The Wisconsin Badgers haven’t been accustomed to their regular success over the past two years, going a combined 12-13 and missing the postseason in 2025 altogether.
However, over the past decade, they’ve been one of the more successful teams in college football, accumulating five 10+ win seasons since 2014, while making the Big Ten Conference Championship games four times in that span.
That didn’t stop On3’s Brett McMurphy from listing them as the fifth-most overrated team in the preseason AP Polls
over the past decade.
McMurphy had the Badgers only behind the USC Trojans (No. 1), Auburn Tigers (No. 2), Texas A&M Aggies (No. 3), and LSU Tigers (No. 4).
Wisconsin has appeared nine times on the preseason AP Top 25, missing out only in 2016 and 2024. Let’s take a look at how they started and finished during those nine campaigns.
2014
AP Preseason Poll: No. 14
AP Highest Rank During Season: No. 11
AP Postseason Poll: No. 13
2015
AP Preseason Poll: No. 20
AP Highest Rank During Season: No. 19
AP Postseason Poll: No. 21
2016
AP Preseason Poll: Unranked
AP Highest Rank During Season: No. 5
AP Postseason Poll: No. 9
2017
AP Preseason Poll: No. 9
AP Highest Rank During Season: No. 3
AP Postseason Poll: No. 7
2018
AP Preseason Poll: No. 4
AP Highest Rank During Season: No. 4
AP Postseason Poll: Unranked
2019
AP Preseason Poll: No. 19
AP Highest Rank During Season: No. 6
AP Postseason Poll: No. 11
2020
AP Preseason Poll: No. 12
AP Highest Rank During Season: No. 9
AP Postseason Poll: Unranked
2021
AP Preseason Poll: No. 12
AP Highest Rank During Season: No. 12
AP Postseason Poll: Unranked
2022
AP Preseason Poll: No. 18
AP Highest Rank During Season: No. 18
AP Postseason Poll: Unranked
2023
AP Preseason Poll: No. 19
AP Highest Rank During Season: No. 19
AP Postseason Poll: Unranked
2024
AP Preseason Poll: Unranked
AP Highest Rank During Season: Unranked
AP Postseason Poll: Unranked
In the 11 years, the Badgers finished ahead of their preseason rankings at the end of the year four times, including when they went from unranked to No. 9 in 2016. But, they have finished below their ranking in 10 years, including falling unranked to end the year five times.
They’ve especially struggled to finish well over the past five seasons, finishing unranked in each campaign.
Do you agree with the sentiment? Or is the ranking too harsh on Wisconsin?
