Wisconsin Football Searching for Answers as Alabama Showdown Looms

With a 27-13 win over South Dakota, the Wisconsin Badgers are off to their first 2-0 start since 2020. Still, the mood around the football program isn’t overly optimistic as Alabama looms on the schedule.

For head coach Luke Fickell, the upcoming game against the Crimson Tide represents not just a test of talent but will also serve as a measuring stick for where this team stands—because the results through two games haven’t exactly inspired confidence they'll pull off the upset.

Fickell, addressing the elephant in the room during his media availability, didn't shy away from acknowledging the weight of what lies ahead.

“It’s the top team in college football in the last 20 years,” Fickell told reporters . “You guys knew it. Yeah, it was daunting. It’s been hanging over the top of our heads from the time we walked in the door here.

“But it’s also to say, ‘Hey, you’ve got to find a way to continue to measure yourself.’ It doesn’t mean that you don’t measure yourself in the first couple of weeks. You’re challenged incredibly. But you’ll be challenged in a completely different way. And we’ll find out where we are.”

It’s hard to argue with Fickell’s point.

Kalen DeBoer and Alabama are currently ranked No. 4 in the nation and have blown out their first two opponents, Western Kentucky and South Florida (it was a tight game for a while), by a combined score of 105-16.

On the other hand, Wisconsin has struggled to pull away from both Western Michigan and South Dakota, with both games carrying into the fourth quarter before they managed to secure victories against inferior competition. If the Badgers want any chance against one of college football's blue-bloods next weekend, they’ll need to put together a far more complete performance than they've shown so far.

The reality is that the Wisconsin Badgers just haven’t looked like a team ready to compete with the likes of Alabama or any other top Big Ten programs, for that matter. The Badgers’ identity on both sides of the ball remains unclear. I also question whether or not they have enough elite talent on the roster to punch above their weight, even if they did have an identity to lean on heading into a tilt of this magnitude.

But that’s the crux of the problem—Wisconsin hasn’t yet figured out who it is, and with Alabama coming to town, even though they're in a transition year, there’s no more time left to iron out their flaws on the field.

A victory over Alabama would indeed be program-defining, the kind of win that could accelerate Wisconsin’s rebuild under Fickell.

But as the oddsmakers at FanDuel suggest , with Alabama favored by as much as 15.5 points, this game is expected to be an uphill battle for a Badgers team still searching for its footing in Year 2 of the Fickell era.

Fickell put it best: "We know darn well what’s walking in here." The Badgers may not have played all that well in any phase yet, but they’re about to get a crash course in what it takes to compete at the highest level of college football.

Will Wisconsin keep it close and show fans they’re making legitimate progress as a program? Only time will tell, but I have my reservations.

Related: Badgers PFF Grades: Best, Worst Players From Win Over South Dakota

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