The Badgers had a rotten, terrible, no-good loss to Iowa, and the fallout from it is ongoing. Wisconsin under Luke Fickell has zero answers for Iowa, and this one may have been the worst of all. Last year's 37-0 loss at least had better excuses (like a third-string quarterback). This year, there simply was no reason it needed to be that uncompetitive for Wisconsin.
There's a lot of blame to pass around, but Sebastian Cheeks looked around the room at his teammates and saw a group that didn't come ready to play. He even took some of that on himself to be a better leader in getting them ready, but it was pretty damning that a Wisconsin Badger team couldn't get up for a rivalry game. Or even just a simple conversation win. It's almost like the Badgers all read the press clipping this week, decided they could waltz through Iowa, and found out that's not going to work.
Cheeks said, "I didn't see it in some of the guys' faces today. We weren't ready in any of the phases today, at all." There's a real problem here, and Cheeks is hitting the nail on the head. Cheeks said the problem was effort, belief... or, as he called it, "heart." Cheeks told reporters, "This was about heart. Guys have to go and find themselves."
Sebastian Cheeks, who is always upfront and open with media on today’s game:
— Nick Osen (@TheRealNickOsen) October 31, 2026
“I didn’t see it in some of the guys’ faces today. We weren’t ready in any of the phases today, at all…I need to
Be able to challenge them, and that includes myself.”#Badgers
Sebastian Cheeks points to a problem that Luke Fickell seems to have been hinting at all year
Related: Luke Fickell's quote after losing to Iowa only adds salt to a festering wound
One of the buzzwords for Fickell this season has been "delusional," and it's often paired with "we can't get delusional." He's said it often enough that you think some of the things he is telling his team are bleeding into the press conferences. He has been worried that this team would get delusional. What does he mean by that? A team that has a little success and then takes its foot off the gas.
Fickell was worried about a roster of players who stop playing together or fighting through every rep because they believe their own press clippings. That seems to have happened this week. Wisconsin spent one week being ranked and was immediately humbled in the worst way.
Fickell has built this team to win in literally only one way: Gritty and physical. The toughest team on the field, fighting through every rep, winning the line of scrimmage, and battling for every ball. This is a good thing; this is a Wisconsin Badger value from the dawn of time, but as soon as players stop fighting, clawing, pushing, being physical, the whole thing unravels.
That seems to be what happened today, and Cheeks' comments may be the most damning of all. Why? Because the culture at the core isn't ready to battle for every rep, only when they feel motivated to do so. That's a problem and must change immediately, or this team will only beat crap opponents and, even then, may find themselves in trouble.
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