The Ohio State Buckeyes may be an inevitable loss for the Wisconsin Badgers this Saturday, even within the friendly confines of Camp Randall Stadium. A potentially embarrassing one at that, right on CBS's primetime slot at 3:30 E.T.
CBS Sports' Cody Nagel heavily implied that Luke Fickell can be fired with an embarrassing loss to the Buckeyes in Week 8. That doesn't feel like insignificant information from the Big Ten's broadcast partner about the matchup between the nation's No. 1 team and the flailing, unranked Badgers.
"Even with his seat heating up, owning a 15-17 overall record and 8-13 against Big Ten opponents, Fickell isn't worried about the optics of potentially his final game on the Badgers' sideline coming against his former school," Nagel wrote before sharing Fickell's coach-speak response about not worrying about outside noise.
"Whether that's enough to quiet the noise around his future remains to be seen. But with Ohio State on deck, Fickell's words will be put to the test Saturday on CBS."
Wisconsin in a bad way injury-wise vs Ohio State
Quarterbacks Billy Edwards Jr. and Danny O'Neil, and safety Preston Zachman are all bad losses for Fickell and Co. at this point in time. Even with them, Wisconsin was facing an uphill climb against Ohio State.
Without them, their depth is in over its head with a team operating at peak levels right now storming into town undefeated.
The Buckeyes can put the finishing touches on a Fickell coaching tenure that has only gotten worse since it began in 2023.
USA Today’s Paul Myerberg claimed two weeks ago that Fickell needed to find five wins on the schedule to survive the 2025 season. Then the Michigan Wolverines won by two touchdowns, and the Iowa Hawkeyes bludgeoned the Badgers 37-0 in Madison.
It's do or die for UW now. And the Grim Reaper may be coming to town, rocking Scarlet and Gray on gameday.