Wisconsin Badgers 2026 recruiting class drops down in national rankings ahead of official visits

The University of Wisconsin football program still sits in the bottom half of the Big Ten Conference heading into its summer official visit schedule. But a lot can and likely will change between now and the end of June.

Wisconsin locked in a verbal commitment from versatile 2026 linebacker Aden Reeder from Cincinnati St. Xavier. | Courtesy of LaDasha Reeder

The Wisconsin Badgers' 2026 recruiting class still sits in the bottom half of the Big Ten heading into its summer official visit schedule.

But a lot can and will change between now and the end of June not just for the Badgers, but the vast majority of FBS teams.

Wisconsin now has seven commits for its 2026 class with the addition of high three-star linebacker Aden Reeder (Cincinnati St. Xavier) earlier this month, which puts it right around the same footing as its previous two classes.

Twelve conference foes each have larger classes in terms of sheer number of commits, however.

Here's Luke Fickell and the Badgers' recruiting stands before they begin hosting a significant number of recruits starting this weekend.

On3 Industry Rankings

On3 Industry rankings	Rank/Notes
Ranking nationally/Big Ten	No. 44/No. 14 of 18
Wisconsin's average rating per recruit	86.75 (all seven players are three-star recruits)
Highest-rated recruit	QB Ryan Hopkins (88.25)
Which Big Ten schools are ahead of Wisconsin	USC, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State, Michigan, Iowa, Maryland, Illinois, Washington, Minnesota, UCLA, Indiana, Rutgers

The Badgers' average rating per recruit improved with the addition of Reeder, but they fell one spot in the Big Ten rankings.

Of note, the acquisition of Rivals by On3 will result in some significant changes. On3 will no longer have its own individual rankings, according to CEO Shannon Terry, but it will update its algorithm for its industry ranking.

More details on the @Rivals integration with @On3sports coming in July ... pic.twitter.com/VouTsUWixq

— Shannon Terry (@ShannonTerry) May 25, 2025

247Sports Composite Rankings

247Sports composite rankings	Rank/Notes
Ranking nationally/Big Ten	No. 44/No. 13
Wisconsin's average rating per recruit	87.46 (all are three-star recruits)
Highest-rated recruit	QB Ryan Hopkins (0.8875)
Which Big Ten schools are ahead of Wisconsin	USC, Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois, Oregon, Rutgers, Minnesota, Washington, Iowa, Indiana, UCLA, Michigan

The program's also dropped two spots nationally and in the conference since the start of the month, even with an improvement of average rating per recruit.

247Sports composite rankings now holds Hopkins as Wisconsin's highest-rated recruit.

247Sports has its own standalone ranking and an algorithm that calculates the outlets' individual evaluations and combines them into one (the "composite" ranking).

Rivals

Rivals	Rank/Notes
Ranking nationally/Big Ten	No. 45/No. 13
Wisconsin's average rating per recruit	3.14 (one four-star, six three-star recruits; 15th in Big Ten)
Highest-rated recruit	QB Ryan Hopkins (four-star, No. 25 QB in 2026 class)
Which Big Ten schools are ahead of Wisconsin	USC, Ohio State, Penn State, Illinois, Oregon, Iowa, Rutgers, Washington, Michigan, UCLA, Minnesota, Indiana

Wisconsin actually went up three spots nationally but down one spot in the Big Ten in Rivals' rankings since the beginning of May.

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