UCLA Needs to Prepare to Capitalize on Potential Wisconsin Exodus

With Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell on the hot seat, UCLA needs to begin accumulating resources to poach their talent if Fickell doesn't make it out of 2025

Nov 29, 2024; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Luke Fickell looks on during the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Golden Gophers at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images / Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images

Perhaps cruel to plot on someone's downfall, college football is a sport unlike anything else and as popularized in the HBO critically acclaimed series "The Wire," "The game is the game." That phrase was used in the show to characterize the Baltimore drug market, but the show itself was a social commentary about America.

"The Wire," in a very unique way, describes college football. There are the haves and the have-nots. The have-nots could have more if the institution that governs the game acted like an institution built to fairly govern instead of being the self-righteous, self-fulfilling, money-making device it has turned into.

The game is the game means no matter what happens, nothing changes. Someone wears the crown, and someone else knocks them off. The game never ends and no matter what, regardless of how unfair things may be, the game is the game and there is no time for sympathy.

That is the nature of college football and that is the nature of recruiting. Up in Madison, Wisconsin, there lays a program racing towards a precipice. The Badgers are a team in need of a winner and Coach Luke Fickell is a coach in need of a win. Taking over a program that hadn't had a losing season since 2001, Fickell's end to a 5-7 2024 season has some calling for his head.

Wisconsin has looked awful since Fickell took the head job and as he enters year three into his tenure, it's boom or bust for the Ohio State alum.

Fickell himself was subjected to criticism by fans, the media, and a few of his former players due to his production, scheme, and decisions within the program to end the 2024 season. While not fair to Wisconsin, UCLA needs to be ready to start handing out offers like candy on Halloween if Fickell gets the ax.

Wisconsin has a ton of talent that isn't being utilized properly and if a program exodus commences, UCLA could start snatching players with NIL guarantees as well as the appearance of program stability. While many schools will look to pounce, UCLA's conference affiliation can keep players closer to home with their cross-country travels while allowing players to reinvent themselves in a new environment.

College Football is a cutthroat business and if UCLA isn't looking to capitalize on advantageous situations, regardless of how those situations came to be, they're not playing the game in the manner it is supposed to be played in.

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