Grading Wisconsin’s first half of the season: Where have the Badgers exceeded expectations?

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

With the bye week coming and going and the Wisconsin Badgers preparing to face off against the No. 12 UCLA Bruins, it feels like a good moment to evaluate the first half of their season through six weeks.

The Badgers stand at 4-1 following the bye, with wins over Western Illinois, Eastern Michigan, Penn State, and Michigan State, while their lone loss came to Notre Dame. As a result, they’ve been on the verge of getting ranked for three straight weeks.

After their upset over the then-No. 13 Nittany Lions on the road, Wisconsin shot up to the top team receiving votes out of the AP Top 25. However, they slid down to the third-best team receiving votes after their 31-3 blowout over Michigan State, with Pitt jumping into the Top 25 and Wake Forest climbing them in the voting.

Then, at their bye week, with Pitt, Florida, and Oregon all dropping out of the rankings, Wisconsin jumped back to the top team receiving votes, which is where they sit ahead of a crucial contest against UCLA on Saturday.

How did fans grade the start of the season? In our weekly Reacts poll, two-thirds of fans gave the start of the season grade a B.

On the other hand, one-fifth of voters gave the Badgers an A, while 14 percent of fans gave the Badgers a C for their start.

Here’s what I wrote in a Feed post about the start of the season from my perspective:

“When you look a month ago, and you look today, it’s an A- for me.

“4-1 is a record you’d absolutely take. Yes, Penn State didn’t look as good as you’d expect. But Wisconsin is currently looking like a top-half Big Ten team. Defense is clicking, offense has its explosive moments.

“Lot to clean up. CJ (Colton Joseph) a big part of that, run game will need to be more consistent, clearly working through OL change. But defense looks the part. Offense has shown even when being inconsistent it can win games. And Badgers putting together some complete performances (EMU/Michigan State games).”

Expanding on that, I’d have to give the Badgers an A- for their start, with the lone blemish being their uninspiring start to the season through the first two games.

I thought Wisconsin had a really good first half against Notre Dame, all things considered. Their defense showed the flashes and consistency of being a potentially elite unit in 2026. I was very pleased with the game plan from Jeff Grimes to ease in Colton Joseph, who certainly struggled in the opening frame. And the Badgers trailed by just three to a top-five team.

However, that second half reminded me too much of the past few years under Fickell. Wisconsin made costly mistakes, such as Joseph’s back-breaking pick-six, they didn’t tackle well defensively, and they folded hard in a tough moment.

You wanted them to bounce back well in Week 2, and the Badgers did through seven minutes, dominating Western Illinois en route to a 17-0 start with good complementary football. But the inconsistent version of the Badgers popped up again, as they couldn’t stop the quarterback run, while the offense became stagnant once again.

Wisconsin did clean things up towards the end of the third quarter and in the fourth quarter to win 36-9, but that wasn’t a clean game against an inferior opponent by any means. Still, I could very clearly see the flashes that Wisconsin had of being a solid football team in 2026. The plan from Grimes was another good one, and the defensive pieces were slowly starting to click. That’s why I had the Badgers to cover that game (which didn’t pan out) and cover again in Week 3 against Eastern Michigan.

Finally there, we saw Wisconsin play a fully complete game, and they dominated Eastern Michigan 54-10 while even leaving some meat on the bone. But could they carry that over to Penn State in a huge game for Luke Fickell? It didn’t seem that way, at least on the offensive side, through three quarters, with Wisconsin trailing by 17 at one point.

But behind a few clutch offensive drives and some elite defensive stands, the Badgers came back to win 24-20 and upset the Nittany Lions in Happy Valley. Then, they parlayed that with potentially their most complete performance of the year, getting things going on the ground and on defense for a 31-3 win over Michigan State.

On paper, perhaps the wins don’t look that impressive. Penn State has completely stumbled since their 3-0 start, losing to Wisconsin, Northwestern, and USC. Michigan State looks lost and like one of the worst teams in the Big Ten this year with its injuries. But it’s the way that Wisconsin is winning that has me giving them an A- through five games.

We’ve now seen a few complete performances from the Badgers, and there’s still meat left on the bone that they can clean up in games.

Wisconsin’s defense is getting to be elite. Mike Tressel has a more athletic group that has catered well to his scheme. The linebackers are playing with supreme confidence, the defensive line has looked much better than expected, and the secondary has made plays, in particular cornerback Javan Robinson.

The offense has shown the ability to hit on explosive plays. But Colton Joseph needs to be more consistent as a passer, while the Badgers run game has to start getting going at some point.

We’ll get an even better look at Wisconsin against UCLA’s superb defense, but so far, so good for the 4-1 Badgers. And things are looking up. According to FanDuel, the Badgers win total now stands at 8.5, up from 6.5, where they sat during the preseason. Wisconsin is currently a +114 underdog to win nine games.

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos