Misery loves company. There may not be two more miserable fanbases in the Big Ten right now than the ones in Madison and State College. The Wisconsin Badgers are 2-6 overall and 0-5 in Big Ten play. They have lost their last six games in largely embarrassing fashion. The Penn State Nittany Lions are 3-5 overall and 0-5 in Big Ten play after their latest loss to their nemesis Ohio State Buckeyes, 38-14.
The only differences between Penn State and Wisconsin right now are the Badgers had the stones to schedule a Power Four team in the non-conference, and Penn State had the gumption to fire its head coach. In a way, Wisconsin's road loss to Alabama and Penn State's decision to fire James Franklin have gotten us to the same point with both programs. Both used to be great, but what happened?
Even though Wisconsin refuses to admit the obvious with its ineffective head coach in Luke Fickell, the Badgers could actually benefit from Penn State's downward spiral in a multitude of ways. In all honesty, it could be triply good for the Badgers. One, Franklin could take over in Madison. Two, Penn State may not want to admit it is Big Ten Auburn. And three, what if Franklin goes to ... Virginia Tech?
Let's unpack why each of those Penn State things could be great for the Badgers moving forward.
Why James Franklin taking over at Wisconsin would be great for Badgers
This is obvious. For as much flack as Franklin got for never winning the big one at Penn State, he is a far better head coach than what the Badgers currently employ in Fickell. Franklin has won everywhere he has been before. Fickell keeps coming up short vs. Power Four competition. Franklin will have options this winter, but he will have his pick of the litter. Will he choose Wisconsin over Virginia Tech?
Since Franklin can recruit, and Wisconsin and Penn State have largely gone after the same players in relatively recent years, maybe Wisconsin can return to form under their new head coach? Winning at Vanderbilt is hard, but Franklin made it look easy. He had Penn State vying for playoff inclusion, winning two postseason games a year ago. He is not perfect, but Franklin is what Wisconsin needs.
The only caveat here is Wisconsin may decide to give Fickell another opportunity to redeem himself.
Why Penn State firing James Franklin could be the worst thing it could do
Although the conferences are of different sizes, there are a lot of equivalents between the Big Ten and SEC. Penn State was thought to benefit from realignment as much as Ole Miss has. It did last year, but not this one. However, the Penn State equivalent in the SEC just might be Auburn... You can win national titles at both, but you might only be the third-best team in your league, all things equal...
We have seen how much Auburn has struggled since moving on from Gus Malzahn after a 6-4 season during COVID. That fanbase is incredibly fractured, and we are starting to see that happen in State College. So would Wisconsin want to be what Auburn once was under Franklin? That is better than the sorry state of things right now. If Penn State makes the wrong hire, the program could stay down.
Since things cannot really be any worse for Wisconsin right now, Badgers fans will welcome all of this.
Why James Franklin being tied to Virginia Tech is not bad for Wisconsin
While Franklin has been mentioned to openings like Florida and LSU, as well as one that could potentially open up at Wisconsin, the idea of him going to Virginia Tech could be a nice consolation prize for the Badgers if he does not come to Madison. This is because he will take Penn State's recruiting pipeline in the Tidewater Region and put it into overdrive. Penn State will suffer accordingly.
If Franklin were to take over at Wisconsin, that would directly impact Penn State's chances of turning it around. Should he take his ball and go to the ACC, that could indirectly help Wisconsin by making Penn State worse because of his recruiting prowess. Obviously, Penn State continuing to struggle does not mean Wisconsin will certainly be better because of it. Having another power down is good.
Do not be shocked if Wisconsin potentially passes Penn State by in the Big Ten standings next year.