Wisconsin head coach Luke Fickell is shown during spring football practice Wednesday, April 23, 2025 in Madison, Wisconsin. Mark Hoffman / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Wisconsin Football: Updated national rankings for Badgers 2026 recruiting class entering August

Originally posted on Wisconsin Badgers on SI
By Lorin Cox | Last updated Aug 2, 2025 5:10 PM ET

The Wisconsin Badgers had a huge recruiting month in June, but that momentum slowed in July.

Luke Fickell's coaching staff seemed to turn its attention a little more towards the classes of 2027 and 2028, handing out offers to a number of high profile high school juniors and sophomores.

That's left their 2026 class to slip in the national recruiting rankings as other programs made more significant gains last month.

Entering August, Wisconsin ranks 43rd in the country on Rivals' industry rankings, which puts them at 14th in the Big Ten.

Top 50 classes in the updated Rivals Industry Team Recruiting Rankings at the beginning of August‼️https://t.co/q3j02zBhQA pic.twitter.com/U1VnCwQmgv
— Rivals (@Rivals) August 1, 2025

It's worth noting, though, that the Badgers' recruiting score is within a fraction of a point of the 18 teams ahead of them, including five other Big Ten teams.

Losing a couple of recruits that flipped to other schools didn't help.

Both Rivals and 247Sports have them with two four-star recruits and 12 three-stars, but 247's rankings have Wisconsin down at 60th in the country and 16th in the Big Ten.

Among the differences, the outlet has significantly more three-star rated players for Purdue and Northwestern than Rivals, boosting them ahead of the Badgers.

Both have Maryland and Nebraska below Wisconsin.

The recruiting cycle is far from over, and Fickell still has plenty of time to add to his 2026 class.

He'll need to pick back up from the momentum he built in July with a pair of major four-star recruits and keep building his stockpile of future Badgers.