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Way-Too-Early Projections Have Wisconsin Badgers Getting Back to Bowl Game For SEC Matchup in 2026

The Wisconsin Badgers are already projected for a bounceback season in 2026 that seems them returning to a bowl game against a premier SEC opponent.
Lorin Cox|
Wisconsin Badgers running backs Braelon Allen (0) and Chez Mellusi (1), coach Luke Fickel,receiver Chimere Duke (13), linebacker Maema Njongmeta (55) and safety John Torchio (15) pose with trophy during Guaranteed Rate Bowl media day at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn
Wisconsin Badgers running backs Braelon Allen (0) and Chez Mellusi (1), coach Luke Fickel,receiver Chimere Duke (13), linebacker Maema Njongmeta (55) and safety John Torchio (15) pose with trophy during Guaranteed Rate Bowl media day at the JW Marriott Camelback Inn | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Expectations are already starting to build up for the Wisconsin Badgers football season following a strong winter in the transfer portal for Luke Fickell.

The influx of talent still has to prove itself on the field this fall, but the pressure will be on this team to drastically improve from their disappointments this past fall.

On3 College Football Insider Brett McMurphy released a new set of way-too-early bowl game projections for 2026, and he has Wisconsin getting back to the ReliaQuest Bowl to face Florida.

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The Badgers and the Gators have never faced each other on the football field, so this bowl game would be a first for both sides.

Florida is hoping for a turnaround of their own this season after hiring new head coach Jon Sumrall from Tulane.

Like Wisconsin, they finished 4-8 last season, but it was enough to spark a coaching change in Gainsville.

Fickell needs to get the Badgers back to a bowl game at a minimum to ensure he doesn't suffer a similar fate as Billy Napier did this fall.

This projection would mark a return trip for Wisconsin to Tampa for the ReliaQuest bowl, where UW played its most recent bowl game prior to this past season.

In 2024, the Badgers lost to No. 13 LSU 35-31.

Fickell should have a much easier path to getting above .500 and returning to bowl contention with a 2026 schedule that looks much less difficult on paper compared to the top Big Ten teams Wisconsin faced last year.

They still have to translate the transfer portal optimism to real progress on the field, but the arrows seem to be pointing in the right direction again for the Badgers so far this year.

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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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