With a highly rated transfer class and a schedule without any of last year’s top four Big Ten teams, the pressure is on fourth-year head coach Luke Fickell and his Wisconsin Badgers to return to the winning ways of the 2010s.

Fickell has struggled early in his tenure in Madison, producing losing records in two of his three years leading the program. With a new mantra of “burn the boats”- inspired by similar battlecries by conquistadors during their attacks on indigenous Central Americans during the 16th century per Wisconsin’s week one game notes- Fickell has impressed on his team that this year’s Badgers won’t be allowed the opportunity for retreat.

Their offensive assault will be led by Old Dominion transfer quarterback Colton Joseph, a rising redshirt junior who threw for over 2,600 yards and rushed for over 1,000 yards with the Monarchs in 2025, one of just two returning FBS quarterbacks to hit those marks. He’ll be backed up by another dual threat in Deuce Adams, who previously played for Louisville.

Athletic Iowa State transfer Abu Sama, who ran for 732 yards in 2025, will join Joseph in the backfield, providing a pair of dynamic threats in the run game that will be difficult to scheme around for opposing defensive fronts. The Badgers should have a lethal read option game this fall to provide a solid footing for the offense to build around.

While Sama has received the most hype from inside the Wisconsin camp, with the Badgers’ week one game notes saying he would “lead the backfield” (Wisconsin chose not to release an official depth chart ahead of week one), he wasn’t the back to receive preseason award buzz, as backup running backs Bryan Jackson II and Nate Palmer were named to the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award watch list. Other players to receive preseason award nods included:

• Chris Brooks, Jr., WR, Wuerffel Trophy watch list
• Colton Joseph, QB, Manning Award preseason watch list
• Austin Kawecki, OL, Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award watch list
• Mason Posa, LB, Bednarik Award watch list, Butkus Award watch list

Brooks will headline a room of weaponry that includes the most player retention of any position group in the program, with each of the team’s top three receivers returning from last year’s roster. Brooks is the lone returning starter of the trio, but the Badgers will look to expand his role from last season, as he was largely a blocking specialist in 2025, going for only 124 yards in 10 starts. Eugene Hilton and Tyrell Henry, who have played 12 and 14 games in a Badger uniform respectively, are expected to play larger roles in this year’s passing attack as well.

In the trenches, Wisconsin returns two members of its offensive line in guards Colin Cubberly and Emerson Mandell, while a pair of power conference transfers in Kawecki and PJ Wilkins will bolster the line with additional power five starting experience. Right tackle Kevin Heywood is back after missing the entire 2025 season with an injury. Heywood started all 12 games for the Badgers in 2024.

An experienced linebacking core will provide stability in the middle of the Badger defense this year, as Posa, Aaron Witt and Sebastian Cheeks all return from last year’s roster. Starting safety Matt Jung is also back to lead the secondary, but the Badgers returned no starters along the offensive line or at cornerback, and both rooms will require development and coaching to compete at the Big Ten level. 

The most proven commodity is Arizona State transfer Javan Robinson, a two-year starter for the Sun Devils who knows what it takes to compete at the highest levels of college football, picking off a pass against Texas in the quarterfinals of the 2024 College Football playoff. He had three interceptions last year.

In the trenches, Hammond Russell has the most experience coming over from West Virginia, but his production didn’t stand out for the Mountaineers, generating 2.5 TFLs, two sacks and a forced fumble in 2025.

Florida transfer cornerback Cai Bates has the highest recruiting pedigree among the rest of the potential starters as a former four-star, but doesn’t have a start in college.

The Badgers’ win total over/under for the 2026 season is 6.5 as of September 3. Their schedule is as follows:

September 6 vs Notre Dame (at Lambeau Field)

September 12 vs Western Illinois

September 19 vs Eastern Michigan

September 26 at Penn State

October 3 vs Michigan State

October 17 at UCLA

October 24 vs USC

October 31 at Iowa

November 7 vs Rutgers

November 14 at Maryland

November 21 at Purdue

November 27 vs Minnesota

It’s a schedule full of winnable games for the Badgers, with only four ranked opponents in the preseason AP poll and no top 12 teams in the conference slate. That schedule certainly has its positives, as Indiana demonstrated in 2024, winning the games in front of them en route to the program’s first CFP appearance. For a program like Wisconsin and a coach like Fickell, it also carries risk. Succeed, and the Badgers could be the darlings of the media and surge into the rankings without having to take on the likes of Oregon or Ohio State. Fail, and the boats will truly be burned for Fickell and his staff in Madison.