Tag: Wisconsin Badgers

Luke Fickell explains message to fan base after Wisconsin’s first losing season in 23 years

Luke Fickell explains message to fans after Wisconsin’s first losing season in 23 years

This story was updated to add new information.

Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell explained his message to the Badgers’ fan base after Friday’s 24-7 loss to Minnesota completed the program’s first losing season since 2001.

“Just like I told the players, those that stay will be a champion,” Fickell said postgame when speaking with the assembled media. “You’ve got to have people that believe in you. I know it’s hard. Having faith in things you can’t see. Right now, I’m sure they can’t see it either, and that’s the tough part.”

Related: Takeaways from Wisconsin’s loss to Minnesota, disastrous finish to 2024 season

His comments follow the Badgers’ largely noncompetitive loss to the rival Golden Gophers. Wisconsin closed the 2024 season on a five-game losing streak, highlighted by blowout losses to rivals Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota. The program is 12-13 in Fickell’s two-year tenure.

Fickell’s sentiment will be tested as program changes inevitably follow this offseason. Wisconsin fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo with weeks remaining in the season. It needs an important hire this offseason, as well as a personnel group that fits the new scheme. Overall, the 2025 Badgers are assured of looking different than the team that closed the 2024 season, both on the sideline and on the field.

With likely no bowl game, attention turns to the winter transfer window which opens on Dec. 9. Fickell and his staff need to reshape the roster entering a critical 2025 season.

Talent retention will be an important measure of program health. Fickell’s thought that “those who stay will be a champion” can only apply if the team’s top contributors do, in fact, stick around. This is one of the many main storylines to watch as the offseason begins.

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RECAP: Wisconsin falls to Minnesota 24-7, clinches first losing season in 23 years

RECAP: Wisconsin falls to Minnesota 24-7, clinches first losing season in 23 years

This story was updated to add new information.

The worst Wisconsin football season in 23 years came to a crashing end on Friday afternoon.

The Badgers fell to the rival Minnesota Golden Gophers 24-7. The loss dropped the team to 5-7 to officially close its season. That result clinches the program’s first losing campaign since 2001.

The loss followed a similar script to many of the Badgers’ recent defeats. The team struggled to move forward on offense, totaling just 48 yards on its first eight drives of the contest. Minnesota dominated in every facet. It out-gained Wisconsin 374-166, held the ball for 33:51 and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.

Wisconsin QB Braedyn Locke went 15-of-23 passing for 130 yards and a touchdown in the loss. He and the Badgers’ offense showed a glimpse of life in the third quarter, one time threatening to narrow the deficit to one score. But their momentum was quickly extinguished by a strong Minnesota defensive unit, and by yet another Nathanial Vakos missed field goal.

The story of Minnesota’s all-around victory is accurately told by the scoreboard, and by the final stat sheet.

The loss means that Luke Fickell and the Badgers finish the season on a five-game losing skid after a 5-2 start. The final 5-7 record is, again, the program’s first losing season since 2001. Its 22-year bowl streak, which was the was third-longest in the nation behind only Georgia (28 years) and Oklahoma (26), will likely end barring a large collection of significant upsets during Saturday’s schedule.

Minnesota evens the all-time series at 63-63-8 with the victory. It closes a successful regular season for P.J. Fleck’s team against one of the nation’s toughest schedules.

The win is an important one for Minnesota as it jockeys for position in the Big Ten. Meanwhile, it is a historic one for the Wisconsin football program. It now turns focus to 2025 in an unprecedented position.

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Wisconsin football schedule: Are the Badgers playing today? 

Wisconsin football schedule: Are the Badgers playing today? 

Will the Wisconsin Badgers (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) be on the field today in Week 14 of the college football season?

Following a disastrous 44-25 Week 13 loss to Nebraska, the Badgers are back on the field on Friday for a season-closing rivalry matchup against Minnesota (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten).

Wisconsin and Minnesota will kick off at noon ET, 11 a.m. CT on CBS. It is one of two Big Ten games on the Black Friday schedule, leading into a primetime matchup between Iowa and Nebraska.

The Badgers are looking for a win to cross the threshold for bowl eligibility to extend its bowl streak to 23 seasons. They are also looking to extend their narrow all-time advantage in the historic rivalry matchup.

Wisconsin’s 2024 season will continue with a win. A loss, and the campaign comes to a close as arguably the program’s worst since 2001.

Wisconsin 2024 football schedule

  • Aug. 30: vs. Western Michigan (W, 28-14)
  • Sept. 7: vs. South Dakota (W, 27-13)
  • Sept. 14: vs. Alabama (L, 42-10)
  • Bye Week
  • Sept. 28: at USC (L, 38-21)
  • Oct. 5: vs. Purdue (W, 52-6)
  • Oct. 12: at Rutgers (W, 42-7)
  • Oct. 19: at Northwestern (W, 23-3)
  • Oct. 26: vs. Penn State (L, 28-13)
  • Nov. 2 at Iowa (L, 42-10)
  • Bye Week
  • Nov. 16 vs. Oregon (L, 16-13)
  • Nov. 23 at Nebraska (L, 44-25)
  • Nov. 30 vs. Minnesota
  • Record: 5-6 (3-5 Big Ten)

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Wisconsin Badgers vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers: Series history, all-time record

Wisconsin Badgers vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers: Series history, all-time record

The Wisconsin Badgers (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) will welcome the Minnesota Golden Gophers (6-5, 4-4 Big Ten) to Camp Randall Stadium on Friday at noon ET, 11:00 a.m. CT. It will be the 134th all-time meeting between the two border rivals.

The Badgers have the slightest of advantages in the all-time series, boasting a 63-62-8 overall record against the Gophers. Wisconsin won the latest matchup in 2023, snapping a two-game losing streak with a 28-14 road win. Minnesota’s back-to-back wins in 2021 and 2022 marked the first time it won consecutive matchups against Wisconsin since 1993 and 1994.

Wisconsin leaned on their run game in 2023 to recapture Paul Bunyan’s Axe. Braelon Allen led the way with 165 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. Additionally, quarterback Tanner Mordecai completed 14 of 22 passes for 145 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.

The Badgers enter this weekend’s Black Friday battle with Minnesota having lost four games in a row, most recently falling Nebraska 44-25 in Lincoln on Saturday.

The loss dropped Wisconsin to 0-2 in trophy games this season — the team also fell to Iowa 42-10 on Nov. 2. The Badgers have yet to go 0-3 against Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota since the establishment of the Freedom Trophy in 2014.

Minnesota enters Friday’s matchup following a 26-25 loss to Penn State at home in Week 13, narrowly missing another win over a ranked opponent in 2024. They will look to take advantage of a unique chance to end Wisconsin’s season and record bowl streak.

Wisconsin basketball scales latest AP Poll after Greenbrier Tip-Off triumph

Wisconsin basketball scales latest AP Poll after Greenbrier Tip-Off triumph

Wisconsin basketball landed at No. 15 in the latest AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll on Monday.

After being ranked No. 19 in the poll’s Week 3 installation, Wisconsin earned 666 points in this week’s update to leapfrog Cincinnati and Arizona to claim the No., 15 spot in the hierarchy.

Just two Big Ten teams, Indiana (No. 14) and Purdue (No. 13), rank higher than Wisconsin on this week’s list.

For context, UW received 370 points in Week 3 after securing a signature win over Arizona, which held the No. 9 position at the time of the victory. Wisconsin’s wins over UT Rio Grande Valley, UCF and Pittsburgh have reassured voters of the team’s status as one of college basketball’s best teams thus far.

Wisconsin’s win over Pittsburgh put an exclamation on that impressive start. Backed by 33 points from star wing John Tonje, UW rallied back from a 14-point deficit to vanquish Pittsburgh on Nov. 24 to secure the program’s third November non-conference tournament title since 2021.

As they did in Week 3, Wisconsin also rocketed up the latest KenPom ranking and ESPN’s latest BPI. After being ranked No. 40 in the KenPom list before the Greenbrier Tip-Off, the Badgers are up 14 spots in KenPom to No. 26 overall, with the No. 12-rated offense and No. 72 defense.

ESPN’s latest BPI update has the Badgers at No. 27 overall with a projected final record of 21.8-9.2.

Tonje, who is playing like one of the best talents in all of college basketball, is averaging a stellar 23.0 points per game of 54.3% from the floor, over 40% from deep and over 95% fro the line.

As a team, UW is averaging nearly 87 points per game off 47.9% from the field, 36.3% from beyond the arc and a blistering 86.5% from the free throw line.

Wisconsin’s next game is at home against Chicago State on Nov. 30.

What Wisconsin coach Greg Gard, wing John Tonje said after Greenbrier Tip-Off win

What Wisconsin coach Greg Gard, wing John Tonje said after Greenbrier Tip-Off win

Wisconsin coach Greg Gard and star wing John Tonje addressed the media following the Badgers’ 81-75 win over Pittsburgh on Sunday.

For the first time since Wisconsin reached the NCAA Tournament final in 2015, the team is 7-0 and has scored 79 or more points in every win. To achieve that on Sunday, the Badgers needed to rally back from 14 down in the first half against a tough Pittsburgh team.

“Heck of a game against a really, really good team,” Gard said. “Not a great start for us offensively, but the resilience these guys showed being down 14 and not being able to get anything going offensively, they leaned into their defense even more.”

Wisconsin did just that. After posting 27 points in the opening frame off abysmal shooting splits, Wisconsin put together a 54-point second half and held the Panthers to under 16% from distance.

To correct that, Gard looked inward at UW’s offensive possessions during the first half.

“[In the] second half, we were able to get some things going,” Gard said. “I felt offensively we had to do a better job at shot selection,” Gard said. “We took some quick ones at times, we took some look twos… and then we go 0-of-10 from three for the first half. Analytically at halftime, we were getting what we wanted. We just needed a couple threes to go in.”

Fortunately, Wisconsin’s program is well aware of its culture. When those shots weren’t falling, Gard was able to lean on his depth to uplift stars like John Tonje and John Blackwell.

“You lean into your defensive when your offensive isn’t clicking like it has been,” Gard said. “Eventually, we got to the point where we were able to get to the free throw line.. The resilience of this group, the toughness of this group, the guts within this group in [Max] Klesmit, [Kamari] McGee and [Carter] Gilmore, those are the fighters that help in those situations. That’s the core of our program.”

Tonje, who dropped 33 points in the victory, was virtually un-guardable. The wing scored 25 of his 33 in the second half off 9-of-11 from the field and 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

“I was trying to be aggressive from the start,” Tonje said. “I didn’t shoot the ball well early, but I just kept with it. The primary defender on me had three fouls, so I was trying to be aggressive. A couple of the guys that were switching out on me had a couple fouls as well. I knew on the scouring report that they’re not necessarily as deep of a team, so we knew we had to take advantage of guys in foul trouble. So that was what I was looking for.”

The 7-0 Badgers will return to the Kohl Center on Nov. 30 for a game against Chicago State.

Former Michigan football pledge commits to another Big Ten school

Best of luck to him.

Michigan football lost one commitment via a flip last week when 2025 Palatine (Illinois) four-star defensive lineman Jaylen Williams committed to Wisconsin. Sunday’s news wasn’t exactly a flip, but the result is the same.

On Oct. 30, the Wolverines lost their longtime quarterback commit, 2025 Fort Myers (Florida) Bishop Verot four-star Carter Smith, who backed off his pledge as the maize and blue pursued No. 1 QB Bryce Underwood. Now there’s a chance (albeit slight) that Underwood could face Smith on the gridiron.

Smith announced on Sunday that he is taking his talents to Madison to suit up for the Wisconsin Badgers.

 

Michigan has Wisconsin on the schedule (though with no date set) in 2025 and again in 2028. The expectations for Underwood is he will likely be in Ann Arbor for three years, though plans could certainly change. If Smith stays four years and wins the job, there is the chance he could play against a Brady Hart-led Michigan team. Hart is part of the Wolverines’ recruiting class for the 2026 cycle.

Top class of 2026 running back target includes Badgers in final list

Top class of 2026 running back target includes Badgers in final list

Wisconsin top class of 2026 running back target Shahn Alston included the Badgers in his list of final schools on Friday.

Alston becomes the fourth top-ranked class of 2026 recruit to include Wisconsin in his final batch of schools over the past month, joining four-star linebacker Tristan Phillips, four-star iOL Ben Nichols and three-star iOL Bear McWhorter.

Alston, who received his offer from UW on March 22, included Wisconsin as a finalist along with Auburn, Nebraska, Michigan State, Florida, Missouri, Penn State and USC. Alston took a visit to Madison when the Badgers squared off against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Sept. 14.

The 5-foot-9, 205-pound running back is 247Sports’ No. 118 player in the class of 2026, No. 7 running back and No. 5 player from his home state of Ohio. ESPN, meanwhile, regards Alston as the No. 81 overall recruit and No. 3 player from Ohio for his class.

There appears to be no clear-cut favorite for Alston at this point in his process. On3’s recruiting prediction machine pegs Penn State as the most likely destination, but the Nittany Lions currently hold under a 25% chance to secure a commitment.

At Harvey High School in Painesville, Ohio, Alston has played on both sides of the ball. This past season, he logged 1,104 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns with his longest rush being 75 yards, per MaxPreps.

UW’s current class of 2026 features two commitments — three-star iOL Benjamin Novak and three-star quarterback Jarin Mock. If he elects to join the Badgers, Alston would immediately become the program’s most elite prospect in the class.

WATCH: Nebraska fans storm field following historic win over Wisconsin

WATCH: Nebraska fans storm field following historic win over Wisconsin

For the first time since 2016, Nebraska’s football program is bowl eligible.

Following a historic 44-25 beatdown against the Wisconsin Badgers, hundreds of Cornhusker fans stormed Memorial Stadium’s field to celebrate the program’s feat.

To make matters worse, the venue’s speakers blasted Wisconsin’s iconic theme song, ‘Jump Around,’ during the final portion of the fourth quarter.

Nebraska’s win against Wisconsin marks the first time the Cornhuskers have beaten the Badgers since September 2012. That season, Joel Stave served as UW’s quarterback, running back Montee Ball was in his final season in Madison and Bret Bielema manned the sidelines.

Fans tend the storm the field following an upset against a ranked opponent or collegiate juggernaut. In this instance, Cornhusker fans’ jubilance stemmed from defeating a storied rival and clinching a postseason berth.

For the first time in program history, Nebraska also received the Freedom Trophy, a piece of hardware awarded to the winner of the rivalry game dating back to 2014.

Nebraska dominated Wisconsin in every facet of the contest. The Cornhusker offense ran for 180 yards, scored five touchdowns and averaged 6.4 yards per play.

The only silver lining for the Badgers surrounds Braedyn Locke’s play in the passing game. The redshirt sophomore threw for 292 yards and three touchdowns in his first game without former offensive coordinator Phil Longo.

Still, the loss encapsulates most of the games during the back half of Wisconsin’s season. In a high-pressure situation, the Badgers eventually lost control and played horribly on the defensive end.

UW is now in jeopardy of missing its first bowl game since 2001. Luke Fickell’s program will need a win against Minnesota on Nov. 29 to prevent that from happening.

RECAP: Wisconsin football suffers historic loss to rival Nebraska

RECAP: Wisconsin football suffers historic loss to rival Nebraska

Historic is an apt word to describe Wisconsin football’s 44-25 loss to Nebraska on Saturday.

The Badgers entered the contest on a 10-game winning streak against the rival. That win streak was defined by dominance on the ground, headlined by historic days from Melvin Gordon, Jonathan Taylor and Braelon Allen.

Related: Biggest takeaways from Wisconsin’s 44-25 loss to Nebraska

On Saturday, Nebraska flipped the script. The Cornhuskers totaled 473  yards, including 180 on the ground on five yards per carry. Matt Rhule’s team, one that had lost four straight entering the matchup, scored on its final six possessions.

Wisconsin took a minor step forward on offense after making a coordinator change after its Week 12 loss to Oregon. Braedyn Locke led that effort with 292 yards and three passing touchdowns. But just like at Iowa two weeks ago, the story of the game was Wisconsin’s defense falling apart.

Nebraska’s offense averaged nearly 6.4 yards per play on the afternoon. Its 44 points are its most in the all-time series. It is the third time Wisconsin has allowed 40+ points this season. The last time that happened was 2001 — also the last year the program missed a bowl game.

Big picture, the defeat is Wisconsin’s first to Nebraska since 2012. The result also clinched Nebraska’s first bowl appearance since 2016, snapping a nine-game losing streak with bowl eligibility at stake. Finally, it handed the Cornhuskers the Freedom Trophy for the first time in its existence.

By any measure, the loss was an historic one.

Wisconsin (5-6, 3-5 Big Ten) needs a win over Minnesota in Week 14 or the program will not be bowl eligible for the first time in 23 years.

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