Where Phil Steele ranks the Badgers in the Big Ten in 2026

Wisconsin

College Football analyst Phil Steele released his annual, information-packed College Football Preview magazine for the 2026 season, which spans over 350 pages long and has several references to the Wisconsin Badgers throughout.

After an ugly campaign for the Badgers, Steele is bullish on the Badgers in 2026, expecting improvement in a lot of areas, including the team’s place in the Big Ten.

The analyst predicted Wisconsin to finish 12th in the Big Ten, an improvement from last year, but still near the bottom third of the conference. The teams that Steele has below the Badgers are Northwestern, UCLA, Rutgers, Michigan State, Maryland, and Purdue.

Additionally, he’s quite high on the Badgers linebacker group headlined by Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano, even sharing that they’ll be the No. 1 linebacker group in the Big Ten. But Wisconsin doesn’t have another position group ranked in the top half of the Big Ten on Steele’s positional group rankings outside of defensive line (No. 8 in the Big Ten) and quarterback (No. 9 in the Big Ten).

Notably, he has their running back room as the No. 13 group in the Big Ten, while the offensive line room is the No. 15 group in the conference. While the defensive backs are at No. 14 of 18, Steele does believe the secondary has improved from the 2025 unit that Wisconsin trotted out.

We’ll see how much Wisconsin improves this season, but there should be some key areas of growth after the investment in the team this offseason. That, paired with an easier schedule, gives some optimism heading into 2026, but the games will be the true tell starting in September.