The sample size continues to get bigger.
And the losses continue to mount under Luke Fickell.
Fickell was supposed to elevate the program to greater heights when he was hired at the end of the 2022 season. That hasn’t happened. Not even close. Instead, the program has gone in the opposite direction. And now with his second season about to conclude in less than a week, and a bowl berth in doubt, alums are upset and fans have clearly seen enough.
The Badgers are 5-6 this season after being blown out by Nebraska, 44-25, on Saturday and could miss a bowl game for the first time since 2001. Wisconsin is 12-12 overall under Fickell.
It’s the first time a Badgers team has lost to Nebraska since early in the 2012 season. That was Bret Bielema’s final year in Wisconsin.
From 2015-21, former head coach Paul Chryst was 6-0 against Nebraska and then Jim Leonhard, who led a top-level defense for years at Wisconsin under Chryst, won his one game as interim head coach against Nebraska in 2022 when he replaced the fired Chryst.
The Badgers chose Fickell over Leonhard, with the expectations of competing for championships.
Wisconsin is a long way away from that. Fans spoke out on social media after Wisconsin’s fourth straight loss, this one the most disappointing, with many longing for those days of Leonhard and Chryst.
