Luke Fickell record vs ranked teams at Wisconsin: How has Badgers coach fared?
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When Wisconsin entered halftime down only three points vs. No. 5 Notre Dame in Week 1, there was a sense of optimism that, perhaps, Luke Fickell was turning a corner against ranked competition.
That optimism proved short-lived. The second half brought a familiar result: another ranked loss under Fickell, whose record against top-25 competition has been a sticking point since his hiring in 2022 by former Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh.
How underwhelming have the last four seasons been? The Badgers have had only one winning season under the former Cincinnati coach, who led the Bearcats, then part of the American Athletic Conference, to the College Football Playoff two seasons prior to taking over at Wisconsin.
The Badgers' issues under Fickell aren't limited to games against ranked opponents, but those struggles are amplified in today's era of college football, where marquee wins, or lack thereof, can define a season.
Fickell and Wisconsin have an opportunity to quiet some of that scrutiny on Saturday, Sept. 26, by opening up their Big Ten season with a ranked win vs. No. 14 Penn State in Happy Valley.
Here's how the Badgers have fared against ranked opponents under Fickell heading into the game:
Luke Fickell record vs ranked opponents
- Ohio State (2011): 2-3
- Cincinnati (2017-2022): 7-10
- Wisconsin (2022-present): 1-12
- Overall: 10-25
In his 11 seasons as a head coach — including the 2011 season when he served as the interim coach at Ohio State after Jim Tressel's resignation — Fickell's teams have consistently struggled to beat ranked opponents, posting a 10-25 record in those matchups.
Fickell's best stretch against ranked competition came at Cincinnati, where he went 7-10 in said games. The Bearcats scored six combined wins over ranked opponents during the 2020 and 2021 seasons, a two-year run highlighted by the program's first-ever CFP berth.
Luke Fickell record at Wisconsin vs ranked opponents
The success Fickell enjoyed against ranked teams at Cincinnati has not carried over to Madison, where the Badgers have struggled to consistently break through against top-tier opponents during his four-plus years. His Wisconsin teams have gone 1-12, including an 0-1 in 2026.
Last season, Wisconsin dropped four games to ranked opponents over a six-game span. Sandwiched between those defeats was a lopsided 37-0 loss to unranked Iowa in the Heartland Trophy rivalry, which marked the Badgers' second consecutive home loss by 17 points or more.
Here's a game-by-game breakdown of how the Badgers have fared against a ranked opponent under Fickell:
Rankings denote AP Poll ranking at the time of game
- Oct. 28, 2023: No. 3 Ohio State 24, Wisconsin 10
- Jan. 1, 2024 (ReliaQuest Bowl): No. 13 LSU 35, Wisconsin 31
- Sept. 14, 2024: No. 4 Alabama 42, Wisconsin 10
- Sept. 28, 2024: No. 16 USC 38, Wisconsin 21
- Oct. 26, 2024: No. 3 Penn State 28, Wisconsin 13
- Nov. 16, 2024: No. 1 Oregon 16, Wisconsin 13
- Sept. 13, 2025: No. 18 Alabama 38, Wisconsin 14
- Oct. 4, 2025: No. 20 Michigan 24, Wisconsin 10
- Oct. 18, 2025: No. 1 Ohio State 34, Wisconsin 0
- Oct. 25, 2025: No. 6 Oregon 21, Wisconsin 7
- Nov. 8, 2025: Wisconsin 24, No. 24 Washington 10
- Nov. 15, 2025: No. 2 Indiana 31, Wisconsin 7
- Sept. 7, 2026: No. 4 Notre Dame 41, Wisconsin 13
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Luke Fickell record vs ranked teams at Wisconsin: How has Badgers coach fared?
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