On3: Phil Steele 2026 preseason poll, ranking all college football teams, 1 to 138

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Wisconsin is going to suck.
This is really similar to year 4 Brewster

Dude takes a program with an identity. Changes it. Sucks or is below average. Change identity back. Suck even worse, get fired mid season.

The only difference is Fickell should’ve been better.
 

wisconsin was a lot worse than Minnesota last year, recruited significantly worse (28 vs 78 by 247 composite), comparable in transfer rank (38 vs 51). Minnesota returns 68% of production from last year and wisconsin 59%.

www.espn.com

What returning production looks like for the 2026 college football season

Notre Dame and Texas have a lot coming back, but 2025 showed that might not mean as much.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

but I guess they are now better by the same magic pixie dust sprinkled each summer upon the Platte River of Nebraska
 





GVLCGopherFan said:
Over the last five years he’s had pre-season Wisconsin at:

2022 = 19
2023 = 13
2024 = 25
2025 = 32
2026 = 27
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Having them at 32 when anyone with half a brain could tell you how Wisconsin's season was going to go six months before the season started tells you all you need to know
 

ergopher said:
Having them at 32 when anyone with half a brain could tell you how Wisconsin's season was going to go six months before the season started tells you all you need to know
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I’m sure it’s not easy to rank every team before one game’s been played. The silly part is expecting people to accept the dart pattern as analysis.
 


Some guy said:
Wisconsin is going to suck.
This is really similar to year 4 Brewster

Dude takes a program with an identity. Changes it. Sucks or is below average. Change identity back. Suck even worse, get fired mid season.

The only difference is Fickell should’ve been better.
Click to expand...
Yeah I don't get all the badger love, same with the huskers, sure both teams added decent pieces in portal, but what are those pieces joining? As far as QB play goes Old Dominion ain't the big ten, perhaps they've given up on their high four star true freshman they threw out their against us last year
 



The Deliberate Stranger said:
Yeah I don't get all the badger love, same with the huskers, sure both teams added decent pieces in portal, but what are those pieces joining? As far as QB play goes Old Dominion ain't the big ten, perhaps they've given up on their high four star true freshman they threw out their against us last year
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I think the Huskers love is because they were 7-3 with close losses to USC and Michigan when their QB went down.

Now, that QB left but
 

fmlizard said:
wisconsin was a lot worse than Minnesota last year, recruited significantly worse (28 vs 78 by 247 composite), comparable in transfer rank (38 vs 51). Minnesota returns 68% of production from last year and wisconsin 59%.

www.espn.com

What returning production looks like for the 2026 college football season

Notre Dame and Texas have a lot coming back, but 2025 showed that might not mean as much.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

but I guess they are now better by the same magic pixie dust sprinkled each summer upon the Platte River of Nebraska
Click to expand...
The weird thing is in conference standings predictions Steele has Gophs tied for 9th with Nebraska and Illinois and Wisconsin 12th. So IDK
 


Some guy said:
Wisconsin is going to suck.
This is really similar to year 4 Brewster

Dude takes a program with an identity. Changes it. Sucks or is below average. Change identity back. Suck even worse, get fired mid season.

The only difference is Fickell should’ve been better.
Click to expand...
They have a combination of smart players and well spoken players.
 

Spaulding!No! said:
They have a combination of smart players and well spoken players.
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If only they had added toughness and talent to that combo they might be onto something.

I think they can get better now that they’ve committed to an identity. But I don’t think they can be a 9+ win team for another 2-3 seasons. And I think there is a very low chance coach gets another 2. I do think Fickell will get another job in the big 12 or ACC after Wisconsin tenure ends and have more confidence in him having success than I have in frost in his second run at UCF
 

fmlizard said:
wisconsin was a lot worse than Minnesota last year, recruited significantly worse (28 vs 78 by 247 composite), comparable in transfer rank (38 vs 51). Minnesota returns 68% of production from last year and wisconsin 59%.

www.espn.com

What returning production looks like for the 2026 college football season

Notre Dame and Texas have a lot coming back, but 2025 showed that might not mean as much.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

but I guess they are now better by the same magic pixie dust sprinkled each summer upon the Platte River of Nebraska
Click to expand...
Man they were playing their third and fourth string QBs for most of the season and still beat two ranked opponents. I despise Wisconsin but them being 7-5 to 8-4 this season isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Anyone would look bad with the schedule they had last year.

This year they brought in QB Colton Joseph from Old Dominion. He’s very mobile, much more similar to the QBs their OC has had success with in the past. They also hired OL coach Eric Mateos from Arkansas who was with Wisconsin’s OC during his best years at BYU. They’re not gonna be a train wreck. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin have lots of questions this season. The Axe game will probably be a one-score game

- Something to keep an eye on; Sophomore LB Mason Posa showed up to campus in the fall (much like Koi did as a freshman) and was a star for them. They are expecting a big jump from him but I could see some regression with more on his plate in terms of scheme responsibilities
 

ReeserMN said:
Man they were playing their third and fourth string QBs for most of the season and still beat two ranked opponents. I despise Wisconsin but them being 7-5 to 8-4 this season isn’t out of the realm of possibility. Anyone would look bad with the schedule they had last year.

This year they brought in QB Colton Joseph from Old Dominion. He’s very mobile, much more similar to the QBs their OC has had success with in the past. They also hired OL coach Eric Mateos from Arkansas who was with Wisconsin’s OC during his best years at BYU. They’re not gonna be a train wreck. Both Minnesota and Wisconsin have lots of questions this season. The Axe game will probably be a one-score game

- Something to keep an eye on; Sophomore LB Mason Posa showed up to campus in the fall (much like Koi did as a freshman) and was a star for them. They are expecting a big jump from him but I could see some regression with more on his plate in terms of scheme responsibilities
Click to expand...
Some great thoughts on the Badgers. I think probably the most under-the-radar hire was Eric Mateos as the OL coach isn't always front and center when everyone talks about a team for the coming year. However, this might be the best hire Fickell has made on his staff. I asked AI to rank his OL coaching performance at his last several stops.

StopYearsRushing OutputSuccess Level
BYU2019–2034 rushing TDs (4th nationally), elite efficiencyHigh
Baylor2021–23219.3 ypg (10th nationally), 34 TD seasons, The line was a Joe Moore semifinalistElite
Arkansas2024–25184–192 ypg, 34 TDs, top‑10 run efficiency, #2 OL nationallyElite

If he can replicate his work from his last several stops, Wisc is going to be much tougher to deal with upfront.
 

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