Wisconsin had had a number of notable seasons over the past 10 years.
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It hasn’t been the most successful two years for the Wisconsin Badgers, who enjoyed their first losing season in 22 years in 2024, while going 12-13 to open the Luke Fickell era.
While the recent track record hasn’t been great, that doesn’t mean that Wisconsin hasn’t seen high levels of success overall. The Badgers were frequently near or atop the Big Ten West over the past 10 seasons before the conference realignment, putting together strong teams with NFL talent over the years.
With the current mood around the Badgers, I thought it’d be a fun experience to revisit Badgers history and rank the best Wisconsin Football teams over the past decade.
Looking at all the teams, four come to mind: 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2021.
Wisconsin went 11-3 in 2016, going 7-2 in the Big Ten and finishing No. 9 in the AP Poll. The Badgers were consistently in the Top 10, making it to the Big Ten Championship Game, despite early losses to Ohio State and Michigan, where they fell short to Penn State 38-31.
Still, they earned an appearance in the Cotton Bowl and beat No. 12 Western Michigan 24-16 to cap off the year.
In 2017, Wisconsin went 13-1 in a fantastic season, running the table in the regular season with a 9-0 conference record. While they only played two ranked teams, Iowa and Michigan, and both were at home, the dominance in those games was impressive, leading to back-to-back Big Ten Championship appearances.
Unfortunately, the Badgers had their lone loss of the year, falling short 27-21 to Ohio State, which set up another New Year’s Six Bowl appearance. They ultimately beat No. 11 Miami in the Orange Bowl to finish 13-1 and end at No. 7 in the AP Poll.
In 2019, the Badgers finished 10-4, including 7-2 in conference play, being ranked as high as No. 6 in the country.
They had a surprise loss to Illinois and a 38-7 thrashing against Ohio State, leading to a pair of defeats after a 6-0 start. But, they still made it to the Big Ten Championship by running the table, leading to a rematch against Ohio State.
Unfortunately, the Buckeyes won again, beating the Badgers 34-21, and Wisconsin couldn’t get a bowl victory, losing by one to Oregon in the Rose Bowl 28-27.
Nonetheless, it was another strong year for Wisconsin, finishing No. 11 in the AP Poll, and fielding quite a few competitive games along the way.
2021 started on an ugly note, as Wisconsin lost 16-10 to Penn State in the season opener. Two weeks later, a 41-13 loss to Notre Dame, followed by a 38-17 loss to Michigan, led to a 1-3 start for the Badgers.
But, Wisconsin rattled off seven consecutive wins, including ones over No. 25 Purdue and No. 9 Iowa, to get to 8-3. Unfortunately, they did not win the Axe Battle, dropping a 23-13 game to Minnesota on the road. They would beat Arizona State 20-13 in the Las Vegas Bowl, finishing the year at 9-4.
Which season was the best for Wisconsin? Let us know by voting in the poll above and sharing your reasons in the comments below.