Things continue to unravel for Wisconsin and Luke Fickell.
Three weeks after a signature win over Southern California, Wisconsin suffered a crushing Week 11 road loss to Maryland on Saturday at SECU Stadium, squandering a 21-14 fourth-quarter lead and taking its third loss in Big Ten play.
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The loss for the Badgers is their 12th against an unranked opponent under Fickell. The loss drops Wisconsin to 14-20 in Big Ten play under the Badgers coach, who has yet to meet the expectations of his hire to rebuild the program and into an annual contender.
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The Badgers briefly cracked the top 25 this season and earned a top-15 road win at Penn State in September, leading many to believe the program had finally turned a corner under Fickell after consecutive losing seasons.
The Terrapins loss was Wisconsin’s third in its last five games. The warning signs of the Badgers’ late-season slide emerged in a 30-0 road shutout loss to Iowa in which Wisconsin, which began the season 4-1, was dominated in all three facets of the game and held to just 235 total yards of offense.
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With the coaching carousel already in motion — and a coach, in New Mexico’s Jason Eck, already linked through message boards to Wisconsin — the temperature on Fickell’s seat was likely raised again on Saturday after it had cooled down a bit a few weeks back.
Here’s a look at Fickell’s buyout numbers should the Badgers decide to make a move:
If Wisconsin opts to part ways with Fickell over the next few weeks, it will cost them some money — but not as much as it cost Florida State to let go of Mike Norvell at the start of the month, for example.
Should the Badgers fire Fickell on Dec. 1, 2026, he’d be owed roughly $21.3 million, according to the terms of his contract, which was obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, part of the USA TODAY Network.
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Fickell’s base salary for the 2026 season is $7.8 million, according to his contract.
According to John Steppe of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Fickell signed a seven-year contract when he was hired away from Cincinnati at the end of the 2022 season that would keep him in Madison through March 31, 2030.
The University of Wisconsin Athletic Board approved customary one-year extensions to Fickell’s contract following the 2023 and 2024 seasons. He did not receive an extension after the 2025 season — something Wisconsin said was by Fickell’s request — reducing his contract length to six years.
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After Saturday’s loss to Maryland, Fickell is 23-25 overall in his fourth season at Wisconsin. Here’s a year-by-year look at how the Badgers have fared under him:
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2023: 7-6
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2024: 5-7
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2025: 4-8
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2026: 6-4
Be sure to check out USA TODAY Sports’ new College Football Unfiltered podcast, hosted by USA TODAY Sports columnist Blake Toppmeyer. You can stream on YouTube or download via Apple podcasts and Spotify.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Luke Fickell buyout at Wisconsin: How much would it cost Badgers to fire football coach?
