All Badgers

Wisconsin All-Big Ten honoree shows success of Badgers' transfer portal recruiting

Lorin Cox|
Wisconsin tight end Lance Mason scores for the Badgers against the Oregon Ducks
Wisconsin tight end Lance Mason scores for the Badgers against the Oregon Ducks | Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In this story:

Wisconsin Badgers

Lance Mason wasn't the Wisconsin Badgers first choice at tight end in the transfer portal.

Yet eight months later, he finished 2025 as the team's leading receiver this season.

Wide receiver Vinny Anthony had one more catch than Mason, but the tight end led the Badgers with 398 yards and four touchdowns through the air, averaging over 13 yards per reception.

That earned him a spot as a second-team All-Big Ten player this season, the only Wisconsin player to get higher than third-team honors.

Sign Up For the Wisconsin Daily Digest - OnSI’s Free Wisconsin Badgers Newsletter

Mason transferred in from FCS Missouri State in April, missing all of the Badgers spring practices in the process.

His late start didn't cause a slow start, because he broke out in his second game at Wisconsin with seven catches for 102 yards and a touchdown against Middle Tennessee State.

All of that came from the player who was the Badgers' backup plan at the position.

Related: Wisconsin Badgers offense reached embarrassing 30-year lows in rough 2025 season

Luke Fickell had initially landed former Ball State tight end Tanner Koziol in the winter transfer portal, one of the prized veteran pass catchers available.

Koziol then left Wisconsin and re-entered the transfer portal in the spring, leaving a hole at tight end that Mason would fill.

Badgers fans were worried at the time about what they lost at the position. Mason quickly alleviated those concerns.

While the team's offensive struggles kept him from putting up an eye-popping stat line, the senior tight end was one of Wisconsin's most reliable targets all season.

He was a security blanket for all four of the quarterbacks that played this season, and his all-conference recognition reflects his importance to an otherwise limited offense.

More Wisconsin Badgers News:

Published
Lorin Cox
LORIN COX

Lorin Cox is the managing editor of Wisconsin Badgers on SI. He has been covering Badgers sports since 2014, when he was an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin. He previously wrote for the Wisconsin State Journal, NBC Sports Chicago and USA Today Sports Media Group, and he is a former analyst for Pro Football Focus.

Home/Football