CFB Top 50, #45: 2025 Wisconsin Badgers

by
Bracket Yard
July 9, 2025

At number 45 in the CFB Top 50 countdown, it’s a team perhaps you wouldn’t expect to see this low: the 2025 Wisconsin Badgers.

Then again, if you saw last season, you might not expect them to be this high, either. Luke Fickell’s Badgers missed a bowl game for the first time since 2001, which no doubt upset a lot of people in the State of Wisconsin. His first season was barely better, with the Badgers going 7-6, which included a bowl game loss to LSU.

Are we getting to put-up-or-shut-up time for Fickell? It certainly looks like he can’t afford another sub-par season in Madison before the chatter really gets loud. If they end up being the 45th-best team in college football this year, would that even be good enough to avoid the hot seat?

2025 Wisconsin Badgers Basic Facts

Head Coach: Luke Fickell (3rd season)

2025 Conference: Big Ten

2024 Record: 5-7 (3-6)

Final Resolution of Last Season: Did not qualify for bowl

Wisconsin Key Additions and Subtractions

IN – Billy Edwards, quarterback. Transferred from Maryland.

IN – Mason Posa, linebacker. Four-star recruit from New Mexico.

IN – Jayden Ballard, wide receiver. Transferred from Ohio State.

OUT – Jack Nelson, tackle. Drafted by Atlanta in 7th round of 2025 Draft.

OUT – Tyler Van Dyke, quarterback. Transferred to SMU.

Best Game on the Schedule in 2025

October 18 vs. Ohio State. Luke Fickell vs. his old team at Camp Randall. If the Badgers can’t get up for this game, then there aren’t many that will get their attention. They have some other tough games, like Alabama, Michigan, and Oregon, but all of those are on the road. This is their big chance for a signature home win, if they can pull it off.

2025 Wisconsin Badgers: Outlook

Last year’s quarterbacks, Tyler Van Dyke and Braedyn Locke, left the team, so they had a new quarterback transfer in to take the role – Billy Edwards Jr. The latter is on his third school, but he enters Wisconsin as a former starter at Maryland who accounted for 20 total touchdowns last season. Any offense Wisconsin can generate would be a good thing, seeing as how they were under water on the point differential in 2024 (-6).

Another thing Wisconsin will hope to avoid this year is another late-season collapse. The Badgers were 5-2 and then lost five in a row to end the year. Their 2025 schedule is tough as well.

So, why the mild optimism about the Badgers this season? A new quarterback and offensive coordinator should help. A coach who is feeling his backside getting toastier is another strong motivator. However, in the Big Ten as elsewhere, putting up some defense is what’s going to either help them be competitive or not. They will most likely move out to a 2-0 start, and then they have to scrounge together at least four more wins to get back to a bowl. If they’ve made any improvement on either side of the ball, they should be competitive in at least that many. If they are not, then people are going to Google the size of Fickell’s buyout by October or so.