Wisconsin football one of three ‘ticking clocks’ in Big Ten facing ‘must-win’ 2025

Luke Fickell and the Badgers are facing a difficult schedule this season, and the early projections from analysts haven’t exactly been confidence-boosters. 

According to On3’s Ari Wasserman, the pressure Fickell is under this year is 10th-most of all college football coaches. Fickell was ranked No. 11 among the 18 Big Ten coaches by CBS Sports, and received 11 hot seat votes and a No. 12 ranking among conference coaches from Cleveland.com. 

ESPN analyst David Hale piled on Thursday morning with the release of his 20-tier rankings, including all 136 FBS teams. Wisconsin and conference opponents Nebraska and USC fell in Tier 10a, what Hale labeled “The Big Ten’s ticking clocks.”

“Matt Rhule, Lincoln Riley and Luke Fickell each seemed like absolute home run coaching hires,” Hale wrote. “... all three [are] in a position to make 2025 a must-win year. What exactly ‘winning’ means probably differs a bit by school, but the pressure is on.”

It’s especially on for the Badgers. Wisconsin is scheduled to host Big Ten powers Ohio State and Illinois, and to face the strong programs of Oregon, Michigan and Alabama on the road. Fickell has more to focus on than just the strength of the Badgers’ schedule.

“For Wisconsin, it's a return to the Badgers' foundations as Fickell has abandoned plans to bring an up-tempo passing attack to the stodgy Big Ten and will build around the ground game,” Hale wrote. “They can't all turn it around this year, which makes this perhaps the most interesting portion of the Big Ten's standings.”

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Entering the fall, the Badgers are 15th in ESPN’s conference power rankings, released as part of a larger Big Ten Preview Tuesday. Analyst Trotter Rittenberg was one of few not to place the responsibility for this season on Fickell.

“Injuries robbed any chance Wisconsin had of fielding a viable offense in 2024, as the Badgers ranked 102nd nationally in passing (197 yards per game) on the way to losing their final five games,” Rittenberg wrote. “The onus is now on transfer quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. (Maryland) and new coordinator Jeff Grimes to turn that around.”