This season has been an utter disaster for the Wisconsin Badgers in a year where they hoped that their investment in Luke Fickell would start to pay off. The Badgers are just 2-5 on the season with an 0-4 record in Big Ten play and an 0-5 record against Power 4 opponents. Things in Madison have gotten so bad that the only time the Wisconsin fans show any excitement is when they can chant "Fire Fickell".
Wisconsin’s student section is pulling an Oklahoma State. More and more are flocking to the section, and they’re chanting “Fire Fickell” while waving their shirts.#Badgers pic.twitter.com/dtJ5q9xsCJ
— Karl Winter (@KarlWinterTV) October 18, 2025
The product on the field has become so bad that the Wisconsin fans want Luke Fickell fired and the Athletic Department has to consider doing it. The biggest obstacle for the Badgers is the fact that Luke Fickell has 4 years left on his contract after this season and they will have to pay him a $25 million buyout to execute the move.
While a program like Penn State was willing to cough up a massive buyout to part ways with James Franklin, it's not the easiest move to make for most programs. In this NIL and Revenue sharing era, a ton of programs are going to move toward giving their coaches more time while instead investing some of that buyout money into NIL.
Wisconsin announces commitment to Luke Fickell
On Monday Morning, Wisconsin AD Chris McIntosh released a statement to the fans where he expressed the commitment to Luke Fickell while elevating the investment into the program.
#Badgers AD Chris McIntosh with a message to fans. Talks about supporting Luke Fickell and additional financial investment in the program. pic.twitter.com/zA1gz6O3MN
— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) October 20, 2025
While the Badgers deciding to stick it out with Luke Fickell is at least making a decision, in the end it'll likely be the wrong decision. The talent level has so clearly fallen off under Luke Fickell that it's only going to get harder for this team to compete in the new Big Ten especially against the powers like Ohio State and Oregon who are far more committed to building a winner.
The rest of the season is going to be a massive test for Luke Fickell as the fanbase will fully turn on him if the results don't start to turn. Going winless in the Big Ten will only make the fanbase more enraged so Fickell has to find a way to pick off a win down the stretch.
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