Badgers not projected to bowl game by insider after first two weeks
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The Wisconsin Badgers have seen an up-and-down start to their 2026 campaign, as they’ve gone 1-1 following a 41-13 loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and 36-9 win over the Western Illinois Leathernecks.
In both games, the Badgers showed flashes of being a much improved team, but a lot of the issues that have also plagued them over the past few years under head coach Luke Fickell.
Still, many have optimism around Wisconsin in 2025 with their schedule looking much more manageable than a season ago. The Badgers will wrap up their non-conference slate in Week 3 against Eastern Michigan before kicking off Big Ten play on the road against the Penn State Nittany Lions in Week 4.
Heading into Week 3, though, On3’s Brett McMurphy does not have the Badgers making a bowl game in 2026.
McMurphy initially projected the Badgers to make a bowl game ahead of Week 1, having them in the Birmingham Bowl against the Auburn Tigers. However, he dropped them out of the projections ahead of Week 2, and has that the same way in Week 3.
There were seven new teams that entered the field in Week 3. Unfortunately, none of those were the Badgers. Instead, McMurphy added Duke, Florida International, Marshall, Mississippi State, North Texas, Oklahoma State and Wake Forest as new bowl teams.
Wisconsin is one of six Big Ten teams not in McMurphy’s bowl projections. That also includes Minnesota, Northwestern, Michigan State, Rutgers, and Purdue.
Should the Badgers win this weekend, they’d need four more wins for a bowl appearance across nine games. That means they’d have to go 4-5 in Big Ten play at the minimum. Wisconsin faces four of those teams currently not projected for a bowl game: Michigan State, Rutgers, Minnesota, and Purdue.
They also face UCLA, Iowa, USC, Penn State, and Maryland.
Will they end up reaching the six-win marker? Or will they significantly disappoint once again?
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