Badgers unranked in preseason coaches poll for first time since 2016

Wisconsin football will begin 2024 unranked in the coaches poll.

Nov 11, 2023; Madison, Wisconsin, USA; Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is shown during the fourth quarter of their game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Camp Randall Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports / Mark Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports

It is officially preseason poll season in college football, and Wisconsin will begin the 2024 season unranked in the US LBM Coaches Poll (published by USA TODAY) for the first time since 2016.

Preseason coaches poll: Georgia is No. 1 pic.twitter.com/zfwPBM4P3w

— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) August 5, 2024

The Badgers received 17 votes, essentially slotting them as the 34th-ranked team on the poll. Six Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 25: Ohio State (2), Oregon (3), Michigan (8), Penn State (9), USC (23), and Iowa (25). Washington was the first team left off the list.

Heading into year two of the Luke Fickell era, Wisconsin is viewed as a fringe top-25 team, but most people thought they would find themselves ranked. For example, they are ranked as the 18th-best team in the new EA Sports College Football 25 video game, so an omission from the coaches' top 25 is relatively surprising.

The first edition of the more well-known and distributed AP poll (which is voted on by media members) has not yet been released. In the current landscape of college football, the College Football Playoff Top 25 is the only list that truly matters when it releases deeper into the season.

Wisconsin has been ranked in the preseason top 25 of the AP poll in six straight seasons, dating back to 2017, and 13 of the 14 seasons since 2009. The Badgers are coming off a 7-6 (5-4 Big Ten) season in Fickell's first year at the helm.