Wisconsin HC Luke Fickell supports the elimination of the Big Ten West

Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell was one of the first head coaches to take to the podium at the start of 2024 Big Ten media days on Tuesday afternoon in Indianapolis, Indiana.

During the non-televised portion of his press conference, Fickell was asked about the Big Ten’s expansion to 18 programs and the subsequent elimination of the Big Ten’s former East-West division model. He responded by supporting the new model saying “If you ask me, the best two teams should play [for the Big Ten championship] anyway.”

That now-defunct Big Ten division model greatly aided Wisconsin over the last 13 seasons. The Badgers reached six total Big Ten title games during the division era, including three in a four-year stretch from 2016-2019. Part of that rate came thanks to a lighter schedule in the West Division and not needing to overtake Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State in order to reach the championship game.

Penn State, meanwhile, last reached the Big Ten title game in 2016 despite three 10-plus-win seasons since that date.

The conference’s new model is fairer and requires a truly special season to reach the title game. It does, however, hurt former West teams including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa.

Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh set ‘competing for championships’ as the program’s standard upon hiring Fickell in 2022. That will have to come from ascending to the top tier of the Big Ten and routinely finishing the regular season with one of the top records in the conference.

The new format is fair and balanced. Again, that doesn’t necessarily help Wisconsin. But Fickell has understandably set a high bar for his program as it works to establish itself in the new Big Ten landscape.

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