Should Wisconsin football be ranked over other three-loss teams?
· Yahoo Sports
The Wisconsin Badgers have spent the 2026 season rotating in and out of the nation’s spotlight. Following their season-opening 41-13 loss to the now No. 3 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Luke Fickell’s squad was firmly removed from the spotlight until Big Ten play kicked off and the Badgers pushed themselves to a 2-0 conference start with wins against Penn State and Michigan State.
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Since then, the Badgers have compiled a 2-2 record with wins over USC and Rutgers, with losses filing in against No. 4 UCLA and No. 15 Iowa, moving their overall record to 6-3.
Do the Badgers deserve more credit?
No one is saying that Wisconsin deserves a shot at the College Football playoff, but the fact of the matter is, the Fighting Irish and the Bruins are nigh-on locks for the playoff and Iowa could easily factor as a lower-seed participant.
To back the Badgers even more, the 7-2 Trojans aren’t too far away from being able to find themselves in the playoff conversation. But even if USC doesn’t end up qualifying, that doesn’t change the fact that each of Wisconsin’s losses has come against a combined 24-3 record.
What is keeping Wisconsin held back from more recognition?
To put it simply, style. The Badgers have found success from nothing more than an elite defense, and when that is how you grind out wins on a schedule, voters and committees are always going to knock you. Playing with fire on the offensive end also means that if your defense is even off by a small margin, you could end up getting blown out, as losses against Iowa and Notre Dame showcased.
Three loss teams that are ranked
Heading into Week 11, the following three-loss teams are ranked in the AP Top 25:
- No. 18 Oregon
- No. 19 Ole Miss
- No. 20 South Carolina
- No. 21 Ohio State
- No. 24 LSU
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This article originally appeared on Badgers Wire: Should Wisconsin football be ranked over other three-loss teams?