Wisconsin Badgers rank behind Minnesota in 2025 Big Ten football media poll

24 Big Ten football writers voted on how they see the conference playing out this season, and the Wisconsin Badgers landed behind rival Minnesota outside of the Top 10.

Nov 29, 2024; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers tight end Riley Nowakowski (37) reaches for the pass tipped by Minnesota Golden Gophers linebacker Joey Gerlach (19) during the second quarter at Camp Randall Stadium. | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Big Ten beat reporters are apparently not confident in the Wisconsin Badgers this season.

Cleveland.com polled 24 writers who cover Big Ten teams or the conference as a whole, and the Badgers came in 12th.

BREAKING: Penn State is picked as the favorite to win the Big Ten in the 15th annual @clevelanddotcom Preseason Big Ten Media Poll.

Ohio State checks in at No. 2 followed by Oregon, Illinois and Michigan as the top 5 https://t.co/385Q3GhyGK

— Stephen Means (@Stephen_Means) July 21, 2025

That's one spot behind arch-rival Minnesota at No. 11 and one spot ahead of Michigan State and Rutgers which are tied at 13.

While the full ballot results weren't published, the writer of the article Stephen Means revealed that the Badgers were one of four teams to receive last-place votes, along with Maryland, Northwestern and Purdue.

Ouch.

Voters also chose Luke Fickell as the coach most on the hot seat entering 2025 with 11 votes, compared to six votes for Lincoln Riley at USC and Mike Locksley at Maryland.

This Wisconsin team has a lot to prove this season, and it's going to take some key wins to change the minds of the other writers covering Big Ten teams.

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