Wisconsin
Badgers · Big Ten
- GIE rank
- #51
- of 138 FBS
- Rating
- 1601
- 2026 Week 11
- Record
- 5-3
- 2026 season
- Proj record
- 8-4
- 12-game season
Head coach Luke Fickell Year 4 with Wisconsin
Year-4 HCs (2015-2024) averaged -0.65 W vs. preseason expectation
Season projection
- Expected wins
- 7.8
- 2.8 more wins in 4 left
- Win range (90%)
- 6 to 9
- Final rank (90%)
- #50 (35–70)
- Make playoff
- 0%
- Win conference
- 0%
Path to glory
No remaining game changes Wisconsin's playoff odds. Make playoff 0%
Schedule
Full 2026 slate. Tap a row for the matchup breakdown.
| Week | Opponent | Result or win prob.Result or win probability |
|---|---|---|
| Wk 1 Sep 6 | vs Notre Dame FBS Independents · neutral | Loss, 13-41 Final |
| Wk 2 Sep 12 | vs Western Illinois Non-FBS | Win, 36-9 Final |
| Wk 3 Sep 19 | vs Eastern Michigan Mid-American | Win, 54-10 Final |
| Wk 4 Sep 26 | at Penn State Big Ten | Win, 24-20 Final |
| Wk 5 Oct 3 | vs Michigan State Big Ten | Win, 31-3 Final |
| Wk 6 | Bye | |
| Wk 7 Oct 17 | at UCLA Big Ten | Loss, 7-17 Final |
| Wk 8 Oct 24 | vs USC Big Ten | Win, 24-7 Final |
| Wk 9 Oct 31 | at Iowa Big Ten | Loss, 0-30 Final |
| Wk 10 Nov 7 | vs Rutgers Big Ten | |
| Wk 11 Nov 14 | at Maryland Big Ten | |
| Wk 12 Nov 21 | at Purdue Big Ten | |
| Wk 13 Nov 28 | vs Minnesota Big Ten | |
In the news
- Wisconsin Opens as Narrow Road Underdog for Huge Showdown With UCLA (opens in a new tab)
- Where Wisconsin football stands in the polls before trip to UCLA, Rose Bowl (opens in a new tab)
- Polymarket Odds Revealed for Wisconsin-UCLA (opens in a new tab)
- This Week’s Wisconsin Mailbag (opens in a new tab)
- Kickoff Time, TV Announced For Wisconsin-UCLA (opens in a new tab)
- Ranking Wisconsin football's remaining opponents from best to worst (opens in a new tab)
More coming. Per-team pages get the full treatment in Phase 3: current rating, season projection histogram, schedule with win probabilities, and live overlays on Pylon stream days. For now, this page exists so stories and news have a permanent home as content rolls in.
If QB1 is out
GIE projects a 9.0 rating drop and a 36.0pp shift in playoff probability if Wisconsin loses its QB1 for an extended stretch. (n=4 historical samples; pooled across recent seasons.)
Returning production · 2026
45 score
Share of last season's production each unit returns. Higher means more continuity: 70%+ is healthy, 45–70% a normal rebuild, under 45% a major turnover.
Portal additions · 2026
+1.0 rating
30 proven transfers in, carrying the production below from their prior school.
| Player | From | Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Colton JosephQB From Old Dominion | Old Dominion | 150 |
| Abu Sama IIIRB From Iowa State | Iowa State | 105 |
| Junior PoyserDL From Buffalo | Buffalo | 105 |
| Javan RobinsonCB From Arizona State | Arizona State | 99 |
| Jaylon DomingeauxWR From SE Louisiana | SE Louisiana | 78 |
| Marvin Burks Jr.S From Missouri | Missouri | 77 |
Impact scores offensive skill additions (QB/RB/WR/TE) — prior-season production normalized within position (100 ≈ a 90th-percentile producer at that spot) and discounted for non-FBS competition, so a top back counts alongside a top quarterback. Defensive and O-line additions count as transfers but aren't box-score measurable, so they carry no impact score. The rating figure is this class's portal contribution vs. the FBS average, capped at ±2.5.
Situational efficiency · 2025
Percentile is across all FBS teams with play-by-play data for the season. "Late & close" is yards per play in Q4+ with a one-score margin — a proxy for clutch offensive performance.