The Wisconsin Badgers have skidded their way to a 5-4 record under first-year head coach Luke Fickell, setting the stage for a three-week dash to reach bowl eligibility.
Since the Badgers made waves by hiring Barry Alvarez as their football coach in 1990, no first-year coach in Madison has lost more than four games, with the collective going 36-11 (.766) overall.
BetWisconsin.com – your source for Wisconsin sports betting - wanted to stack up where Fickell ranks against other recent Wisconsin coaches in their first seasons with the program.
First-Year Wisconsin Coaches
Can Fickell Avoid 1st Losing Season In 22 Years?
Wisconsin is at home against Northwestern Saturday and is a 10-point favorite at DraftKings Wisconsin. The over-under is at 42 points. Based on the spread and analytical information provided by ESPN Analytics, we can assume that Wisconsin is in good shape to earn their sixth win. ESPN gives the Badgers an 81.2% shot at beating Northwestern.
That means Wisconsin should keep its 22-year bowl streak alive in 2023 and keep up with Big Ten West-leading Iowa in the process. Wisconsin (3-3) enters Saturday’s contest a game behind Iowa in the divisional race, with Iowa (4-2) hosting Rutgers this weekend.
It’s worth noting that Iowa owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over Wisconsin, thanks to a 15-6 win earlier this year in Madison. That means the Badgers need Iowa to lose two of its last three (against Rutgers, Illinois and Nebraska) to reach Indianapolis.
Fickell and Recent Wisconsin Coaches
Fickell’s .556 first year win percentage stands as the lowest by a Wisconsin coach in their first year with the program since Alvarez went 1-10 (.091) to start a rebuilding job in 1990. The next closest candidate would be Gary Andersen, who went 9-4 (.692) during his first year with the program in 2013. Paul Chryst went 10-3 (.769) in 2015.
Three of the four losses the Badgers have suffered have been by single digits, with the team’s 24-10 loss to Ohio State the lone outlier. Fickell still can match Andersen’s total, should Wisconsin win out and pull off their ninth bowl game in in the last decade, though that path will go through Northwestern, Nebraska and Minnesota.
For now, the first-year coach in Madison’s main task is taking care of business at home against a 4-5 Northwestern team and assuring that Wisconsin is on the right side of bowl eligibility in 2023.
