What Wisconsin Football Must Do to Compete for a Big Ten Championship

Chris McIntosh hired Luke Fickell to get the Wisconsin Badgers back to the mountaintop of the Big Ten, and he’s not backing down from what it’ll take to get the football program back there.

With 22 straight winning seasons under their belt, the Badgers have been a model of consistency to the envy of many, but it’s been 12 years since their last Big Ten Championship win—a gap Fickell is determined to close.

When asked what it would take to elevate the program back to that level, Fickell pointed to two things: commitment and mentality.

"I think first of all, it's a commitment, but it's also a mentality,” Fickell said . “And I say that in a way that everybody's committed; you're playing D1 football, you're committed. But there's a different level of commitment."

For Fickell, it’s not just about showing up and working hard during practice and games; it’s about living and breathing football at a deeper level.

“There's a different level of truly committing to this being plan A,” Fickell explained. “Yes, [players come here] to get a degree and to do all these things, but if I'm not training and have this mindset that I'm gonna go play at the next level and develop that way… it’s going to be really difficult for us to continue to grow and put ourselves in a position to play for and win a championship."

Intensity, competition, and perpetual development are core to Fickell’s hunt-or-be-hunted long-term vision for the program. As he put it, “This is what you need, and you have to have, and you can't live without it."

With Fickell at the helm, the Badgers are embracing that mentality and building a culture of intensity and accountability, hoping it’s the edge they need to vault themselves into contention for a Big Ten title.

Since 2020, the Wisconsin Badgers have posted a 27-19 overall record, including a 19-15 mark in Big Ten play. With conference expansion only making the road to success tougher, it’s clear the challenge is steep. But if you’re looking at this from the outside, Fickell seems to be focusing on the right priorities—and in time, he just might turn things around in Madison.

Related: Badgers Defense 'Every Bit as Much of a Work in Progress' as the Offense

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