There was no hiding the stakes when Luke Fickell met with local media on Early National Signing Day. The Wisconsin football program is barreling toward a 2026 season that will define how his tenure is remembered, and the head coach spoke with the clarity of someone who knows that the Badgers can’t afford another year trying to tread water on a sinking ship.
Thus far, the Badgers have signed only 13 high school players in the 2026 recruiting cycle, the smallest class the program has taken since 2012, which means the portal will once again be the lifeline that determines whether Wisconsin gets back to playing the brand of football this place used to assume by default.