Wisconsin Quick Facts
Wisconsin Badgers Quick Facts
Badgers in 2023: The Badgers finished 7-5 in the regular season, 3rd in Big Ten West division.
Badgers Tradition: The Badgers are now in their 135th season, with their inaugural season in 1889, and have 14 Big Ten conference championships. They have produced 32 consensus All-Americans, 16 College Football Hall of Famers and two Heisman Trophy winners. The Badgers have an overall record of 742-517-53. There are 34 former Badgers currently on NFL rosters.
Badgers in the Bowls: This will be the Badgers 35th bowl appearance and 6th time playing in the ReliaQuest Bowl where they are 2-3. The last time they played in the Tampa Bowl was in 2015 where they defeated Auburn in an exciting 34-31 overtime game. They have an overall bowl record of 19-15. In last year's Guaranteed Rate Bowl, they beat Oklahoma State 24-17 in Fickell's first game with Wisconsin.
Feature Players: The Badgers offense uses a balanced attack with QB Tanner Mordecai throwing for 1,687 yards and 6 TDs with a 64.6% passing percentage in just nine games (missing 3 games with an injury) and RB Braelon Allen rushing for 984 yards. Mordecai made the watch list for the Maxwell Award, Johnny Unitas Golden Arm, and Davey O'Brien Award before his injury. Allen earned second team All-Big Ten Honors after finishing third in the Big Ten. Allen wrapped up his career as a Badger ranked ninth on the all-time UW rushing yards leaderboard with 3,494 career yards. He has declared for the NFL draft. Mordecai also used his feet to gain 305 yards and 4 TDs, while Jackson Acker averaged 4.1 yards per carry with 236 yards.
WR Will Pauling finishes with a team best 66 receptions for 694 yards and 4 touchdowns. Pauling ranked third in the Big Ten in receptions and ranked second with 55 catches versus Big Ten opponents. Skyler Bell added 38 catches for 297 yards and Bryson Green has 25 catches for 375 yards and a 15.0 average per catch.
Offensive Lineman Tanor Bortolini logged an 80.8 pass blocking grade this season, the third-best clip in the Big Ten. He allowed only one sack over 477 pressure opportunities as the Badgers' centerpiece of the offensive front and has received the Outland Trophy National Player of the Week honors.
The defense is led by Second Team All-Big Ten S Hunter Wohler who notched 113 tackles, second best in the Big Ten, and 2 interceptions. LB Jake Chaney has 73 tackles and 3 sacks while LB Jordan Turner logged 61 tackles with 6.5 TFL and 3 sacks. LB C.J. Goetz leads the team with 11 TFL and 4 sacks. CB Ricardo Hallman tied for first in the conference with 6 interceptions.
Meet the Badgers Head Coach Luke Fickell: Coach Fickell is only in his first full season with the Badgers this year, as he was brought on to the staff as head coach last November just in time to secure the win against Oklahoma State at their Bowl to cap off the season. His overall record at Wisconsin is 8-5. He spent the previous 6 years at the University of Cincinnati as their head coach and achieved milestones during that time. The Bearcat's had an overall record of 57-18 under Fickell's reign, making him the winningest coach for the program. His bowl record is 3-3. He was named National Coach of the Year after taking the Bearcats to the College Football Playoffs for the first time ever.