Wisconsin football receives optimistic early win total from FanDuel

There's nothing like context-free win totals released over five months before the season starts to spark outrage and sow divide amongst a fan base.

Yes, initial win totals for the 2026 college football season released in March, before most teams have even hit the field for spring practices, are unquestionably premature. Still, they offer a telling glimpse at the national perception of a program.

FanDuel, which just released early win totals, set its over/under for Wisconsin at 6.5.

In other words, FanDuel sees the Badgers getting back into the bowl game conversation and adding multiple wins to its record after a dismal 4-8 season, their worst since 1990.

Wisconsin's projected 6.5 wins places them right in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten, according to FanDuel's win totals for the rest of the conference.

Team	Win Total
Indiana Hoosiers	10.5
Oregon Ducks	10.5
Ohio State Buckeyes	9.5
Penn State Nittany Lions	9.5
USC Trojans	8.5
Michigan Wolverines	8.5
Illinois Fighting Illini	7.5
Washington Huskies	7.5
Iowa Hawkeyes	7.5
Wisconsin Badgers	6.5
UCLA Bruins	6.5
Nebraska Cornhuskers	5.5
Minnesota Gophers	5.5
Northwestern Wildcats	5.5
Rutgers Scarlet Knights	4.5
Maryland Terrapins	4.5
Michigan State Spartans	3.5
Purdue Boilermakers	3.5

FanDuel's win totals for the Big Ten clearly divide the conference into tiers. There's the national title contenders (Indiana, Oregon), the threats to make a run in the conference (Ohio State through Michigan) and the rest of the teams expected to post a winning record, a category Wisconsin narrowly sneaks into.

The Badgers were a deeply flawed team in 2025, which was certainly the main catalyst for their brutal 4-8 season. But they also faced arguably the toughest schedule in the nation, including four teams that made the College Football Playoff.

The 2026 slate is far less daunting, especially after a promising offseason fueled by increased investment in the transfer portal. Just like last fall with Alabama, there's another blue blood in the out-of-conference slate as Wisconsin kicks off the season at Lambeau Field against Notre Dame. But that is arguably the toughest game of the year, and the Big Ten slate is extremely manageable: six of the nine conference games are against teams in the bottom half of FanDuel's win total rankings for the conference.

Six or seven wins, of course, doesn't meet the standard of Wisconsin football. Just barely reaching bowl eligibility is not what head coach Luke Fickell was brought to Madison to do.

Nevertheless, after the disaster of a season that unfolded in 2025, it would certainly represent a step in the right direction. Getting back into the postseason after two straight years without a bowl game is a small but crucial step in the resurrection of Badgers football.

Wisconsin's early win total of 6.5 is the first of what will likely be several offseason projections that see the Badgers improving, if only slightly, in 2026. There's still 177 days until the Badgers host the Fighting Irish in Green Bay, but there's national optimism Wisconsin will bounce back next fall.

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