Wisconsin Picks Three Redshirt Seniors to Represent the Badgers at Big Ten Media Days
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With the hectic June official visit season wrapped up, we're about to enter one of the quietest stretches of the college football offseason.
July, a recruiting dead period and still a month removed from fall camp, often provides little to satiate the fans and media starved for football. But with the end of the month comes the unofficial start of the 2026 football season: Big Ten Media Days.
The annual three-day event, where coaches and players from all 18 teams take the podium, is in the Windy City this summer at the Hilton Chicago. The yearly celebration of all things Big Ten football will run from July 28-30, with the Badgers' interviews slated for day one.
In a press release, the conference announced the three players from each program that will accompany their coach, and Wisconsin takes three fifth-year seniors to Chicago: wide receiver Chris Brooks Jr, safety Matthew Jung and outside linebacker Sebastian Cheeks.
Representing the W in Chicago @chris_brooksjr2, @Mattkj06, and @SebastianCheeks are locked in for Big Day Media Day.#OnWisconsin x @B1Gfootballpic.twitter.com/jxz8xjGhkN
– Wisconsin Football (@BadgerFootball) June 24, 2026
Takeaways from Wisconsin's three representatives for Big Ten Media Days
The first thing you notice about the three players the Badgers will send to Chicago is that all three are fifth-year seniors. All three have also been with the program for at least a year; Jung's first season in Madison was last fall, while Cheeks is entering his third year as a Badger and Brooks is entering his fifth.
Wisconsin is one of six programs to not send a quarterback to Chicago, along with Northwestern, Nebraska, Indiana, Rutgers, and Iowa.
That's a notable change for the Badgers, as in 2025, Wisconsin did send its quarterback (Billy Edwards Jr) along with cornerback Ricardo Hallman and center Jake Renfro.
In the Fickell tenure, the Badgers have alternated between sending their quarterback and keeping him in Madison. In 2023, Tanner Mordecai was present at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. In 2024, Wisconsin sent linebacker Jake Chaney, safety Hunter Wohler and offensive tackle Jack Nelson.
Between Cheeks, Jung and Brooks, all three players have garnered significant praise this offseason.
The wideout Brooks has been a camp darling for much of his Wisconsin career, but that has yet to translate to the field. 2026 is his last shot to make an impact, and he appears slated for a starting role on the perimeter. The 6-foot-2 wideout is mainly praised for his leadership and physicality.
"He's the ultimate leader, unbelievable guy to coach, experienced guy knows the offense, competes his tail off," new receivers coach Ari Confessor said this spring.
The staff is expecting big things out of Cheeks, meanwhile, who's proven to be a capable pass-rusher but has yet to operate off the edge in a full-time capacity. He'll get his shot this fall.
"His ability to affect others more is where we've challenged him, and I think you've seen him grow on the football field because of it. He recognizes on a daily basis that there's an example he sets for a lot of people," head coach Luke Fickell said.
Jung, meanwhile, is a player the staff appears quite high on after he began to come on late in the 2025 campaign. The former D-III bounce-back was thrown into the fire on the road against Alabama last season, but grew immensely because of it.
"I think the adversity last year is the biggest thing that really helped him out," safeties coach Jack Cooper said.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/wisconsin as Wisconsin Picks Three Redshirt Seniors to Represent the Badgers at Big Ten Media Days.
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