Where Wisconsin football ranks in Phil Steele's 2025 Big Ten power rankings
In his recently released 2025 college football preview magazine, Steele ranked the Badgers as the 13th-best team in the Big Ten. The team was slotted ahead of only UCLA, Michigan State, Maryland, Northwestern and Purdue.
Steele's conference power rankings were unsurprisingly led by Ohio State, which enters the 2025 season as the defending national champion. Penn State, Oregon, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois then follow the Buckeyes, rounding out Steele's top group of Big Ten contenders.
Wisconsin's preseason position at No. 13 is somewhat startling, given the program's long history of success. It shouldn't be entirely unexpected, however. The Badgers are No. 14 in our preseason power rankings, No. 9 in ESPN's FPI, No. 10 in Bill Connelly's SP+ and No. 15 in USA TODAY's rankings. Those season projections factor in the team's 12-13 record over the past two years under Luke Fickell and its apparent downward trajectory. The projections, other than individual team power ratings in the FPI and SP+, also factor in the Badgers' gauntlet schedule -- a slate that ranks as the toughest in the Big Ten and the second-toughest in the entire sport.
The consensus surrounding the program is that the team will be much improved after a disappointing 5-7 finish to the 2024 season. That projected improvement is due to the program's impressive winter transfer cycle, which restocked important positions, including completely reshaping its defensive front seven and quarterback room. Better play from those two positions could alone redirect the team's current trajectory, as struggles at both spots were major factors in its five-game losing streak to close 2024.
Either way, the Badgers will need to take significant steps forward on both sides of the football if they are to return to bowl eligibility. Steele can be added to the long list of college football analysts who project a significant distance between the Badgers and the Big Ten's best.
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