Coming off a 31-3 win over the Michigan State Spartans in Week 5, many thought the Wisconsin Badgers could be ranked going into their bye week.
After all, the Badgers were the first team out in the Week 5 AP Poll and had dominated an opponent after upsetting the Penn State Nittany Lions on the road the week before. However, Wisconsin actually fell in the rankings, going to the third team out of the polls, despite No. 24 Kentucky falling out of AP Top 25.
Instead, the Badgers saw Pitt jump into the Top
25, while Wake Forest also jumped the Badgers among teams receiving votes.
Well, this week, Pitt was one of three teams to fall out of the AP Top 25 after a loss, joining Oregon (formerly No. 13) and Florida (formerly No. 16). That prompted three new teams to join the Top 25, but none of those were the Badgers.
Instead, Kentucky, coming off their upset of LSU, was ranked at No. 15, jumping up from the first team out. Additionally, Wake Forest climbed up to No. 21, while Northwestern became the No. 25 team after a 31-point win over Ball State.
Wisconsin is now back to being the top team out of the rankings, and they’ve got a huge opportunity to change things in Week 7 when they take on the UCLA Bruins on Saturday evening at the Rose Bowl. UCLA, coming off an upset of Oregon, is now 5-0 and ranked No. 12 in the nation, jumping up nine spots from a week ago.
It will be one of the biggest opportunities for the Badgers in the Luke Fickell era, as Wisconsin has the chance to improve to 5-1 and 3-0 in conference play, while potentially getting ranked for the first time since the beginning of the 2024 season.
Currently, there are six Big Ten teams ranked: Ohio State (No. 4), Indiana (No. 5), UCLA (No. 12), Iowa (No. 17), USC (No. 19), and Northwestern (No. 25).
