Five Reasons to Already Be Excited for Wisconsin Football in 2026

Spring football is a beautiful time, as optimism abounds in every program across America. But under head coach Luke Fickell, Wisconsin football has suffered lows it hasn't experienced in over three decades.

Still, after a harrowing three seasons that, especially in 2025, have felt like the pit of despair for the Badgers, there's newfound hope in Madison ahead of what's essentially a make-or-break year for the Fickell regime.

With spring practice nearing its brief hiatus for spring break, and practices about to heat up once again, we've already learned plenty about this Badgers team in addition to the litany of changes made this offseason.

There's still 155 days until Wisconsin meets a stacked Notre Dame team at Lambeau Field to kick off the 2026 season. But there's already plenty of factors that point to a potential bounce-back season for the Badgers:

Wisconsin Finally Has An Exciting Quarterback

Former Old Dominion Monarchs quarterback Colton Joseph. | Brian Bishop-Imagn Images

Of course, Fickell's other starting quarterbacks, most notably Tanner Mordecai, were certainly talented as well. But the Badgers now have a young, up-and-coming gunslinger with two years of eligibility remaining who just proved to be one of the most exciting mobile quarterbacks in the sport in 2025.

Wisconsin's starting quarterbacks have had a rough run of injury luck the past three seasons, but none of them flashed the potential and athletic ability that Colton Joseph brings to the table.

The former Old Dominion Monarch ran for 1,554 yards and 24 touchdowns across essentially 20 games. He can escape the pocket and throw on the but also has true breakaway speed in the open field, scampering for two touchdowns of 70-plus yards against eventual undefeated National Champion Indiana last fall.

His arm is still a work in progress, but last season he still threw for 2,624 yards and 20 touchdowns on 60 percent completion. His accuracy can be an issue at times, but he also flashes elite touch — especially on deep balls — on tape.

This Colton Joseph tape is a blast, man.

Full breakdown coming soon, but there’s a LOT of high-level ball against P4 competition…#Badgers pic.twitter.com/6CCTMWihOn
— Seamus (@seamus_rohrer) January 6, 2026

The Offensive Line Appears to be in Great Hands

Kevin Heywood. | Scott Ash / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

And that's due to new offensive line coach Eric Mateos, who left the same role at Arkansas to lead the Badgers' offensive front. Mateos has an excellent track record at several big-time programs including Baylor and BYU. He's also worked closely with second-year offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes.

“He and I go back to him being my GA first at LSU and then my line coach at two other places along the way. There’s a lot of things that we do that he and I sorta came up with together. Late nights deciding how we’re gonna block a certain front," Grimes said of Mateos. "So all that time that we’ve put together along the way at three different stops, game-planning for different defenses, I think it just makes us more efficient with what we’re doing on offense. He sees the game the same way that I do. He’s an intelligent guy, really creative thinker."

Wisconsin has plenty of talent in its offensive line room between home-grown players and incoming transfers. But the Badgers have yet to put it all together on the field due to a combination of injuries and flat-out poor performance. Matoes appears to be the right choice to get this storied offensive line room back on track.

"He’s a tremendous teacher. I think he does a great job finding a way to get the information across to every player in the room," Grimes continued. "I think you’re seeing improvement from our line.”

The Badgers Have Two Defensive Superstars

Inside linebackers Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano may not be on the national radar is superstar defenders in the Big Ten, but it's only a matter of time.

Those two proved unequivocally that they're the best players on this defense — and maybe the entire team — last season. Despite Posa and Catalano playing the 10th and 11th-most snaps on defense, respectively, they finished as the top two tacklers on the team and creating a litany of splash plays, especially Posa who notched four sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery.

But it wasn't just the stats that the young linebackers flashed. It was their innate and instantaneous leadership.

“(Catalano and Posa) played a really big role last year and showed a different leadership that I think we haven’t had here," Fickell said this spring.

Fickell Finally Has Resources

Luke Fickell, Dan Lanning — Luke Fickell speaks with well-funded Oregon head coach Dan Lanning. | Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Fickell wouldn't go so far as to say where the Badgers amongst their peers in terms of NIL like Greg Gard recently did for basketball. But after a public pledge of more resources for football by athletic director Chris McIntosh, Fickell backed up that assertion at a press conference this offseason, and it was also reported that Wisconsin "won bidding wars" for multiple players in the transfer portal

That led to a sprawling transfer portal class in which the Badgers brought in at least one player at every position and signed 33 total athletes. It's also been advantageous in helping Wisconsin land new position coaches like Mateos, cornerbacks coach Robert Steeples and running backs coach Jayden Everett.

Wisconsin's Schedule is Significantly Lighter

Notre Dame is easily the most daunting game on Wisconsin's schedule. | Stan Szeto-Imagn Images

Last season, the Badgers faced one of the most grueling schedules in the country, facing four college football playoff teams and two more teams that finished the season ranked inside the Top 25.

For 2026, Wisconsin's slate looks significantly more manageable. The semi-home game to kick off the season at Lambeau Field against Notre Dame and one of the nation's best quarterbacks CJ Carr is daunting, but the Badgers' Big Ten opponents went a combined 28-53 in conferene play last season. Wisconsin draws struggling programs such as Purdue, Maryland, Rutgers, UCLA and Michigan State. It also plays an FCS team (Western Illinois) in the out-of-conference slate rather than two Group of Six programs.