Three Reasons for Optimism, Three Reasons for Concern for Wisconsin Football in 2026

Despite the national media continuing to sleep on Wisconsin ahead of the 2026 season, plenty of arrows appear to be pointing upwards in Madison. But while the Badgers' roster looks significantly stronger than last season in plenty of areas, Wisconsin is going to have to scrap and claw for every ounce of respect after suffering a dismal 4-8 season last fall, its worst since 1990.

We're in a quiet period for intel on the 2026 Badgers, but that will soon change with media days and fall camp rapidly approaching. Once that happens, it's a mad dash to the season opener at Lambeau Field against the Fighting Irish.

Media days and fall camp will both certainly bring new questions and intrigue about the Badgers. But before we embark on the final stage of the offseason, what has me confident about Wisconsin in 2026, and what's still keeping me up at night? Let's take a look below:

Wisconsin finally has an exciting quarterback

We can nitpick any aspect of Wisconsin football's failures under Luke Fickell, and there's certainly no shortage of them. But the common, recurring theme? Abysmal quarterback play.

Yes, the Badgers have been deficient in plenty of other areas, but a competent, talented quarterback solves so many of your problems. We don't know if Colton Joseph is going to thrive in the Big Ten after shredding the Sun Belt at Old Dominion. But we know he has the physical characteristics; the speed, the arm talent, and the uncanny ability to make something out of nothing.

“Winning translates...It doesn't matter what level it is, winning is winning,” head coach Luke Fickell said this spring when asked about how one evaluates a Group of Six player like Joseph. “All those things that you thought you saw, we saw, those last couple years watching him play, it's held true.”

Projection up and down the roster

I firmly believe that the Badgers are more talented than they were last season. That's not much of a debate. But much of that talent is unproven, especially at the Big Ten level, and there's no better example than the aforementioned Joseph. Talent on paper is one thing, but proven production and reliable Big Ten players are another.

Again, the biggest question on the entire team is if Joseph's game will work in the Big Ten. But the roster is awash with similar questions at key positions.

New position coaches offer hope

An underrated contributor to Wisconsin's misery in the first three seasons under Fickell? Some big swings and misses on position coach hires. The Badgers have struggled to properly delegate tasks amongst their coaching staff the past three seasons, but with a new full-time dedicated special teams coach (Bob Ligashesky) as well as two young, exciting hires (offensive line coach Eric Mateos, cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples), Wisconsin looks to be in much better hands.

Both Mateos and Steeples, in particular, drew no shortage of praise this spring.

“He's an intelligent guy, really creative thinker,” offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes said of Mateos. “He's a tremendous teacher. I think he does a great job finding a way to get the information across to every player in the room...I think you're seeing improvement from our line.”

“Very very sharp individual, very good young football coach,” secondary coach Paul Haynes said about Steeples. “Very very particular about the details of what he wants his corners to do. Very very good with the man coverage stuff. He's coached the position, played the position at the highest level. All those specific things, the man technique stuff, he does a really good job of.”

Wisconsin's secondary was rough last season, and its offensive line was an abject disaster. But with new coaches and an influx of transfers, that should change in 2026.

Weak WR, OLB rooms

I've been concerned about the Badgers' wide receiver room all offseason, even after they brought in five transfers in a significant overhaul. There's some intriguing skillsets, but a distinct lack of Big Ten experience as well as a distinct lack of one or two go-to guys.

Could that change over the course of the season? Absolutely. Perhaps Eugene Hilton Jr. breaks out as a sophomore. Perhaps FCS transfer Jaylon Domingeaux is just as dangerous at the Big Ten level as he was at Southeastern Louisiana. But again, this is all projection, and while that can be exciting, it shouldn't elicit an overwhelming amount of confidence.

At outside linebacker, Wisconsin needs to replace its top two pass-rushers in Mason Reiger and Darryl Peterson. The staff is banking on fifth-year senior Sebastian Cheeks taking a big step forward, among a few others. Can true sophomore Nick Clayton emerge? What about former Kentucky transfer Tyreese Fearbry? There's too many questions on the edge to feel comfortable about Matt Mitchell's room.

Extremely manageable schedule

Wisconsin's opener against Notre Dame is as tough as anyone in the country has it, but from there on out, it gets significantly easier.

The Badgers face the Big Ten's easiest schedule in 2026 by opponent win percentage, and play just five teams that finished with a winning record last fall, tied for the lowest in the conference. They also avoid Ohio State, Indiana, Oregon and Michigan.

There's still some daunting games, like on the road against Iowa and Penn State and at home against what should be a high-flying USC Trojans squad. But Wisconsin faced four college football playoff teams last season and six teams ranked inside the top-25 when all was said and done; the 2026 slate is nowhere close to that level of difficulty.

Does this team know how to win?

Losing can be contagious. None of the players who have played for Fickell have seen success yet in Madison. It's a new season, but bad loss after bad loss can sink the culture of a program and sow divide in the locker room.

There's no precedent for winning in the Fickell tenure, no standard to uphold. This team is essentially starting from the ground up; nearly everything that once made Wisconsin football a proud program needs to be rebuilt.

That's not to say it can't happen and again, this is a new team with plenty of new players. But orchestrating a turnaround after a 4-8 season requires a lot of momentum, something that the Badgers will need to create themselves.