Wisconsin Badgers moving past Week 3 loss to Alabama: 'The season starts now'

Luke Fickell knows one loss to a non-conference opponent isn't going to derail the Wisconsin Badgers season. The Big Ten schedule is next, and that's what's most important.

Sep 13, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell discusses a call with an official during the second quarter against the Alabama Crimson Tide at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. | David Leong-Imagn Images

The Wisconsin Badgers aren't ignoring or excusing how bad their 38-14 loss was to Alabama on Saturday.

But Luke Fickell knows one loss to a non-conference opponent isn't giong to derail their season.

The Big Ten schedule starts next Saturday, and those are the games that matter the most.

"It's not that we're going to wash this thing away and forget about it, but we have to move on," Fickell said after the loss. "Let's correct this thing and let's move forward, because the league starts and the season starts now."

His Badgers have been through this before. They lost by an even greater margin to Alabama last year, but that didn't stop his team from ripping off a three-game Big Ten winning streak against Purdue, Rutgers and Northwestern soon after.

The problem is, their conference schedule is a lot more difficult this year, and it starts with an important game against Billy Edwards Jr.'s former team Maryland next week.

For Fickell, the key is to keep the players bought in that the team is heading in the right direction and that they can bounce back against their Big Ten foes.

"It's tough to be positive in some of those things, but where else do we go?" Fickell said. "We've got to be able to get ourselves out of here. We got to be able to get as healthy as we can, and we got to get into league play, and we got to get better."

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