'Climbing a mountain' is the imagery that Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell continues to use with his team, the press, recruits, and anyone who will listen. What is this mountain that Fickell continues to refer to? The easy answer is it's the 2025 schedule. It's a top-five strength of schedule in all of college football and the hardest in all of the Big Ten.
However, it's a bit more than that. Fickell also knows the mountain exists because of unmet expectations. It exists because the roster isn't where it should be to be a national champion. The mountain is as big as it is because of where Wisconsin is at. If, say, Texas had the same schedule, the Longhorns would see it as an opportunity and less of a mountain, which means it's more than just a hard schedule.
Luke Fickell refers to the 2025 season schedule as "a mountain to climb."
The Badgers are coming off a missed bowl game for the first time in 22 years. Wisconsin seems stuck in rebuilding mode; thus, the mountain is a long way up. Here's what Fickell had to say about that mountain in an ESPN interview with Pete Thamel:
"It's all about this mountain to climb...Every transfer that was possibly coming in here, the first thing we did is set the schedule down in front of him to say, "Look, just want to make sure you understand what this mountain looks like." So not only emphasizing what this thing will look like, but understanding that the humble and hungry mindset and attitude has got to be [that] you're willing to do what we need to do, because it's not going to be easy. ... We know that there's going to be some peaks and valleys in this climb, but I think it's got to start from within, and that's where it's hard to say. I don't talk about the schedule a lot, but we just talk about it being a mountain to climb."Luke Fickell (via ESPN.com)
He even told recruits and transfers who are checking out Wisconsin and could play in 2025, "Know what you are signing up for." The mountain is in front of them, and Fickell is doing his darndest to make sure the Badgers have the right gear to climb, the right team to push each other, and the right resources to make it to the top.
The mountain is as big as it is because of wasted years under Fickell but many inside and outside the program believe he's still the one to make the climb. This season will be a good test of that.