts to come up in discussions.
As far as what needs to happen for Fickell to lose his job before the end of the season, Wisconsin would probably have to lose home dates vs. Maryland, Iowa and Washington. Those are the most winnable games on their schedule in Big Ten play. Again, Wisconsin needs four Big Ten wins to achieve bowl eligibility after getting blown out in the Alabama game. Fickell has to get to a bowl...
Overall, now is not the time to fat cat it with two wins over Group of Five programs like Miami (OH) and Middle Tennessee. The Alabama was only more of the same for Fickell and his Badgers. His season and his coaching tenure at Wisconsin was always going to be defined by Big Ten play. He has nine opportunities to get four more wins. It will not be easy, but it has to get done for Fickell's sake here.
For now, McIntosh might be quicker to pull the trigger now that UCLA and Virginia Tech already did.