Some losses simply end a season, while others say something larger about where a program sits heading into the most critical offseasons in decades. The Wisconsin footballteam’s 17–7 defeat at Minnesota did both.
In a snowy Huntington Bank Stadium, the Badgers closed Year 3 of the Luke Fickell era at 4–8, their fewest wins in a full season since 1995, and their most losses since Barry Alvarez’s first year on the job in 1990.
They missed a bowl game for the second straight year, something that hasn’t happened since 1991–92. And after a November that briefly suggested the team was turning a corner, the finale instead resurfaced every issue that has kept Wisconsin from pulling itself out of the rut.