Bootleg11 said:

Last 6 games:
Ohio St
@ Oregon
Washington
@ Indiana
Illinois
@ Minnesota

They are likely going to be 2-10

Click to expand...

Minnesota might be their only chance to come within 3 scores.

Callahan 2007 in full effect, but with 0 offense

Grug said:

They made fun of us for firing Solich, they are going eat to the next 20 years.

Click to expand...

It's funny because #2ndChoice is their version of Callahan.

doublewing said:

It's funny because #2ndChoice is their version of Callahan.

Click to expand...

Hey Cally got to the big 12 championship game. He’s nowhere near as bad as 2nd choice

TampaBaySkers said:

Hey Cally got to the big 12 championship game. He’s nowhere near as bad as 2nd choice

Click to expand...

There are quite a few other parallels: abruptly changing their offensive identity, being abrasive and not forming relationships in Madison, and having a team fall apart on you in its final season.

Unlike BC, #2ndChoice will probably get another HC job at some point. Likely not P4 but he's young enough and had previous success in CFB.

doublewing said:

There are quite a few other parallels: abruptly changing their offensive identity, being abrasive and not forming relationships in Madison, and having a team fall apart on you in its final season.

Unlike BC, #2ndChoice will probably get another HC job at some point. Likely not P4 but he's young enough and had previous success in CFB.

Click to expand...

As a program it looks like they’re very similar to Nebraska in 2004, but i see less similarities in Fickel and Callahan. How Callahan came to the college game is so strange, and not something we’ve seen replicated much since. The Jon Gruden stuff that’s being floated around is the closest I can think of?

Fick is more like Scott frost to me. Had a ton of success at a G5 school and was integral to a big time program during a successful stint. On top of that he knew the B10 landscape and what it takes to win.

You could argue Wisconsin never should’ve fired Chryst (same as Nebraska never should’ve fired Solich) but it’s hard to argue with hiring Fick.

Fair game. No more Barry and PEDs for Wiscy = purgatory.

Blakejc said:

I’m surprised #2ndChoice hasn’t worked out. He’s a good coach. Made a mistake with Longo but shifted about as quick as you can.

Wisconsin’s problem might be more similar to Oklahoma state. They just don’t seem to be keeping up with the arms race happening in P4.

They should probably give #2ndChoice more time, because I think he’d eventually get it right, but I doubt they will.

Click to expand...

Cincy is kind of odd in that they have had a lot of success with various coaches over the years. I wonder if they have had a built in advantage with Ohio st being the only P4 team in the state until recently? They've been above the MAC schools going back to their days in the Big east. maybe #2ndChoice got to Wisconsin and realized it's easier to recruit at Cincy?

TampaBaySkers said:

Worst fan base in the B1G that I’ve been around - they’re reverting back to their pre Alvarez days

Click to expand...

SlumpBuster said:

Minnesota might be their only chance to come within 3 scores.

Click to expand...

O/U on how many combined points OSU and Oregon are gonna drop on Bucky?

I’m thinking something like 110

Luke #2ndChoice and Wisconsin hit a new low — and it’s about to get much worse​

By Scott Dochterman
Oct. 12, 2025 6:00 am CDT

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin coach Luke #2ndChoice put all the emotional chips on the table for this week’s game with Cockeye. All offseason, #2ndChoice brought up last year’s result as motivation. He played the rivalry card, and his players bought in.

After three straight losses, the season metaphorically came down to one game on homecoming with alternative uniforms. But the Fifth Quarter was just a sad lullaby for the four that preceded it, and there are as many answers as the Badgers scored points.

There’s only 180 miles between Cockeye and Wisconsin, but in reality, it’s more like 180 degrees for the Badgers, who are 2-4 and 0-3 in the Big Ten. The Cockeyes’ 37-0 win was more than just a blowout in a border feud. It was a statement. All offseason, #2ndChoice used his team’s 42-10 defeat at Cockeye as fuel toward the current season. His defenders conducted 42 pushups after every spring practice.

Instead, the official Cockeye football X account showed an image of Bucky Badger doing pushups with the words “37 more …” with “Jump Around” as the bumper music.

“That’s as low as it can be. I apologize,” #2ndChoice said. “I’m dumbfounded in a lot of ways, but that’s my job. This is a game we’ve been talking about since January. It was something that, emotionally, we knew we had to be ready for, and we were not. So, I’m crushed, disappointed in myself and our team.”

The loss marked the Badgers’ first home shutout since 1980 and their ninth straight loss to a power conference program. The average score of those games was 32-12, and only one of those losses was decided by fewer than two touchdowns.

And it’s about to get much, much worse for Wisconsin.

The Badgers host top-ranked Ohio State on Saturday. Then, they travel to Oregon. Wisconsin plays Washington at home, then travels to surging Indiana. The Badgers finish up at home against former coach Bret Bielema and Illinois, then travel to their other border rival, Minnesota.

Their six upcoming opponents are a combined 31-6 overall, and all but one have at least five wins. Wisconsin clearly is the Big Ten’s worst team, and it’s a shocking fall for a program that ranks second in league wins since 2000 — and for a coach who was once considered a rising star.

#2ndChoice has now lost much of the public’s confidence that he’s the right coach for Wisconsin. When asked whether he can get the job done at Wisconsin, #2ndChoice replied, “I don’t fault you for asking. I don’t think people should think anything different. But the truth of the matter is, this is not an easy fix, and we’ve got a hell of a long way to go.”

Wisconsin and Cockeye traditionally measure themselves against one another as developmental programs built along the line of scrimmage. That was a domain where the Badgers excelled. From 2011 through 2019, they won six division titles built on gap-blocking maulers and Doak Walker Award-winning running backs like Melvin Gordon and Jonathan Taylor. Its defense was among the nation’s best perennially, and perhaps none was as gap sound or as physical. The Cockeyes showed the Badgers how far they have fallen in both areas.

Cockeye outrushed Wisconsin 210-127, with the Cockeyes averaging 5.8 yards per carry. Through six games, the Badgers average 3.1 yards per rushing attempt, the program’s lowest since 1991. That was Hall of Fame coach Barry Alvarez’s second season in Madison. It was the program’s identity.

Now?

“I feel like we really don’t have an identity,” Wisconsin linebacker Christian Alliegro said. “It’s just such a weird feeling. I feel like we have no grip in these games.”

“We’ve talked a lot about our identity the past 10 months here with especially our offense,” Wisconsin center Jake Renfro said. “Some of those words that we’ve said might not have been true because it doesn’t show up on tape.”

But there are more issues than just identity. The Badgers had three turnovers by early in the second quarter and picked up three unsportsmanlike penalties, including one in pregame warmups that led to a 15-yard penalty on the opening kickoff. The pregame emotions that swirled never channeled into a disciplined, composed performance. That was once a given for Wisconsin. Now, it’s a mirage.

Some fans are pushing for #2ndChoice’s exit, and understandably so. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he’s owed around $27.5 million should Wisconsin brass fire him after the season. Others are preaching patience, but acknowledge that the status quo is unacceptable.

“It is very tough to watch, but I believe in continuous improvement,” said Madison resident Joe Fills. “I don’t really see it out there on the field right now, but if you cut it short, you’ll never know.”

“I was a big local Luke fan coming in here when he came in out of Cincinnati,” said Steve Perkins, a Bolingbrook, Ill., resident whose daughter attends Wisconsin. “I loved what he did at the University of Cincinnati, and I kind of liked what he did when he first got here.”

Cole Langer of Edgerton, Wis., said, “#2ndChoice can’t coach, so we’ve got to drink a little more. That’s how it goes.”

Fans booed as the Badgers left the field down 23-0 at halftime. The student section stayed through “Jump Around” before the fourth quarter, then emptied en masse. In the final minutes, about 5,000 Cockeye fans remained in cavernous Camp Randall Stadium, celebrating the Cockeyes’ fourth straight series win.

#2ndChoice’s emotions came out in the locker room and lingered in his postgame news conference. The players still stand behind him and are trying to say the right things through gritted teeth. But knowing what’s on deck and what they just experienced, there’s little room for positivity.

“What he’s feeling is we’re all feeling,” Renfro said. “To lose like that to a rival, to score zero points, never even have a chance. It hurts. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way, like this.”

doublewing said:

There are quite a few other parallels: abruptly changing their offensive identity, being abrasive and not forming relationships in Madison, and having a team fall apart on you in its final season.

Unlike BC, #2ndChoice will probably get another HC job at some point. Likely not P4 but he's young enough and had previous success in CFB.

Click to expand...

TBF, Callahan’s offensive transition would’ve looked a lot different in the portal era. Lot less forgiveness for #2ndChoice

Quint said:

As an aside, Liam Neeson may have the biggest damn fingers on the planet.

Click to expand...

According to the ladies, he has a certain set of skills…