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Wisconsin Badgers Reportedly 'Won Bidding Wars' For Transfer Portal Additions

The Wisconsin Badgers had more money to spend in the transfer portal this winter, and they reportedly weren't afraid to outbid other teams.
Lorin Cox|
Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell talks to his team during the second half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Camp Randall Stadium.
Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell talks to his team during the second half against the Illinois Fighting Illini at Camp Randall Stadium. | Kayla Wolf-Imagn Images

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Wisconsin Badgers

Wisconsin Badgers athletic director Chris McIntosh pledged more financial support for the football team back in the fall.

He appears to have backed up his words with dollars during the winter transfer portal window.

Luke Fickell and the Badgers brought in one of the larger transfer classes with over 30 new players, and a new report suggests they spent big to do so.

Pete Nakos from On3 spoke to an NIL operator from an ACC team who told him Wisconsin consistently won bidding wars for the players they pursued in the portal.

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“I don’t know if they spent the most, but certainly Wisconsin surprised some people,” the ACC source told On3. “They told at least four or five kids we were involved with that, ‘Just give us a chance, we will be your highest number.”

The report didn't specify which Badgers transfer portal additions that Fickell outbid others on, but it's not hard to guess that quarterback Colton Joseph could be near the top of the list.

Running back Abu Sama from Iowa State was also a highly coveted transfer along with safety Marvin Burks from Missouri.

Both of whom were starting-caliber players who had plenty of suitors and might have required extra investment from Wisconsin to bring them in.

Related: How Wisconsin Badgers big transfer portal class compares to rest of the Big Ten

It's a good sign that the team has more of the resources necessary to compete in the modern age of college football.

But winning bidding wars for talented players in the transfer portal is only half of the battle.

Fickell and his coaching staff still have to develop the rest of the roster into a more competitive team and put these new players in position to be more successful this fall.

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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.

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