'Leave No Doubt' vs 'No Plan B': Does Wisconsin or Notre Dame Have the Stronger Narrative?

Wisconsin and Notre Dame will walk into Lambeau Field on Sunday night coming off very different 2025 seasons.

After narrowly loosing to two eventual College Football Playoff Teams before winning out to finish 10-2 and narrowly miss the CFP, Notre Dame became something of a national punchline when it declined a bowl game invitation, still bitter about being excluded from the playoff.

That spawned the phrase "leave no doubt" for the Fighting Irish, a saying first uttered by head coach Marcus Freeman in January. Now, it's become the rallying cry for Notre Dame's 2026 campaign, a motto for what the Irish faithful fully expect to be a ruthless bloodbath of a revenge tour on the way to a definite playoff bid.

"As I reminded the group on our team meeting on Sunday, it's our responsibility to make sure we leave no doubt, and moving forward, we can't blame it on somebody else," Freeman said. "It's our job as we move forward to leave no doubt."

Wisconsin football is in something of a different boat.

The Badgers are coming off their worst season since 1990. The soul-searching that took place this offseason in Madison was a lot different than what transpired in South Bend. Rather than feeling spurned by the playoff committee, Wisconsin had no one to blame but itself for the horrendous 4-8 campaign that unfolded in 2026.

Thus, a recurring phrase has also spawned in Madison, and both head coach Luke Fickell and Colton Joseph have referenced it: "No Plan B."

“The idea of no plan B is we gotta put our all out there. The whole philosophy and motto of let it fly is important," Fickell said. "Guys gotta understand that, and I think they have…Let’s not have any excuses. Let’s not have anything that we’re holding onto the past.”

Revenge tour vs. backs against the wall

Notre Dame Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Fickell has been very candid this offseason when discussing his team's failures last fall and just how critical 2026 is for Wisconsin football and for his career. Simply put, he knows that this is a make-or-break year for his tenure with the Badgers, one that will certainly have a trickle-down effect on his career for better or for worse.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, is under immense pressure to make the CFP. Anything less would be a heartbreaking disappointment. The Badgers would just like to field a respectable, winning team again.

So who has the stronger narrative? It's hard to say. I do think Notre Dame's "leave no doubt" is a little forced. After all, the endless self-victimization from the Irish is a little tiresome. Still, if any team has a reason to play with an extra chip on its shoulder this fall, it'd be Notre Dame; it's impossible to ignore the notion of a revenge tour after such a controversial playoff snub.

As for Wisconsin, it's nice to hear Fickell publicly come to terms with the magnitude of this season. A cornered animal is a dangerous one, and the coach knows he has 12 games (or potentially less) to prove that he's got the Badgers' program pointed in the right direction.

Ultimately, we'll find out which narrative is stronger Sunday night under the lights at Lambeau Field. But while all of the attention is on Notre Dame and its impending, inevitable revenge tour, don't forget that Wisconsin is also extremely hungry after last fall.

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